Bicycle Mechanics - Shimano FH-7800 Rear Hub's Use With 105 Cassette

I was always under the impression that Shimano's 10-Speed Dura Ace hubs can only work with either the 10-Speed Dura Ace or Ultegra and not the 105 cassettes. I do not know where I picked up this information, but this is an assumption I always had in my head. A friend living in China has just sent me an e-mail saying I am wrong, and that he has used the Shimano 10-Speed Dura Ace hub successfully with the 10-Speed Shimano 105 cassette in the past.

Is my assumption wrong? Please help me, as I have always bought the Ultegra cassette, when the 105 could have been sufficient for my needs.

Thanks for all responses.

AFAIK, ALL Shimano 10-speed cassettes will fit on the Dura Ace 7800 hub.

The problem is the 7800 hub will not accept 8 or 9-speed cassettes while the Ultegra and 105 "10-speed (6600 and 5600 series) hubs will take 8 or 9-speed cassettes along with the 10-speed cassettes.

I wouldn't be surprised if Shimano documentation says this somewhere. I know that the Dura-ace 9-speed bar-end shifter comes with a sticker on it that says "compatible only with Dura-ace rear derailer" or some such nonsense. They wanna keep you buying the Dura-ace :)

You did well, the Ultegra cassette is probably the best all around Shimano cassette, worth a few extra bucks in my opinion.

Al

AFAIK, ALL Shimano 10-speed cassettes will fit on the Dura Ace 7800 hub.

The problem is the 7800 hub will not accept 8 or 9-speed cassettes while the Ultegra and 105 "10-speed (6600 and 5600 series) hubs will take 8 or 9-speed cassettes along with the 10-speed cassettes.

A tiny precision, according to Sheldon Brown.
The Ultegra hubs will take 8, 9 or 10 speed cassettes, but Ultegra wheels only take 10-speed cassettes.

I wouldn't be surprised if Shimano documentation says this somewhere. I know that the Dura-ace 9-speed bar-end shifter comes with a sticker on it that says "compatible only with Dura-ace rear derailer" or some such nonsense. They wanna keep you buying the Dura-ace :)

I think it comes from the days of 7- and 8-speed shifters. Back in those days, Dura Ace spacing was different, and they had Dura Ace 8-speed shifters that were only compatible with a Dura Ace derailleur, and Ultegra 8speed shifters that were compatible with everything else.

That distinction doesn't exist in 9- and 10-speed, but the sticker hasn't disappeared.

lucas, there is shimano documentation at their site which is a compatibility chart for rh-7800 and cassettes. fwiw, the splines for da hubs are a different depth to match the cs-7800. (sorry that i don't have the link for you but i'm composing this on my phone). hth.

I can't confirm whether the newer 105 cassettes will work with the D/A freehub, but here is a link to the compatibility chart

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/cycle/sac/us/en/technical_service/compatibility_charts/road_compatibility.html

It shows only the CS7800 (D/A) and CS6600 (ultegra) will work, but this info may be a bit dated (?)

I also found an auction on ebay with pictures for the CS5600 (105 10sp) and it looks like it has the deep serrations.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Shimano-105-Ten-Speed-Cassette-CS-5600-12-25_W0QQitemZ200187082836QQihZ010QQcategoryZ42332QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Looks like it will work, can anyone confirm this?

A tiny precision, according to Sheldon Brown.
The Ultegra hubs will take 8, 9 or 10 speed cassettes, but Ultegra wheels only take 10-speed cassettes.
True, but he was asking about the hubs.

To make matters even more complicated, the next (7900??) version of Dura Ace 10-speed hubs will go back to the Ti freehub body and the splines will be shortened enough that they will accept 8 and 9-speed cassettes.