New Freehub Body for XC Rear Hub

After servicing the bike the other day here it was obviously time for a new freehub body for the Hope XC rear hub.  Surprisingly the new freehub shell/ body wasn't actually that expensive, £38 or so including the pawls and springs (and two 6016 bearings).  Got a decent price at ukbikestore - always found them to be very very good on the rare occasions that I've used them, should use them more really, very good place, highly recommended.

The new freehub arrived within a day of ordering it (excellent as always from ukbikestore):

The new hub came with the springs/pawls held in place with a zip tie.  They also came with a good blob of the famous Hope blue grease (forget the brand of it now, found out once by searching but forgotten long ago). 

Old vs New:

Anyway... fitted the hub initially just to see how it rode without any extra grease on, and it was super clicky / super smooth as expected. :)

The following day I decided to repack it with my usual grease - which is Silkolene Pro NG2, a racing / motobike grease which is very thick and viscous but very smooth and works really well at high temperatures.  The temperature 'thing' or the fact it's 'racing' grease didn't really play any part in my decision to use this grease, really the fact is I bought it once from a place called Jervis in Ripley near Derby just on a whim, and it's lasted me a good 10-15 years now (500g tub) and always been very good, very easy to apply, and smells good - always a bonus. :)  Actually I need some more of this now... I did think about trying some different general purpose grease, but this stuff has been so good I don't think I'll faff around looking for anything else, this stuff just does the job really well.

So ... I repacked the hub with a huge amount of grease - I tend to pack grease into every possible void - inside the freehub to pack out the bearings inside, a large dob of grease on each pawl 'socket' (which is great for holding the spring/pawls in place whilst you re-fit the freehub into the hub), a good smearing inside the ratchet 'race' (where the pawl's engage with the 'teeth' inside the hub) - and then finally refit the freehub into the hub body, pushing down all the grease so it oozes out.  Snap on the retaining 'flanges' and then once over with a rag to clear up the excess grease (actually for anything involving grease I use this super strong workshop paper roll, it's a bit like super thick kitchen roll and is perfect for anything where you're covered in grease!).

Gave it a test ride the other day and it's brillian, very very smooth and so silent it's untrue (which for Hope hubs is quite something, they are renowned for being some of the loudest hubs on the market).  Jobs a good un, should last another 10yrs hopefully. :)

Crank ring bolts falling off / Hope rear hub servicing

First post for a while, not a lot to report really, the Surly has been ticking over very nicely and has been in constant use since building it, very happy indeed.

First issue came up today when I noticed a creaking noise around the bottom bracket... initially sounded like the usual highly irritating "bottom bracket vs pedals mystery creaking noise" that inevitably comes up on any / all bikes (where occasionally it seems impossible to work out whether it's the bottom brank or the pedals causing the noise!)... however when I inspected it closer it turned out to be the Middleburn chainring bolts that had come loose.

The middle and outer chainrings had worked their way loose, thankfully not loose enough to come off completely, but still needed a good tightening (was loose enough to remove by hand though so loose enough!).

Anyway, no big drama, was a good opportunity to take the chainrings off and give the crankset a good clean.

At the same time I went over the whole bike and gave it a proper clean / service / inspection.  In the process I found that the Hope hub on the rear wheel is starting to get a bit gacked up, took it apart and gave it a good clean, but the palls and springs are starting to show some wear, as is the steel block:

 

 So, .. they need changing I think.  I COULD just put them back on and they would probably be OK for another few months / years (probably!) but ... I did start thinking about how long they'd been on the bike already the Hope hubs... and to be honest I couldn't remember off the top of my head.

So I did some digging just now and came across some pictures I took of the hub when I originally purchased it - amazing from almost exactly 10 years to the day (July 16th 2004):

It was actually laced with a Mavic XC717 rim, a leightweight XC rim / wheel setup that I purchased I think from Stifsports for about £100 or so.  Actually oddly I just checked and I purchased the wheel in December 2004, so no idea how I've got that ^ picture above allegedly taken in July 2004?!  Odd, must have been the date set incorrectly on the camera.

Anyway... still, getting on for 10yrs.  Will try and source a new block and pawls/springs... should do the bearings as well but meh such a faff... have to see.

Also found this rather funky picture of my old Marin from back around that time in 2004: