Originally Posted by
coachboyd
There are two freehub bearings and two bearings inside the hub. There is a spot where two bearings touch and having the bearing underneath the pawls means the freehub also has the bearings spaced out as far as possible. If both of the bearings are located on the right side of the freehub body then the left side of the freehub body (where the pawls are) can have a little bit of play in it. With our current design (and most hub designs) having the freehub spin over top of a bearing instead if a bushing is better for longevity. I know Mavic has had the bushing design around for a while and there have been a lot of reports of people having issues with that system.
Makes sense. Where pawls engage has the highest radial load to the axle and having a bearing under the pawls would be a more robust design.
When you say play, you are referring to radial clearance. For those interested, in any design the farther outboard the supportive bearings, the better restraint of the hub or freehub or any body relative to the axle. Because there is freedom between a wheel hub and freehub, ideally you want the bearings as far outboard as possible for each. Having inboard bearings or bushings in particular is particularly problematic on a freehub because of asymmetric loading of the cassette/freehub by change in chainline. An unrelated wheel analogy but cycling related is...why outboard bearing cranks work so well.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge here Boyd.