Hope Hubs - to lube or not to lube?

KonaKurt

I might as well quickly ask about Hope Hubs too...

Are my Hope Pro 2's literelly sealed for life, and never need lubing/greasing? If not, after how many miles approx should they be getting a service and lube?

KK.

nicklouse

no they need regular maintainance.

the rears need a light oil weekly.

the bearings are use and replace.

you can lube them if you wish but take care of the seals.

KonaKurt

ok, thanks. But based on what kind of mileage per week?

I presume that they WERE pre-lubed well, from new at the factory...?

KK.

nicklouse

they say weekly in the tech info. light oil can run out even if not used. they do not recommend grease for the ratchet.

Opps not read it for a while!

stevebrock

where do you oil them?

worried now, had my Pro2s for over a year and not touched them!

nicklouse

read http://www.hopetech.com/database/Rear_C ... b_inst.PDF

dave_hill

stevebrock wrote:

where do you oil them?

worried now, had my Pro2s for over a year and not touched them!

I never touch mine and they work fine. I've replaced one set of springs in my older pair (in 2 1/2 years) and all the bearings in both front and rear once. A light smear of grease on the ratchet is all they need.

If you were going to oil them weekly, you'd have to take the cassette off every time to do it properly which given the fact that the original freehub body is aluminium would play havoc with the lockring threads eventually. Plus there's more chance of them wearing out prematurely since any muck which gets in with the oil will just turn into grinding paste and wear the springs away (which is what happened with mine and why I had to replace the springs in the first place).

Since I stopped oiling the ratchet mechanism it's lasted better.

My newer pair I've had a year and just not touched them.

As Nick says though the bearings WILL need replacing eventually. It really isn't worth trying to relube a sealed cartridge bearing (unless it's designed to be lubricated) because you'll just destroy the seals.

XxxBFGxxX

got me worrried now goa read the hope tech age lol.

i have a steel free hib so wont need to worry about the aly lol

KonaKurt

OK guys, thanks.
I did drop a couple of drops only of light oil into the axle sides, and as Dave points out, I am not going to touch anything else. I just wait a year or so when I need to replace my cartridge bearings.

My pro 2's run sweet as a nut.

KK.

clarkson

take mine apart every few months. each time i do, its still all like new inside!!

i grease the ratchet, no problems from that.

elPedro666

I've still got a Hope Superlight(?) from the late 90's that has never been touched, just abused horribly, and it's utterly perfect. Marvellous!

konanige

I run pro2's on both my bikes and found that when the bearings need replacing there is never enough grease in the new ones so I pull out the seals and fill em right up, they seem to last twice as long then.

Steve_b77

Hmm, not touched mine in over 12 months now, not an issue with tehm yet