Carbon wheel (specialized) question
 

Hi,
I have a set of speciailized tri-spoke carbon wheels(pretty old, but man they're in great shape!). One that seems obvious that is the rear has threads on it for freewheel and I honestly am lost about how I'm supposed to get this compatible with my bike's setup. I want to use them for racing only. I currently have dura ace 7700 RD. My questions are 1) will this even work and 2) what cassette/adapter/freewheel do I need to buy to get it working? Thanks in advance!

It might help if you told us how many speeds you were riding.

In any case, this is a freewheel hub and freewheels exist only up to 8s, with 7s being more common. If your bike is 9s or more, you are SOL regarding this wheel, otherwise, it's simply a matter of getting a suitable freewheel (you need to masure the hub to know if it takes 7s or 8s, though it might be possible to respace for a different freewheel and/or axle width (you cannot re-dish).

Dura ace 7700 wasn't always 9-speed?

I have no idea, I don't see a need to memorize every iteration of every component ever made. Nor do it see it as my job to search out info that those asking for help could easily provide.

But if you're saying you have a 9s drivetrain, then you are SOL regarding this wheel.

Save it up to build yourself a nice 7s or 8s beater or city bike, or sell it on ebay to someone who can use it. Of course if you have access to a machine shop, it might be possible to core out the hub, and transfer the wheel to an adapted freehub of some kind. This could be a nice project if you have the skill and resources.

likewise, I had no idea you didn't know what 7700 was. Thanks for your rock-solid, yet wickedly A-type relay of information...pull the plug, it'll feel better.

No need to get upset or offended. I gave you the info you needed in my first post, without needing to know the specifics.

You came for help regarding compatibility, providing details on half the issue (the wheel being a F/W type), and assuming we'd all know the other half -- what exact drive train you had -- when you could just as easily said it was 9s.

Unfortunately, you're not the first not to provide clear and complete info, nor will you be the last. At least you didn't ask if it would fit your Black 2001 Trek R-xxx, bike.

In any case, you're welcome.

BTW- I hope you find a use for the wheel, it would be a shame for it to just ollect dust in your garage

currently, that looks like it is all it's going to do. My wife does, however, ride a sora component set with an 8-speed cassette, so if all fails and I can get an 8-sp FW on the thing, I can give it to her I think. I still can't decide which is worse....dust or letting the wife ride in style. How/what would I "measure the hub" to see if it accepts 7 or 8 FW?

Here's a link to a freewheel/cassette width chart. Don't forget to add 2-3mm for the clearance from axle face to first sprocket. So you need to measure the distance from the hub's thread shoulder to the axle face, and compare. Precision isn't needed, just enough to call it 7s or 8s, since it can't be in between.

Also consider the overall axle width, to make sure it fits the frame, or you could simply fit it and see.

I took a spare skewer and flushed it up against one threaded end and marked the other as it came out the other threaded end of the wheel, measured that and it was 5.25 inches (133.35mm). I'm assuming it's 8sp. I did read somewhere that shimano 8sp FWs work with 9sp RD. I'm becoming increasingly desperate, aren't I?

It's not the length of the axle, but the distance between the faces of the lock nuts. Axles protrude a few MM (typical Shimano is 5.5mm each end) to engage the drop outs of the frame/fork.

The RDER will work with either 8 or 9.
It's the SHIFTERS that matter.

As Bill said above, it's the width between the locknut faces that counts. I suspect this is a 126mm wheel, therefore most likely 7s. If you really want to ride this wheel, all is not lost. You can compress the spacing of 7s freewheels to match 9s spacing. Of course you still only have 7s. It takes access to a machine shop with a surface grinder to do this, but it's very possible.

Yeah, you are. Shimano never made 8-speed freewheels. Sachs made a few, but they were the last gasp of the freewheel era.

The Specialized tri-spoke wheel with freewheel threads was interchangeable between front and rear just by changing the axle. When 8-speed became common, Specialized introduced a cassette rear wheel.

Your OP only said (specifically even) the RD was 7700... almost implying the shifters were not.

A 7700 RD will correctly index with every Shimano road group except 8s 7400.

Anyway, you can use your 7700 shifter with a 8s freewheel, via #2 Shiftmate.

Subtract the length of bare axle from that and I'd say you're pretty close to 126mm :(

Also, two decimal places on inches makes sense in this context, but on mm? The nearest half-mm is plenty ;)