ed 

Okay then...I guess soft brass (edit: oops...aluminum) isn't the optimal material for a cassette body. I toasted my PG990 cassette and got a good deal on a PG970. The PG990, 980, Shimano XT, XTR cassettes have a carrier that makes the cassette lighter and it's suposed to make it stiffer as well. I've never noticed stiffness issues.


The lower line cassettes have full sprockets with plastic or aluminum spacers.


Now then...I tried to remove my PG970 cassette and couldn't get it to budge!! I finally got it off (by removing the freehub body) and to my shock...I saw this:


There has been a little conversation lately about heavier riders generating more pressure on the drivetrain than lighter riders. I guess there's proof. I'm kinda pissed. Not quite pissed enough to take out a loan on a Rohloff, but pretty dang close. I took it for a little spin and it seems fine now with the PG990 and my old chain that I saved when I removed the 990. If I notice any issues for some odd reason...I'll just have to get a new free hub body.

The + side was that the pawl freewheel system was pretty impressive. I just hope I can get the PG990 back off when it's completely crapped out b/c I had to push it fairly hard to get it on.




Pissed, pissed, pissed!!!

Beware! Soft freehub body. Pro-2 owners had better pony up for a nice cassette!

mcoine

The freehub body is aluminum, not brass. Good cassettes with the aluminum carrier will eliminate a lot of that damage.

ed 

Brass...hehe, I'm an idiot!

I believe that is what I just stated in my first post, no?

Yeah, it's just excessive...don't ya think? I mean...the only way to get the cassette off was to twist it counterclockwise and then pull it off. Rediculous, I think.


Oh and yup, the PG990 with the carrier doesn't do that much damage, so I put it back on. I'll just buy an XT and new chain and rings when that one starts skipping.

wethepeople

I had that happen to my Pro 2, all it took to get it off was a little finessing with a small ball peen hammer and a pair of pliers.

MattP.

Hmm, interesting. I was planning on buying some Pro 2's for my next build, but now I'm thinking otherwise... May have to revert to mi amigo Chris King.

wethepeople

CK's do the same thing.

ed 

I have no other issues with the Hope's...and if I continue to run XT or 990 cassette's then I'll be just fine. As I said, I was impressed with the internals. I just didn't expect that to happen.

scrublover

Pretty much any alu freehub body will do that, if you use a cassette with loose cogs bolted together, particularly lower end ones, or single cogs with too thin a base. Clean it up with a file, and no real harm done.

Get thee cassettes on an alu carrier from now on, or steel or ti freehub shell hubs.

I've been using alu hubshells for many years, and have never had a problem using good cassettes on a carrier.

mosplat

exactly how big are you?
and do you mash high gears a lot?
that's some impressive stripping you did to the body.
i used to run a regular cog (ss) on my hope bulb body and always was a bit weary.
i eventually got a cog with a fat base to better distribute the force.
do you think that may be warranty-able?

born2bahick

Do you break things at work like you do when you play?

ed 

No...I don't climb hills with a 500lb echo machine, hahaha.

mosplat: I'm 6' 1.5" and fluctuate between 185-195lbs. I'm on a 32lb Jamis XLT, and I still climb hills. On the longer/steeper hills...I still go into the granny and just spin smooth circles but occasionally I stand up and honk in the middle ring.

Just more ammunition for the Rohloff.

ed 

I emailed Hope Tech and they said that it's normal. Touch it up with a file and it'll be fine. HORSE CRAP! I only had the PG970 on there for less than 2 mos. If I had it on for a year, it'd eat through the whole dadgum thing!

I'll stick with a carrier cassette for now.

Hope offers a Stainless Steel version for $67, but I wonder how much more it weighs.

RIC0

Mine did the same thing and I run the cheapest cassettes you can buy, I'll be going with a better cassette next time around with the solid spacers.