I've used it and never had this issue. If I remember, there is a thin washer that needs to be installed as part of the original mavic assembly. Leaving out this washer can cause the symptoms you describe. This is independent of the hubdoctor stuff.

Thanks for the reply.

Yep, I've definitely got that little standard washer that sits in between the hub and freehub bearings in place. Without that you get a whole load of drag at that interface and the freehub can bottom-out on the hub too. I'm pretty sure that's not the issue, I was playing around with it quite a bit earlier and it just seems like the seal between the Hubdoctor Freehub Adapter and the hub body is too tight. I'm hoping it'll ease up after a few rides.

Out of curiosity, what lube do you run in yours with the Hubdoctor Pro system? A lot of people recommended Shimano Mineral Oil for the standard freehub, but I found that way too light to keep that nylon bushing lubed for any decent length of time, so I used to err on the side of caution and use something slightly thicker. I might go back and give it a try again with the Hubdoctor bearing and see how it goes.

I used Mobil one 0w-30 synthetic. Nice and slippery. I use the past tense because I gave up on those wheels and their substandard hub design several years ago.

Maybe you have not fully seated the seal or installed it backwards?
Do't worry about it though, the rim won't make it to the end of the first cassette without cracking the rim and the spoke pulling out.

Haha, there's a lot of cynicism regarding Mavic wheels on here! So far this set has seen me through 13,000 km of riding on awful British roads through several awful British winters, tours through the Alps and Pyrenees and some serious abuse over the cobbles of Belgium and Northern France. Apart from regular maintenance, this is the first major issue I've had with them; I'm pretty happy with that performance, so I thought the Hubdoctor Pro Bearing Kit would be a worthwhile investment.

Having said that, I've just gone back to my bike after it's just been standing there for a few hours and the seal drag has become a hell of a lot worse and now it's kind of whining when it freewheels. Stripped it down again and the seal hasn't dried out, so I can only imagine that the oil that I've used has soaked into the rubber and caused it to swell. Does that sound like a realistic possibility? I've taken the seal out again for now and again it's freewheeling like a dream, but I'm not so keen on the idea of running it without a seal for any length of time.

Any further recommendations for freehub and/or seal lube for this kit would be greatly appreciated!

If it is the seal, a drop of oil should quieten it or at least change it.
What freehub body do you have?

You've had better luck than me, my rim is screwed and only after one chain.
Quality can be somewhat variable, just google mavic freehub or ksyrium cracked rim.

At least I have had zero problems with my freehub.
My friends MTB has had endless bearing problems on his rear wheel though.
Last Mavic I buy.

I've just got a standard Mavic Shimano freehub body but I've installed the HubDoctor Pro Freehub Adapter, which ditches the standard seal behind the freehub (because this space is used by the adapter) and has a different one that seals with the hub around the outside edge. It might not be too clear without having seen it in real life, but it's the black ring around the outside of the aluminium insert here:



As I said, I lubed this thoroughly when installing but it really seems as though the oil I've used has caused it to swell and cause an insane amount of drag. It's just a synthetic 5W motorbike engine oil but apparently not compatible with the rubber used in this seal.

  Several folks herein describe issues with the seal rubbing, and many have used non-standard lubes, which may affect the rubber. Mineral oil is described as preferable, but Dumonde Freewheel oil is perhaps the most widely available version. OTC "mineral oil" from pharmacies may not be at all the same, and is not recommended; Shimano hydraulic fluid is the same sort of oil, and might work. DOT fluid, as well as most auto oils, is not at all safe, because they may swell rubber. The only other material I have played with is the Sil-Glyde for disc brake slides, that is approved for the rubber boots. I may apply a very thin coat onto the back of the freewheel inner bushing, which rubs against the inner seal, but then just use the Dumonde somewhat sparingly on the bushing and the pawls. The essential issue with the Mavic design is frequency of cleaning and re-lubing, but the Hubdoctor replacements have become a solid cottage industry for the man, and he deserves the business as no one, especially Mavic itself, has put the time and due diligence in to remedying a chronic and pervasive shortcoming of a product.

Sure, Mavic's design leaves something to be desired, but it's one that they've persisted with for a long time now. At least it's easy to service, but obviously that requires you do bedligent with maintenance.

As for a preferred lube, as per my above experiences, I would strongly recommend against using mineral oil, at least of the Shimano variety. I have since come across the same issue with that particular oil drastically swelling rubber components, namely the rubber plunger-seal on a syringe that I was trying to use to bleed my hydraulic brakes; this particular seal was made of a similar "soft" black rubber and became very obviously swollen and misshapen when exposed to the Shimano mineral oil and this made me a lot more confident in my initial suspicions that this was my principle issue with the seal in the HubDoctor Pro kit.

Unfortunately, the Mavic Ksyriums that I installed this on have since been relegated to turbo-trainer duties because of severely worn rims, so I never really had the opportunity to put the freehub kit through its paces, but I would still tenatively recommend it with the recognition that it still requires a bit of user steup and maintenance.