Hi everyone.

My road bike is a Specialized S-Works Tarmac with a campagnolo record groupset. I've been a bit neglectful and let the chain go a too long, so now it's time for a new chain and cassette. Going to do it myself so that it's not tied up at the shop forever. I've been reading up on what I need, and it seems pretty straight forward. I've got the tools on order, new chain, and looking around at cassettes. I've found a campy veloce cassette for much cheaper than record with the same cogs (12-25). What I've read though is that the veloce cassette will all be loose cogs rather than welded together which might cause extra wear on the freehub body. My question to you all is whether or not this is a legit concern or if I shouldn't about it. I ride roughly 50-60 miles a week, averaging around 200 watts, if this helps.

Thanks for the advice!
Mike

It isn't an issue, just make sure to torque the lock ring to 40Nm. Or whatever the lock ring has spec'd on it. Personally I prefer the loose cogs, it makes it easier to clean and inspect the cassette, and I have replaced individual cogs for much less than replacing the entire cassette. The only downsides are they weigh more, and can cause some strange shift issues if the lock ring isn't torqued to spec.

Thanks! Emailed the former owner of the bike shop I go to and he said the same thing. Dab of grease on the lock ring and torque to spec, should not have any problems. Guess I need a torque wrench!
Since I'm not a pro racer, the added weight is not a concern for me. I doubt I'll even notice.

Most of the new Campagnolo freehubs are aluminum which would be at greater risk for wear, although they do have a pretty aggressive cut to the splines which I assume maximizes the contact area to reduce any localized force applied.

I’ve been using Veloce 10sp cassettes on my Rolf and Campag alloy free hub bodies for the last ~15 years, with ~50000 miles on two wheel sets (I consider cassettes to be a wear item, so I’m buggered if I’m paying for Chorus or Record cassettes)- you can see the occasional mark on the splines, but no damage that would affect getting the cassettes on or off. I average ~180 watts and put in 100-150 miles/wk. Clean the splines, a lick of grease and torque the lock ring to spec and you’re all set.