Originally Posted by
davidad
I have a DA Ultegra hybrid with over 60k miles on it and it is still going strong.
Durable aren't they? I have a pair of 7700 (9-speed era) DA hubs that have well over 50,000 miles and nothing has ever been replaced but the bearing balls a few times. The freehub body has gotten a heavy squirt of Tri-Flow with each overhaul and that's the extent of its attention.
Originally Posted by
davidad
When shimano went with the freehub for strength and reliability you could change the cogs and customize your cassette. Can't do that nomo with the 9 and ten and some day 14speed cassette. shimano has the patent on that setup.
Shimano's patents on the 14-speed cassette/freehub and the chain that went with them issued in the early 1990's and they have since expired. Shimano never commercialized the design and there had to be some significant problems or it would have been.