Hello, Ive been reading about swapping freehub bodies. I have some exage hubs 126mm spaced with a uniglide body. If I was to swap the freehub body with a hyperglide, Id like to run 9 speeds, will I be able to maintain the 126mm spacing? I guess Im not sure if the lengths of the freehub bodies are all the same. Thanks

probably not. Are there any spacers/washers on the left side of the hub, between the locknut and the cone, that you can remove? Also, i'm not sure that the UG and HG mount to the hub shell the same way; perhaps someone else can fill us in on that?

-rob

Thanks for your reply rob, There are washers on the left side. Based on what ive read much of on Sheldon Browns site was the swap is possible and easy but I didnt find anything regarding spacing and much of what I read was on 130mm UG hubs. Basically I just want to build a freehub wheel and have the 126mm UG hubs. Perhaps there is an easier way.

The connection is probably identical*, but the narrowest 8/9/10 speed hubs are 130mm. Creating a 126mm width hub with the wider cassette body will make for a very weak wheel due to the excessive dish.

*I've encountered differences between road and mountain hubs and bodies.

What frame is this going on? Most frames can be spread from 126mm to 130mm without a problem. In fact, when Shimano introduced 8 speed Dura-Ace and 130mm width rear road hubs, the left locknut had a conical shape. This allowed people to change to 8 speed hubs without "cold setting" the frame. It's tough to see, but you can spot the conical locknut on these Dura-Ace hubs: https://www.velobase.com/ViewComponen...=110&AbsPos=23

You might be tempted take out @4mm worth of washers, readjust the cone if need be, and retighten the locknut really good. Pay attention to chainline, as you've just moved your biggest cog inboard a few mils. keep the spacers around, in case you end up deeming this to be a failure. You'll likely need to redish your wheel. Reading Sheldon's sight, he's saing you need to redish and respace the frame to accept the 130mm. As you and Jeff have suggested, there must be an easier way.

Sheldon suggests:

an easier way: Try this. Buy one of these: https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...ehub+Body.aspx
Install it. Buy a 9 speed cassette. Make sure it has easily removable cogs. Ditch the 9th cog. You may or may not need the "extra" spacer; sheldon doesn't say. You now have 8 speeds on a HG body, and you've retained your 126mm spacing. You will need 9speed chain, and you'll need either friction shifting in the rear, or a 9speed shifter. Don't forget to tweak your limit screws if need be. (Check first, though; you might not need to.)

hth,
-rob

ps-the 7speed stx freehub body probably won't accept an 11t small cog. might be better to get a road cassette with something like a 12/27 or 12/26...

As Jeff Wills pointed out, installing the wider 8/9/10-speed freehub body on a 126 mm hub and removing non-drive side spacers to maintain the former 126 mm OLD will require excessive dish and thereby weaken the wheel a lot. There is a good reason all makers widened their dropout and hub spacing to 130 mm when 8 speed was first introduced.

Thanks for your comments everyone. I will reconsider the wheels i was going to build for a steel cross bike. Im thinking its easier to cold set to 130mm.

i still think that the degeared 9speed to 8 soeed with the 126spacing intact could be workable. playing with a casstte may be better tan bending your frame. yes, many ppl respace thier frame, but that still means you'll be bending your frame

-rob

126= 6or7 speed , to get in #8 the frame had to be wider, hence 130.. cold setting accurately is not easy,
if there is index shifting its gotta be accurate,, straight dropouts , or no clickie right..

OK, I'll jump on.

In the early days of 8-speed and 9-speed drivetrains broken left side spokes were an epidemic. The reason was that the amount of dishing that was required, even with 130 mm dropouts, along with careless machine wheelbuilding resulted in a bad combination. Since that time wheelbuilding has improved and off center rims have also greatly helped to reduce this issue. Using a run-of-the-mill wheel from that era with 126 mm dropouts would have been suicide.

Bottom line, I might try using a wheel that I built myself with a 9-speed freehub body with 126 OLD spacing, ALONG WITH AN OFF CENTER RIM, on a personal bike but I wouldn't risk it for a customer bike.

if you convert a 9speed cassette to 8speed, and put it on a 7speed freehub body, you will keep your 126mm spacing, and there's no reason as far as i can see to redish. The trick is, you have the 8 speeds with narrower cogs and narrower spacing between, which obviates the need for 130mm spacing or radical dish. The catch is, you'll need 9speed chain and either friction or 9speed shifters. And, really, the OP wants the HG freehub body, more so than s/he wants more cogs. Given the number of mtn bike ppl who run 5 and 6speed cassettes made from modern 9speed cassettes, on chris king *singlespeed* cassette hubs no less, i don't think Sheldon's suggestion of running a converted cassette on a 7speed freehub is too radical. and, with stx freehubs being available and cheap, as are 9 speed cassettes....

Just food for thought, i reckon. You can also get HG-compat 7 speed cassettes of all sorts, although i'm not sure if the stx freehub body on jenson is of the sort that accepts the ubiquitous 11t small cog. I believe the OP is frustrated by a dearth of UG cassettes currently on the market.

-rob

Thanks for everyones comments. Im actually planning on building these wheels as a winter project, so redishing isnt a concern as its a new build. Yes, I really want the HG freehub body for the availability of cassettes. I happen to have the exage 126mm UG hubs sitting around. I just was trying to build wheels using parts I have that are serviceable so the HG body was more important to me than the number of speeds. Perhaps I will give it a try and see what happens.

...Thanks bjt

it's steel? just squeeze the wheels in. 2mm on either side is nothing for a steel frmae.

Did it earlier this year. I was in the same boat as you. I have this 600/Mavic Open 4CD wheelset laying around, and I needed a wheelset to run an 8 speed cassette. So I converted the 600 rear hub from UG to HG freehub. I also replaced the axle, added spacers and redished the wheel. I have over a thousand miles on it, so far so good. It rolls true and smooth with no broken spoke yet.

I guess I will give it a go and see what happens, conversion with the 9spd cassette converting to 8spd on a hg freehub. Thanks for everyones replies

Second thought, why don't you check your local bike co-op, sometime you can find Shimano rear HG hub for $5-$10. That will save you the trouble from getting a freehub and axle and spacers.