Hope Evo II hubs

jon87uk

Has anyone seen these yet? Do they think that the improvements will be worth it?

GHill

They're not out yet AFAIK.

Bearings should last longer and they won't snap rear maxles. Sounds good but I'd probably grab standard Pro IIs if you see a deal on them.

jon87uk

Have found standard pro II on flow for £250 or evo on flow for £300 on pre order.

I am running front and rear maxle though.

GHill

rear maxle I would go for evo. 18bikes have them on pre-order, but the prices look about the same.

cavegiant

news to me, any info on them?

If they have fixed the flange spacing on the 150 they might be on my shopping list.

hoochylala

Out in late Jan AFAIK - new bearings are main change I think. Hope hoop builds will be comming with Evo's from Jan also.

Worked out nicely for me as I was able to grab some cheap Pro 2's

nicklouse

maybe they will have designed them right this time without stress risers built in.

Northwind

jon87uk wrote:

Have found standard pro II on flow for £250 or evo on flow for £300 on pre order.

I am running front and rear maxle though.

Don't get a Pro 2 rear if you plan on running a maxle, not really suitable. You can get away with it if you use a full-thickness maxle (ie Hadley or an older Maxle) but the axle needs the support so if you fit a Maxle Lite with the taper, you're likely to snap it.

It's a horrible bit of design, really no more than a bodge- when you feel one in your hand you realise why they break so much, there's nothing to them. It's the same externally as the QR version but with a bigger hole in the middle, and there's not enough material left afterwards. (actually it's a bit worse than this but it's a bit complicated to explain)

The new Evo should address that as it has larger ID bearings, allowing a suitably thick axle.

njee20

Lighter or heavier do we know? In QR format.

supersonic

I can't see the weights being that much different.

Upgrading Pro2 to full stainless bearings after market is not that expensive anyway, but of course it depends too on whether you want the better Maxle compatibilty.

Does the Pro3 FH have faster pick up?

bike-a-swan

What exactly is this problem with pro 2's and maxle lites? I've not heard this before...

njee20

Nah I can't see they'll be much different, but I want some Hoops for 'everyday' wheels, if the new ones are lighter I may as well wait!

Problem with Maxle is axles snap due to being too heavily machined.

bike-a-swan

So is the problem with the Maxle itself or the hub?

Northwind

bike-a-swan wrote:

What exactly is this problem with pro 2's and maxle lites? I've not heard this before...

Basically there's no metal in them. Hang on...







and so on. Some folks blame the maxle- old maxles were full 12mm all the way through, maxle lites taper in the middle, so the central bearing isn't supported by the maxle. But it's the weakness of the Hope axle that makes that a problem obviously. They do break with full thickness axles too but not as often.

ESHER SHORE

its not just Hope axles that have snapped with the Maxle Lite

DT Swiss and Reverse (using a cromoly steel) have also reported to have failed in regular use on DH bikes

bike-a-swan

Ah, that could be a problem and looks like shoddy design or over optimistic marketing to me. Are there aftermarket axles that are more appropriate? I think I've seen some 12mm on on superstar, any better? Not got any experience with through axles I'm afraid.

Northwind

Hope will still break sometimes with those but it's much better since the feeble axle is supported by the bolt-through.

cavegiant

Anyone know about flange spacing on the Evo 150?

The old 150 has thin flange spacing defeating the point of the 150.

Does anyone know if these flanges are spaced properly or just as stupidly?

Dick Scruttock

GHill wrote:

They're not out yet AFAIK.

Bearings should last longer and they won't snap rear maxles. Sounds good but I'd probably grab standard Pro IIs if you see a deal on them.

IIRC Rock Shox have done a recall on rear maxles to solve the issues people were having.

Northwind

No, they haven't. They did offer standard rear maxles as an exchange at some shows though. But since Hope axles will still happily break with those, it shows where the problem lies. Even the QR ones can snap, and you can see why when you look at where they snap- every other change of thickness is profiled off, that one they left as a stress riser.

Still, it's not a big complaint for such a versatile hub, love my Pro 2s. I wouldn't run a maxle pro 2 but then most folks don't need one, I certainly don't

jairaj

Is this Hope hub / Maxle issue only on the rear or does it affect the front hub too?

Northwind

Only ever on the rear, the front is spot on- all you change is the end caps, the hub internals stay the same on both versions. More or less what they're doing with the new rear hub I think actually.

Dick Scruttock

To: SRAM DI and OEM Customers
From: SRAM Technical Service
Re: MY11 Rear Maxle Lite Product Update
Date: August 2010
Valued SRAM Partners,
Beginning in September RockShox will be shipping an updated Rear Maxle Lite design with a consistent outer diameter
along the length of the shaft. This is being done to provide better compatibility with the various hub designs on the
market today. Concerns on the ease of installation, removal and support of centrally placed bearings have been raised
by some manufactures to SRAM. Our decision to make this change was not based any Rear Maxle Lite failures but in
the spirit of partnership with the global base of hub suppliers in making a product which best meets their design needs.
This is not a safety issue.

Northwind

Cheers, so no recall then

Dick Scruttock

Northwind wrote:

Cheers, so no recall then

Acknowledges the part the axle design has played in the failure of various hub axles other than just Hope hubs. It was a failure on Rock Shox design part.

Northwind

If you choose to read it that way, I suppose it could possibly say that

"Concerns on the <snip> support of centrally placed bearings have been raised
by some manufactures to SRAM. Our decision to make this change was not based any Rear Maxle Lite failures but in the spirit of partnership with the global base of hub suppliers "

So they're fixing DT and Hope's problem. Someone had to I guess since Hope never bothered to either fix it or warn customers.

pastey_boy

they need to make them lighter

Northwind

Anyone know if the spoke hole spacing is the same as the old ones? Could be very handy if they're a straight swap.

lawman

they look the same anyome know if the new axle will be compatible with older hubs??

Northwind

From what I understand, no, quite a different design- bigger bearings, fatter axles, and you swap axle size with endcaps not axles.