Hope Pro 3 Rear - Bearings

Gurner

Morning guys and girls.

Last night I was tinkering with a wheel I built based on the Hope Pro 3. I must have put at least 2,000 miles on this, but the bearings still feel "sticky" even when not loaded i.e they are perfectly smooth but it's more like turning them in margarine than water.

The front is much lighter, but I'm wondering if this is a function of there being 4 bearings rather than 2 in the rear? Does anyone have similar experiences?

ellj22

Yes, I find there is quite a lot of drag in my Hope pro 3 rear hub.

There are a few factors that generate this drag. firstly compression on the bearings if effected by QR clamping force unlike the front which has allen key preload. There is twice as many bearings and therefore more seal drag and friction. Also there are more parts which make up the rear hub which can mean more chance off small amounts of misalignment due to manufacturing tolerances. Then you have extra drag when freewheeling due to the pawl mechanism and extra seal between freehub and hub body.

One thing worth checking is that the big plastic washer behind the freehub is seated correctly, this can be dislodged if the freehub is removed without removing the cassette first (as it cannot be located properly when re-installed).

To reduce drag you can fill the bearings with a low viscosity grease, oil the o-ring seals and a a small dab of low viscosity oil in with the pawls.

Hope this helps.

ugo.santalucia

It is due to the 4 instead of two bearings... Normal in all hubs

Gurner

Thanks for the feedback guys, I just wanted to see what other's experience was with the same hub.

ugo.santalucia

Gurner wrote:

Thanks for the feedback guys, I just wanted to see what other's experience was with the same hub.

ALL hubs are like that... if they are not, they need lubrication

maddog 2

I had tight bearings in a Pro3 - turned out the hub shell was undersized a fraction, thereby squashing the bearings slightly. I had to wet&dry the hub shell a bit to free them up.