Claiming warranty on Easton Havoc DH wheels on my third ride :(

Well, you guys were right. My Easton Havoc DH rear hub has developed a click and play after only 3 days of riding.

I wish it were because I was such a mondo big air kinda guy. But am not.

Wrote Easton and waiting on reply. I'm not covered under the M1 bearing replacement program as my hubs have a different model number.

We shall see how this goes

 

I was talking trash on these hubs on str a few weeks back.

 

Yeah, thats weak shit, if they cant handle a couple of cased jumps.

 

ahhh so thats why these wheels are so cheap on jenson!

 

I know, right? I took a calculated risk. If Easton doesn't address the issue, from previous reports, it's a weak bearing choice by the factory. I'll just have to go into surgery and replace a bearing on the cassette side. Hopefully it's not a proprietary size.

 

That sux. I have a pair of Havoc's that are probably about 7 years old. The cones tend to loosen up which leads to play in the freehub.

 

The new hubs have the same issue.

 

Put in an Enduro bearing on the cassette side that had a little play and all is well. It survived a weekend in Big Bear without play, so I have my fingers crossed.

 

Ugh!!! Going on to the 4th freehub

So the week be for last my freehub started making some horrible grinding noise so last weekend I decided to pull it apart and take a look. When I pulled off the cone the dust seal and the bearing retainer to the freehub came out with it. I thought, "No big deal. I have a freehub with good bearings in it just the pawls are bad." So I pull the bearing out of the old freehub with no problems but when I go to tap out the bearings out of the existing freehub the rear bearing breaks apart. The inner race, bearings and retainer come flying out. I look into the freehub body and the outer race is snapped down the middle in two pieces, leaving me with two rings wedged in the freehub body with no way of getting them out.

So much for saving a few bucks. I guess I'm onto number 4 freehub :-s

 

Always listen to Gabe... well, at least when it comes to equipment.

Edit: Let me clarify - bicycle equipment. :clap:

 

DT Swiss. There is no substitute.

 

Unfortunately, I don't want to spend the money on new wheels since I'm hoping to be able to buy a new bike sooner or later and it'll probably have to be a 27.5

I've got a set of DT/Hugi Onyx hubs on my other bike that I've had since 2001 (the hubs, not the bike). I've had to rebuild the freehub 4 times. It was partially many fault that I had to rebuild it so many times. I didn't know that they updated the internals. So I kept on using the same race which was not working with the rest of the internals. Ever since I did it correctly I haven't had a problem. That was about 4 years ago.

Actually, I would like to try the Sram Rail 50, which uses DT internals.
Tell me these pawls don't look beefy...

 

Star ratchet. Quiet, quick engagement, easy and inexpensive to replace - tool free. Only necessary to replace after 250 or so rides. As for the rims, ask Aaron Gwin.

 

Um, yes, RhoJoe is right, axial freeplay. Ouch, Hertzalotz says service after 2/3 year, ouch, ouch. I destroy rear ratchet hubs, the bike barn is full of bad wheels. Like drugs they suffer years of constant abuse. By far the most common breakdown for me.
Happy trails

But I keep my bikes running a long time

 

Actually, my buddy has a set of prototype hubs with one way bearings instead of pawls or a clutch. It's the sweetest freehub I've ever seen. There's no ratchet sound, they're perfectly quiet. They spin forever because there's only bearing drag and they have instantaneous engagement. And when I say instantaneous, I mean nada, nothing, zilch absolutely no lash what so ever.

I predict when these hit the market, they're gonna be huge and this guy is gonna be an instant millionaire.

 

Like these: http://www.trueprecisioncomponents.com/tpc-products/mtb-rear-hub/

 

Yep. I didn't realize that they've been out for 10 years. I guess I'm not as hip as I thought. Well, he told me they were prototypes. I guess he was yanking my chain.
I'll tell you what, I still want a set. I can't believe they haven't taken off.

 

So 4 rebuilds in 13 years using outdated parts. No rebuilds in 4 years with updated parts. Not Bad!

 

Just a fair warning, Easton seems to be in a transition phase, so warranties and tech support might be a little slow. They're now run by Race Face. As time goes by, I hope this is a good thing, but we'll see. As far as DT hubs, they're excellent, except changing bearings can be a pain because they do require a special tool.

 

Ah... That's why I couldn't get a hold of anyone. I called at least 8 times yesterday. Each time it went to a full mailbox.