# Reviews on Hubdoctor Bearing for Mavic Hubs?



## TiCoyote (Jun 28, 2005)

Does anyone here have any experience with replacing the Bushing in their Mavic freehub with a Hubdoctor bearing? 

On a side note, why does Mavic use the bushing instead of a bearing? Is it just a money and weight saving thing, or does it offer some sort of performance benefit?


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## Tachycardic (Mar 31, 2013)

I stumbled on this tread while doing some research on the HubDoctor bearing upgrade and I'm a little surprised that no one has chimed in on this yet. Anyways, if you have bought and installed the bearing, I would love to hear about your experiences with it. 

As for the bushing thing, I too questioned why it was used over the bearing. I think I may have found the answer over at VeloNews. Leonrad Zinn posted this in 2006 and was updated in 2010:

I thought I’d jump in and explain about that inboard plastic bushing instead of a real bearing. I got the scoop on it when I was up at a Mavic 2007 MTB product intro in Whistler in July and wrote the following about it as part of a longer article for the VeloNews print magazine: Mavic has a solution for high freehub wear rate. The FTS-X freehub system retains the bushings so often complained about but reduces wear on them with harder pawls. Mavic points out that its two-pawl FTS system is a very good freehub system only in need of a bit of tweaking. It’s efficient and stiff, being a part of the hub body supported by bearings near either end of the axle, rather than being a separate part with correspondingly inboard bearing support. It is extremely simple to disassemble, clean, maintain and reassemble.


The bushing on the inboard interior end of the freehub body that riders who have had problems assume is a cheap substitute for a bearing is actually far superior to a bearing and is not the cause of freehub failure at all, according to Mavic. Loaded up to 400 kg under the pedaling force of many riders is no problem for it, as it can withstand almost a ton of load without distorting, whereas a bearing can be damaged with a 300 kg load applied to it. It’s 40 grams lighter than a bearing, and when freewheeling, there is no load on the bushing and hence no friction (and it’s as slick as Teflon to boot).


So what’s been the problem? Over the years, Mavic has upped the hardness of its freehub bodies without increasing the hardness of the pawls, which can wear away and generate fine steel dust capable of grinding down the bushing. Furthermore, the thread-in axle stub can loosen up. And finally, the chain can drop onto the chainstay when freewheeling because the friction of the freehub is so high, not due to bushings or bearings, but due to a sticky lip seal.


In going from the current FTS-L system to FTS-X, Mavic has made the pawls of harder steel and applied threadlock (good for six disassemblies before applying new Loctite) to the axle end screw threads. The new pawls, being so hard, could not be forged with the little tabs to hold them in place, so those tabs are now on snap-on plastic pieces. Mavic has also created a new lip seal made of softer material with a slick surface treatment to reduce frictional drag by 50 percent.


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## TiCoyote (Jun 28, 2005)

This is a great post! Thanks for your research!


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## Tachycardic (Mar 31, 2013)

No problem...researching stuff like this is more enjoyable then research from work  So, did you get the upgrade?


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## TiCoyote (Jun 28, 2005)

No, the hub wasn't really ready for it. I cleaned it out, lubed it, and it runs like new. But I always had a sneaking suspicion that, like you pointed out, Mavic knew what they were doing when they designed it, and any "improvement" would come with side-effects.


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## Tachycardic (Mar 31, 2013)

I decided not to buy also as my plastic bushing was in good shape also. Maybe it's just the critic in me, but I still think the double bearing design is better. Mavic had double bearings in their older (pre-2003) freehubs I believe. I think the greatest advantage is the weight savings, which in real life has no bearing on how fast you will ride. However, in order look good with advertising, they went with this route and shaved about 40 grams. Mavic states that fine steel dust will eventually degrade this bushing, but this is unavoidable as this dust is caused by normal riding.

I would prefer if they just replaced the bushing with a bearing, lightened the rim and added more spokes. Oh wait, countless other manufacturers are doing that  Anyways, like you said, Mavic engineered the freehub this way and it seems to work for the riding most people do.


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## jrabenaldt (Mar 3, 2008)

I have used the Hubdoctor bearing in C29ssmax wheels on my MTB. I was having to service the hub more and more often and the conditions were not part of the problem. 

The bearing has been very good so far. I put about 1.5K on those wheels prior to putting them on my son's bike.


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## LosGatosRider (Feb 1, 2011)

*Aftermarket replacement for Mavic freehub bushing*

This thread has been inactive for quite a while, but as an owner of a 2011 Ksyrium SL wheelset, I'm wrestling with this issue now. Any input appreciated!

I'm about to self-service my freehub for the first time since I bought the wheels in 2011 - over 11,000 miles. My cassette does exhibit some amount of rocking, and I suspect that the plastic bushing needs to be replaced (probably for some time now!).

In my web meanderings, I came across an outfit on eBay that makes aftermarket replacement parts (in the USA) for this bushing. They are called WCM. To find them on eBay, search: "Mavic Ksyrium Freehub BUSHING - Freewheel/Hub/plastic". 

The part itself is US$12.95, so for that money I went ahead and ordered one. I've also asked the seller if they can confirm that their part conforms to Mavic's specs for geometrical tolerance, and if it's made from the same polymer material. I'm pretty sure I won't get an answer. 

tl;dr: Does anyone have experience with this part? *(Mavic Ksyrium Freehub BUSHING - Freewheel/Hub/plastic - Made in USA by WCM)*
Does it hold up as well as the Mavic OEM bushing? Thanks!


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