Originally Posted by
FastJake
A 7 speed cassette will work no problem on an 8/9/10 speed Freehub with a spacer.
will the indexed shifter work? Are the sprockets the same distance apart? And what does all that stuff cost? Might be worth looking in to before choosing this route-an old 7 speed cassette might cost too much possibly.
IMO based on the OP's rate of axle breakage a chromoly axle is just a band aid of the real problem which is the freewheel design itself, once the dropout squareness is checked. Every wheel I've torn apart with a 7-speed freewheel has a bent axle, but these were wheels with solid axles from crappy x-mart bikes. In addition, my friend (130lb) recently broke the axle on his Giant Yukon with a 7S freewheel, and he does not ride hard. I've never seen a broken axle from a Freehub, although I'm sure it's possible.
I have had trouble with freewheels too. I looked into it a bit. Jobst Brandt, an avid cyclist and mechanical engineer, author of
The Bicycle Wheel, said freewheel axle bending or breakage was a metal fatigue issue. In my eyes that makes it rational to simply put in a new axle and then check the wheel for wobble, replacing the axle every year or so or as needed, because it's going to be OK to use until it fatigues, just like an airliner.