Well both the cassette and wheel hit snags when I spin them independently. Occasionally the cassette freezes entirely. As I said, I did manage to flush it out but that didn't solve the problem. The 7 speed freehub I found online, the one mentioned in my original post that fits the STX-RC and Acera-X, is only $17.00. I'd order that if I knew it is going to be compatible with my setup but can't find any more info about it. Emailed the vendor but haven't heard back yet.