Pro II safe cassettes

Pete-C

Done a bit of searching on the forum and it seems only the XT/XTR or PG990 cassettes will not chew through the freehub of a Pro II. I cant really aford to spend another £55 on top of the wheelbuild so is there any cheaper options?

nicklouse

a 50/60 pound steel freehub body.

Or let the cassette eat into the alloy body and replace it later.

The Big Cheese

Not that I am aware of, I think the carriers only start to become allu rather than steel at the XT level, and at SRAM level it (I think) is the PG-980... as they are pretty much the only suppliers of benchmark cassette I think that's your only option (that I am aware of)

Hope freehubs can be damaged very easily by steel carriers - it's a cheaper option to buy the cassette rather than freehubs

Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings

Pete-C

hmm looks like the new cassette is the most economical choice, although that does mean a new chain as well. thanks guys

ratty2k

Probably, but not always.... You'll notice the chain slipping over the gears if it need replacing. I change chains more frequently and get around 3 chains to 1 cassette... Change 'em beofre they "stretch" too much and you cna get away with doing what I do (most of the time!)

Pete-C

i will check the stretch on my chain in work tomorow, the bike is only a few months old so it shouldnt be that bad

Steve_b77

SLX has an alloy carrier for some of teh cogs

nicklouse

Steve_b77 wrote:

SLX has an alloy carrier for some of teh cogs

the problem with the SLX is that it is ONLY for 3 cogs.

while the others can be upto 6 cogs.

scottgeniusltd2005

do what i did, go ss. it's good fun and getting me fitter every day. conversion kit is cheaper than a cassette and when they do go wrong it's £13 for a new cog. i replaced my xtr with xt earlier this year and it's knackered already as well as the granny and big ring, so i thought bugger that. it's not as hard going as you'd expect. i seem to be enjoying the trails more as well, i don't have to worry about what gear to get in. i met a girl doing the mary townley loop, she was little and managed to do it 2 hrs quicker than me plus an extra 20 miles on my days riding, thats a massive 47 miles off road and 30 on road. plus a surprise advantage is, don't know how, but my average mph on the road is going up, bonus!

Shorty12

Wondering about going SS on hope 2 hubs and i was wondering which converter wont rip into the hub

scottgeniusltd2005

shorty12,
bloody good point, currently using mech locked in place with dmr tensioner on order, never gave a thought to the fact that ss sprockets are steel. bugger, anyone got any ideas. bugger bugger

Shorty12

Hmmm no alloy converters?

scottgeniusltd2005

been googling, no luck yet!! you??? anyone???

supersonic

Pity hope don't offer the steel version as standard. But then it would weight more than an XT.

Shorty12

Im off to bed, got work so i can afford the next bike Im guessing there will be alot more stress on that single ring rather than a cassette

scottgeniusltd2005

weights not a problem, i've been looking forward to tidying up the rig. might not be possible now without replacing rear hub which defeats the problem cost wise. may have to go to 9 speed, pity really enjoying ss, all be a messy ss at moment.

scottgeniusltd2005

i'll ring hope on monday. they are near me and really good customer service. if anyone has an answer it will be them, i hope!!??

Shorty12

I was just gonna email them but if you're going to phone them i will go to bed
Wouldn't mind an answer so i can think about my buid

mattv@gacycles

the slx cassete is good value or cheap cassete and steel freehub body is still cheaper than a xt cassete

dave_hill

mattv@gacycles wrote:

cheap cassete and steel freehub body is still cheaper than a xt cassette

Er, no it isn't....

Linky

The Pro II steel freehub body alone is the same price as that cassette, so add in a Deore cassette and your looking at the thick end of £85.

toasty

supersonic wrote:

Pity hope don't offer the steel version as standard. But then it would weight more than an XT.

True, those XT freehubs sound very solid! Bet they'd last forever! They're not servicable, very hard to find and the pawls can't be replaced like with the Hopes, which is just another indication of Shimanos confidence in their product :P

I bought a new 11-32 SLX cassette for my Hope wheels, it's got a carrier for the top 3 rings as mentioned which should lower the chomping a bit at least. 280g as well which was a welcome surprise, 140g saved off the old 11-34 PG-970

The old SRAM one sat very loose on cassette bodies which can't help much, good mm or of play even when brand new.

nicklouse

scottgeniusltd2005 wrote:

shorty12,
bloody good point, currently using mech locked in place with dmr tensioner on order, never gave a thought to the fact that ss sprockets are steel. bugger, anyone got any ideas. bugger bugger

gusset 66er nice wide cog base.

supersonic

Toasty wrote:

supersonic wrote:

Pity hope don't offer the steel version as standard. But then it would weight more than an XT.

True, those XT freehubs sound very solid! Bet they'd last forever! They're not servicable, very hard to find and the pawls can't be replaced like with the Hopes, which is just another indication of Shimanos confidence in their product :P

I bought a new 11-32 SLX cassette for my Hope wheels, it's got a carrier for the top 3 rings as mentioned which should lower the chomping a bit at least. 280g as well which was a welcome surprise, 140g saved off the old 11-34 PG-970

The old SRAM one sat very loose on cassette bodies which can't help much, good mm or of play even when brand new.

Lol, but you can't service the main bearings - you replace them. Expensively. And they often stick, dragging the freehub round. Plus poor engagement ;-)

EDIT: for your XT wheelset, found a freehub unit (M776/5) for 25 quid:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=1161

oddy74

I emailed Hope asking what cassette would be safe (as far as limiting the damage to the hub) with a Pro2 hub and I got a comprehensive 3 word answer:
XT and above

dave_hill

supersonic wrote:

Lol, but you can't service the main bearings - you replace them. Expensively.

Yup, £6.50 (which is what I paid for the two hub bearings for the rear) once in three years is really breaking the bank.

supersonic wrote:

And they often stick, dragging the freehub round.

No they don't.

supersonic wrote:

Plus poor engagement.

Yup, those big ratchet teeth and strong, clickety springs and man-sized pawls ALWAYS let me down... :roll:

supersonic wrote:

EDIT: for your XT wheelset, found a freehub unit (M776/5) for 25 quid:

Which is about the same as a set of Hope pawls, springs and freehub bearings... :roll:

Sometimes Super, I honestly think that your irrational pathological hatred of all things Hope really clouds your judgement...

supersonic

Yes they do. Quite often. But you can service them I suppose (and Hope recommend this MORE often the XT which begs the question why people think these are fit and forget hubs).

But not the freehub shell, which will probably be gouged. Nothing irrational there!

dave_hill

supersonic wrote:

Yes they do. Quite often.

I have NEVER had that happen. Except once when I replaced the springs and didn't seat the seal ring properly.

toasty

supersonic wrote:

Lol, but you can't service the main bearings - you replace them. Expensively.

£20 rear, £12 front for official ones from what I saw I can live with that.

supersonic wrote:

EDIT: for your XT wheelset, found a freehub unit (M776/5) for 25 quid:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=1161

Interestingly I'd got it into my head that the M770/M775 freehub body was different to the M776 version, I saw that ages ago and dismissed it. I've seen no sites which claim it works on all, looking at the exploded diagrams though it seems to have the same model number. I think I'll take a chance and give it a shot. Cheers!

supersonic

No probs! Had to do some digging on the SHimano tech site for compatibilty, but got there!

Hopefully it won't explode lol ;-)

toasty

supersonic wrote:

And they often stick, dragging the freehub round.

I was so tempted to make a video of my XT hub fixie meta to retort to this one :P I still don't like XT hubs regardless, this is based on owning 2 sets and having issues with both. I'm not comparing them to the last 15 years of generic Shimano hubs, I've even had loads of Deore in the past with 0 issues ever (about 3 sets of them I think).

I've heard of people whining in a similar fashion, making a jump to cartridge bearings which require less maintenance and being much happier. Hence my decision to head that direction too. I'll give an honest comment back in a year or so how it goes :P I'd love to hate Hope to be honest, I'm not sold on the whole English made sales pitch that adds to the price.

supersonic

Yeah, it does come down to experience, faith in product and how and which bits you like to service so I totally understand your reasons (and I am sure you do mine, and some tongue in cheek comments!). I am a bit of a dab hand with the old cup and cone now lol. (Edit - price is a bugbear for me too. The DMR Revolver looks interesting at 55 quid)

Have you thought about stainless carts for the next Hope bearing change? Come to that, maybe stainless balls for the XT? Will be putting some SS in my Deore hub this week.

PS I have an article on dismantling the XT freehub body itself somewhere and a service which I will try and find if you are interested.