Servicing Mavic Crossmax SL Hubs (2006)

I think I may need to service my 2006 Mavic Crossmax SL hubs. While riding recently, I noticed an abnormal howling noise that was coming from one of my wheels while coasting/braking at medium to high speeds. The howling did not occur while pedaling. I also think that there may be a very slight amount of play in the cranks when going from not pedaling to pedaling - this is very slight (probably less than 1/4 of a centimeter), but it is as if something is not engaging as quick as it should.

Do you think that these issues are related to my hubs needing a service? I bought the wheels about a year and a half ago, but since I have a couple other sets, they probably have less than 500 miles on them.

If it is a service issue, do I need the front and rear serviced, or just the rear? I'd love to hear from someone who is familiar with this wheelset
and with servicing it. Today, I bought the freehub/pall/bearing kit just in case I need to do more than just a cleaning and lube.

Thank you in advance,

Eric

 

Really carefully check the spindle side of the hub. Make sure that there are no grooves cut into the spindle side of the hub. If there is, you are ready for a new hub. Otherwise, the problem will repeat relatively soon. Also check the white bushing that is pressed into the freehub body to make sure that there are no visible contaminants, or grittyness to it. Believe me, I found this out the hard way.... Good Luck!

 

I am familiar with the howling noise. Your rear hub needs service. Check for play and roughness in the axles. If they are smooth and tight, I would just proceed with servicing the rear hub.

 

http://roguemechanic.typepad.com/roguemechanic/2007/09/roguemechanic-m.html

http://roguemechanic.typepad.com/roguemechanic/2007/09/roguemechanic-1.html

Check for horizontal play in the cassette/freehub, that's indicative of the seal going south.

I've had good luck using Phil Wood Tenacious Oil to lube the ratchet/pawl and freehub seal. Mavic recommends Mineral Oil, but IMO it's way too thin. It does cause the freehub to drag a bit more, but I'll take a little extra drag for the increased longevity - My SL's have about 300 miles on them and the freehub seal looks brand new still.

 

You might also want to check your bearings while you are at it. Just open up the orange or black seals with a sharp thin knife, clean and put new grease into the sealed bearings. There are 2 for the front, and 3 for the rear I believe.

By the way, where did you get the freehub kit?

 

Thank you for the responses so far. I watched the video and it looks like a fairly easy repair.

I have horizontal play when I wiggle my cassette on the sides, but nowhere near as much as I see in the video. Mine wiggles maybe 1 mm each way. Is this enough to justify replacing the freehub?

Also, I didn't hear the rogue mechanic say anything about replacing the bearings on the hub shaft (nose). Are those items something that you don't replace every time you replace the freehub?

Eric

 

That also happened to my 06 SL's. Had a new freehub body. Bearings also recently seized (all of this on the rear wheel btw) and replaced. Not so bad considering the mileage I put on them.

 

Simple service usually solve the problem.

You may need also a freehub bearing for the howling.
If you in LA, you can stop by for quick on spot service.
:wave:

 

Thank you everyone for the great information.

I opened up my rear hub last night and cleaned/relubed all of the parts. I even repacked the drive-side bearing, as one of you suggested. I left the non-drive-side bearing alone, as I wasn't sure how tight to tighten the cap after reinstallation (I have read that if you over tighten, you can blow out the bearings).

The freehub assembly and hub area had some dirty and grime in it, but it really wasn't that bad. The inside of the drive-side bearing was very clean, but I added some grease to it, as it looked a little bit low.

I'll give it a ride tonight and see how things go. If I get the howl again, I plan to replace the freehub, pawls, springs and both hub bearings (the third bearing the people mention is included in the freehub).

As far as casette wiggle, it is wiggling a tiny bit, but it is nowhere close to what that cassette was doing in the rogue mechanic video. It probably moves back and forth 1/2 to 1 mm. I compared it to two of my other bikes:

My very high-mileage Specialized S-works hub with XTR cassette - very, very solid with zero wiggle

A SRAM cassette on a set of low-mileage Mavic Crossride wheels - about half of the wiggle that my Crossmax SL setup currently has.

Eric

 

Eric,

My cassette/freehub doesn't wiggle at all. Are you sure its the freehub and not the cassette that is worn down? You might want to try another or new cassette to see if it wiggles before replacing it.

The manual says that you should tighten the bearings to handtight, and then 1/4 turn the other way. You need to do this with the QR already tightened.

 

Hi Eric and All
I just read about your Mavic rear hub issue. The problem with your hub is that the inner freehub bushing has worn out. The noise is caused by the harmonics of the freehub\bushing hitting the axle housing. Until now the only solution was to buy a new freehub from Mavic. I've developed a bearing replacement kit that duplicates the material, fit and function of the worn bushing and you get the outer ball bearing as well. It's called the Mavic Hub Doctor. I'll have my website launched soon (hubdoctor.com) but for now you can purchase it on MTBR, roadbikereview and craigslist (orange county) and Ebay. Here's a video on how to open the rear hub, http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Overhaul-a-Mavic-Free-Hub-66770606 The hub is fully rebuildable and it's cost effective at only $22 shipped!

Cheers!

Jeroen

 

I coincidentally emailed HBEric your ad in craigslist a couple of days ago for your service kit.

 

Dustcloud,

Thank you for the info on the kit and the link to the video. When my hub is ready for its next service, I'll look you up.

Eric

 

I have the same wheelset and the same thing happened to my rear wheel. I was coming down Rock-It and all of a sudden I hear this horrendous BRRRR sound coming from my rear wheel. The Path guys took it apart and found that the pahls (sp?) were fried. Apparently, this is a common problem with this wheelset since the hubs are sealed with only 4 plastic pahls. They're a racing wheelset so not as ruggedly built-- just need to service them more often. Once they replaced the pahls and regreased the bearings I was good to go.