LlamaBikes

So say I have a 135mm 9 Speed rear cassette hub, and want to replace my freehub body, but my only option is an 11sp freehub body retrofit to my existing hub, will this make my wheel weaker somehow? I know I will need to add a spacer, so I guess that means my cassette will be slightly more over to the drive side, or will it be in the same place as before, if so, why would it be weaker?

CafeVelo

11 speed wheels being weaker has to do with the high bracing angle of the drive side spokes, and nothing to do with the freehub body itself. Of course the angle is higher because the wheel needs to be dished more to accommodate a wider freehub, so they are sort of related. The short answer to your question is no, an 11 speed compatible freehub body is not inherently going to compromise the wheel, however I would check carefully to ensure that its possible to do, for the reason of hub design stated above.


what does make freehubs weak is alloy bodies, which allow cassette cogs to bite into them. I'd happily use a steel freehub body and take the weight penalty to avoid this, but a CNC'd cassette solves the problem and drops the overall weight.

CliffordK

What type of bike are you riding?

Brand of hub/freehub?

You may need to re-dish your wheel to fit an 11s freehub body. However, 135mm spacing is quite wide, so unless you are doing extreme abuse with very few spokes, you'll probably be fine.

If you are not using 11s, it may be better to hunt down an NOS freehub body that is the correct size.

FBinNY 

Yes, the added dish to accommodate an 11s freehub will change the relative tensions on both sides unfavorably, the difference isn't earthshaking. Consider how many 11s / 135mm bikes are in service over the last few years, including many with low spoke count wheels.

So consider this one of those issues, where there is a difference, but not enough of a difference to be material.

However, you will need to redish the wheel, and remove axle spacers from the left side to maintain spacing and correct rim centerline. When installing your cassette put the enough spacers behind it to bring it out to the normal slight overhang so the lockring can compress it. You want the cassette as outboard as would be normal for an 11s because RD geometry and indexing is calculated on the assumption that the 1st sprocket is at a minimum distance from the dropout.

CliffordK

Oh, one other thing to consider.

11s MTB cassettes fit onto an 8/9/10 freehub.
11s Road cassettes require a special 11s freehub.

So, a 11s MTB freehub may not be any different from what you already have.

Dave Mayer

An 11-speed freehub is wider than the 8/9/10 equivalent, so installing it will result in more dish and greater spoke tension differential between the drive and non-drive side spokes.

You will need to install a spacer to fit your 9-cog cassette, and you will have to redish your wheel. You may have to fiddle with some axle spacers as well.

So why are you considering this? It is impossible to find a 8/9/10 speed replacement? Replacing your existing freehub like for like is the best solution in terms of cost, time, and the strength/integrity of the final product.

Have you simply accepted what a bike shop is telling you, or have to checked for the freehub on Ebay or the mail-order places? If anything, the older freehub should be cheaper, as they are now discounted. Certainly 10-speed wheels are selling at significant discounts these days. It may be cheaper to buy a complete 10-speed wheel than an 11-speed freehub.

And always remember that your shop is not exactly motivated to come up with the cheapest and least intrusive fix.

fietsbob

130-11 worse than 135-11.. but you 'had to have' 11., so it goes ..

Consider triangulation: narrow base of the distance between hub flanges .

and high tension imbalance to pull the whole hub shell to the left, adds up.

Going wider to 145 will let there be more side to side spoke tension balance , But that is not done but on tandems
and CoMotion tour bikes

HillRider

Campy freehub bodies have effectively been "11-speed" width since Campy went to the current 9/10-speed hubs years ago. So, wheels built with Campy hubs have been dished more than Shimano based wheels for a long time and I haven't heard of a rash of catastrophic wheel failures with them.

alcjphil

Mavic wheels have had Shimano compatible freehubs wide enough for 11 speed Shimano cassettes for just about as long. Lots of people have had great service from Mavic wheels