Freehub bearing warranty issue

Triggaboy

I'm new to mountain biking and bought a Specialized Hardrock Pro 2010 disc around 3 months ago to use for a daily 15 mile off road commute and some local trail riding at weekends. In the last couple of weeks I have noticed the freehub bearings sounding a little harsh and not running smoothly. I called my LBS to be told there are not covered by the warranty so a chargable repair as wear and tear.

Surely bearings have an expected life span of more than what I have ridden so would therefore not be affected by this clause in the warranty?

supersonic

I think there is more than one issue here.

Firstly: what is this noise? Is it affecting perfomance?

If it is a fault, is it a warranty? It is certainly very quick for the shop to make that decision.

But if we work it out:

3 months is 13 weeks. Your commute is 15 miles, so for 5 days a week that is 150 miles per week. Multiply by thirteen and that is nigh on 2000 miles every 3 months. Add in trail riding...

Triggaboy

Sorry I've missed quoted there I mean my commute is 15miles each day so a total of 75miles a week and then probably another 20miles on a weekend. The bike has been very well maintained everyweek and the LBS made the assumption over the phone it was wear and tear. Performance is not affected too much and my rear wheel still rolls freely with no play though I'm worried it will just seize up mid ride. My biggest issue is that the LBS is a fair distance from my home so would prefer to avoid this and get a local lad to repair it at cost to me if not covered by the warranty.

nickfrog

Triggaboy wrote:

The bike has been very well maintained everyweek

Did that include maintenance on the hub ?
If not that's not really relevant and if anything, over cleaning the bike leads to loss of grease.
Has a pressure washer been used?

Triggaboy

I think you may have hit the nail on the head as the sound does give me the impression of no grease on the bearings possibly as I've used Muc Off Degreaser on a couple of occasions whilst using GT85 and Finish lube on all moving parts weekly.

The Northern Monkey

so you used degreaser on your hubs?!

nicklouse

sounds like you have done the usual trick of using solvents and caused problems.

but without seeing the problem one can not say.

Triggaboy

I didn't apply degreaser directly to the hub just to to the cassette and chain. I think I'm just going to give to the bike to a local mechanic to grease the bearings again in both the freehub and bottom bracket just to play it safe.

How often would you suggest applying grease to freehub and bottom bracket bearings taking into account I do around 100 miles a week? If need be I reckon I should learn to do this myself.

supersonic

Are we talking freehub body, or rear hub bearings?

Triggaboy

Just the bearings.

supersonic

I thought you were on about the bearings in the freehub body.

A strip and regerease every few months should suffice.