Myself and several of my friends have also had the rear hub-axle break right where it extends into the freehub body. One day you pull the rear wheel off and the cassette just falls to the floor. For a “high spec” hub they require a lot of continuous maintenance and money to keep working. I’ll never buy i9 hubs again.
PSA: I have to replace my industry 9 Hydra rear hub bearings every 600-800 miles.
byu/Shredding_Spree inMTB
by Shredding_Spree
23 Comments
I9 hubs are awesome… except that they break more than any other ~~high-quality~~ high-end hub. The amount of broken I9 hubs that come through my shop each season is staggering.
I have a couple sets of Industry Nine Hydra’s. I have warrantied both axles and gotten the new style with the larger shoulder. I also ended up buying the Industry Nine bearing press kit, it was like $49 and I can quickly service everything. I don’t mind it and it is enjoyable to do. I have only had one axle completely fail on a ride. You usually can feel symptoms first, the cassette will start to “snag” when descending or when landing, it feels like the clutch has given out. Either way, I love them and ride year-round in the PNW so bearing replacement is kind of just a way of life haha!
Cup and cone master race. Hubs fucked? Just add more grease and tighten er up
I have about 780 miles on mine and haven’t had any issues. Maybe I got lucky?
Well, Shit..700 miles on my Spot and they feel great. Coming off joy from Project 321, Chris King and White Industries….assumed they would be similar.
Onyx hubs have been absolutely fantastic for me, can’t recommend them enough.
Rather hear music on the trail instead of those hubs
Try this: I pull the cover seal off the bearings and coat them with as much PT HPG-1 grease as it will hold with the seals reinstalled – i’ve had much longer bearing life as a result. I do this for all bearings cause the stock grease often gets skimped on or is low quality.
I know we are all supposed to love i9, I’ve had terrible luck with them and they’ve made me a loyal DT Swiss guy.
I’ve had good luck with my spank hex hubs.
My Hopes and DTs have never let me down
I have 3 hydros, each with over 1000 miles and I’ve never had to do a single bearing. Are you powerwashing directly into the hub or something? Or car roost onto a bike rack?
Have your LBS send it back to I9. Their warranties are awesome. If the shell is out of spec they will rebuild the wheel to a new hub.
I am sure people here already know that Pinner makes a steel axle for hydras.
I am not a fan of hydra hubs. I don’t like the drag or the noise.
I’ve got about 2200 miles on mine, no bearing issues, snapped the old design inner axle sleeve a few 100 miles ago though.
New DT Swiss 240 hubs have more tooth and higher engagement, could be a good alternative.
I love i9s on paper, but still prefer DT350s for stupid simple maintenance and durability.
I hear these claims of “expensive product X is trash, I rebuild it all the time”. Normally from someone that rides like a hack, and torches their rear wheel 4-6 times a year, but hubs and frame bearings are another area that people grouse about. And the problem ain’t the company that made it. It’s either an operator or else a mechanic issue.
I’ve had multiple sets of i9 hub wheels and never had issues like this. Something in the rear end of that bike ain’t right – which could include the machining of the hub shell. Having to replace bearings that often means you should fix the root cause. If it is the machining of the hub shell, i9 would 100% replace it under warranty. Shit happens.
It also very well could be the user washing their bike every ride. Had a few of “those guys”. “why do I have to replace the pivot bearings twice per year?”. Because you dust your bike with a pressure washer, that’s why.
I have always stuck with CK, DT, and White Industries. I have heard good stuff about I9 but I have heard more bad than good. This and the comments sorta solidifies what I’ve heard.
Since we’re all giving anecdotal evidence, I’ve had a set of Torches and two sets of Hydras over the past several years. Pushing 10k miles total, never once broken an axle, ride relatively hard, and I’m well over 200lbs riding weight. Maybe I’m lucky, maybe others unlucky, idk.
See if you can find some full complement bearings of that size. Normally the ball bearings have a cage inside to keep them spaced out evenly. Full complement bearings have as many bearing balls as can physically fit inside the race, usually about 70% more bearings per race. My LBS recommended them when I was rebuilding the hub for my BMX, I would wager they might help here for your wear issues if you use them on the drive side.
Are all your wheels Berd? I wonder if the increased compliance is transferring more uneven stress onto the drive side bearings. The key to Hydra’s engagement is one pawl to catches, and then I think 2 more catch as the axle flexes under load. Maybe there’s just enough more flex that it’s really wearing on that bearing.
I’m considering a set of Berd wheels but even though I have two other bikes with Hydras which I love, I’m concerned about the longevity and may just go with the Talon hubs.
Why I never got I9s. Too expensive while I’m running DT Swiss 240s for 17 years now. My newest bikes continue with this, although I branched into the Mavic ID360 hubs which are actually awesome. My original 240s hubs are still on the original bearings. My current 240 hubs are on daily singlespeed/commuting/gravel/weekend excursion duty. I’m hauling gear around and have never had a failure or anything. The DEG DT Swiss hubs are interesting, but I’ve not had an issue with these, plus the Mavic hubs are made bigger, though the ratchet rings are somewhat similar in size to DT Swiss. My singlespeed has now like 9000km on it without anything, even maintenance.
If I went for something else, it would likely be the Spank Hex over I9.