Questioning those who may have sheered their axle on the i9 hydras. Curious if you think this is premature wear? Either way, I’m going to reach out to the manufacturer to see. Wheels purchased early 2023.
by wakevictim
Questioning those who may have sheered their axle on the i9 hydras. Curious if you think this is premature wear? Either way, I’m going to reach out to the manufacturer to see. Wheels purchased early 2023.
by wakevictim
6 Comments
Why is the hub covered in black grease? There should only be a light amount of lubricant in there.
superficial. every axle from every hub i’ve ever owned looks like that after a few years.
Reach out and ask, although any axle not broken into pieces from i9 is not overly worn 😉
They have had a history of axles prematurely snapping/breaking, they have re-designed them and addressed the problems now though. The weak point on them that breaks is not where the wear you are asking about though. I’m just being snarky.
IME, it doesn’t break there. It breaks where the axle meets the bearing by the drive ring (at the bottom of your picture, covered in grease).
The main thing you want to look for are micro cracks parallel with the axle lengthwise. Circular rub marks like these is normal wear.
That much black in your grease I would worry something is wearing badly. The common one (that I experienced recently) is the pawl sockets wearing and expanding. They then get increased play which can cascade. In my case it manifested like this:
https://preview.redd.it/tc8dmxsw8ktf1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=bb7513b56ef9ec09312b8b8a4b47d7d66f668ee0
Notice the extra space around the pawls. This is a common failure mode for hydras and was one of the reasons for the redesign in hydra 2. I have lots of thoughts on the design choices behind this hub (especially the continual pawl phasing and the way the hub relies on play/strain to engage multiple pawls), and I’m skeptical that the redesign will have fixed this particular issue.
I think the shell wear also triggered wear in my axle. That manifested as play between the axle and drive side hub bearing, to the extent that the inner race wasn’t engaging with the axle at all (the axle spun freely within the bearing).
Unfortunately I was outside the 2 y hub warranty, althiugh to i9’s credit they replaced my axle and bearings under warranty (since I had the old style axle) and gave me a crash replacement price on a new freehub.
I9 hydra (1st gen) axles are notorious for fretting and breaking. The axles flex and cause the inner race of the bearing to dig in. The bearings develop play. The axle flexes more. Given enough flex and play, the pawls skip, get dislodged, and lunch themselves. Unless there’s someone making a stronger aftermarket axle, then the only way to prevent this is to regularly inspect your hub guts and replace the axle if it looks worn. Using the recommended fhb lube is always recommended, but it’s not some miracle fix