TriCross 'unbranded' freehub

[Hawk]

Hi all,

The stock freehub on my tricross 2012 has been playing up a bit lately (not catching consistently when I pedal).

I got in touch with my LBS, a Specialized Dealer who said they'd contact Specialized to source a replacement freehub as the stock hub is made to Specialized's own spec - the hub is incompatible with all other freehubs.

I have got an email back from the LBS reading effectively "we have called specialized and they have told us they don't make/distribute hubs on their own, if a clean doesn't fix it you'll need a new wheel".

This seems beyond ludicrous - that a firm as reknown as Specialized would make a fairly expensive bike with a non-standard part then fail to make available replacements for this part. So I'm wondering whether my LBS have got it wrong.

Alternatively, could it be that Spec haven't started distributing freehubs for their 2012 tricross because they're all still "new" so Spec aren't expecting them to fail yet?

I should mention the bike's still under warranty....

Would Spec customer service be any good if I got in touch direct?

 

[Soltydog]

Sounds like bullshit on someones part tbh. A year or two back the freehub on my Spesh Globe hybrid was playing up & my local Spesh dealer managed to get one from Spesh no probs. Shame the wheel died soon after I still have the newish freehub. Probably did no more than 500 miles on it, I could send it to you if you like just on the off chance that it does fit ??

 

[Hawk]

Thanks for your kind offer, I decided to contact Specialized UK support over it to see what's going on! Will keep your offer in mind if not, cheers

 

[gbb]

Am i imagining it or am i hearing more and more (well thats an exageration, but i have heard several times) people complaining about the hub life on their Specialized bikes...

 

[PpPete]

My bad experience of Spesh wheels was with a rim - and the laughably varying spoke tensions the factory used to produce a "true" wheel out of it. See if you can talk the LBS into giving you a wheel from a reputable manufacturer instead.

 

[Hawk]

Am i imagining it or am i hearing more and more (well thats an exageration, but i have heard several times) people complaining about the hub life on their Specialized bikes...

I've only got a bit under 1500 miles clocked.

That said, a good clean seems to have done the trick, flushing the freehub with a tonne of GT85 and then greasing it up a bit has got it back to good order. However I will be purchasing another freehub if I can, for future.

My bad experience of Spesh wheels was with a rim - and the laughably varying spoke tensions the factory used to produce a "true" wheel out of it. See if you can talk the LBS into giving you a wheel from a reputable manufacturer instead.

Not in a position to be able to afford new wheels :-(

 

[amaferanga]

They're probably generic hubs so you just need to find out who makes them - maybe Specialized don't want to say because they know they're really low quality? Probably Novatec (good) or Quando (bad) or similar. If you measure up the dimension of the hub you might be able to find a replacement hub, which will probably be no more than the cost of a replacement freehub since freehub's are usually disproportionately expensive.

 

[Hawk]

For the reference of anyone searching this on google (this was the top result when I searched it again a few days ago!), here is some communication from Specialized


"Hello,

Freehubs are generally specific a particular hub i.e Shimano has numerous different freehubs for all their different hubs. At the moment we haven t got stock of one of our freehubs, however anyone suffering with freehub problems is receiving a new upgraded wheelset. I think there has been some mix up in communication with [my LBS] but the supplying dealer will be able to remedy this problem.

Many thanks


Alex Boyle"

Many thanks for your timely response.

Will it be possible to purchase this freehub in future?

Cleaning my freehub seems to have resolved these problems for now but I am now concerned it may fail in a few months time outside my warranty period, thus leaving me with the bill for a new wheelset as I cannot simply purchase a freehub?

Thanks
anton

HI,

The replacement freehub will be approx 2 months.

The warranty is 1 year so well within that time frame.

Many thanks


Alex Boyle

Now a happy customer again :-)

 

[Nebulous]

Am i imagining it or am i hearing more and more (well thats an exageration, but i have heard several times) people complaining about the hub life on their Specialized bikes...

Yes there certainly is a problem. I have a 2010 allez and nursed the hub along for a while by dripping oil into the freehub. I eventually bought new wheels. Removing the hub / wheel bearings is unnecessarily complicated as well.

 

[Hawk]

Just an update

My rear derailleur snapped a while ago as I was coming home. Not the hanger, the actual derailleur itself.

The LBS (not a spec dealer) firstly was surprised that the bike came with a short range derailleur, for a 12-26 cassette. The new one they put on was a medium range. I have no idea whether a short was enough though...

Secondly, the LBS noted some serious play in my freehub (this must've appeared recently as I was checking it regularly). In other words, new hub (or rather, in the case of Spec warranty - new wheelset) time.

I took it to another small-ish LBS that was a Specialized dealer in my area who, under warranty, changed the wheelset on to some Mavic CXP22 rims. Might even be a decent hub on it now, haven't looked.

So top notch customer service - but why not just put decent hubs/rims in in the first place, surely it must cost them more to have to upgrade wheelsets than just to put fractionally more decent (or even just standardised) parts in when produced....