Originally Posted by ryenol .
It is definitely a free-hub, not free wheel that is pictured on the lrft( on Sheldon's site).
I am 100% confident of that. Does have threaded small cog(12tooth), so according to info on Sheldon's site it is a Uniglide.
Ack! Thanks for checking & repeating the description of your rear wheel's hub ...
- the 12t cog which you previously mentioned should have been THE clue for me that your rear wheel had a Freehub, but for some reason it did not register in my mind!?!
Again, swapping the Freehub bodies will be relatively easy once you remove the axle ...
Other than needing the appropriate cone wrenches + 10mm Allen Wrench, you just need to remember that the hub uses loose bearings and many could fall out of the hub when you remove the axle ...
IMO, it will be worth swapping Freehub bodies & (
eventually) changing the wheel's spacing to 130mm (
and, the frame's, too) even if you get the Bontrager wheelset since having a spare set of wheels is often
a good thing.
FYI. If you aren't immediately inclined to respacing the frame's rear triangle to 130mm AND
if you are handy, then you can THIN the last, threaded cog (
presuming that you can unthread it!!) and then short stack the Freehub with either 9-speed or 10-speed Cogs & Spacers as previously mentioned ...
While I have NOT done the fore mentioned thinning on a Shimano threaded last cog, I have thinned some older, 8-speed 11t Campagnolo-(
compatible) last cogs for both a 9-speed Campagnolo stack & a 10-speed Campagnolo stack ...
- thinning the last cog will require using a GRINDER since the material is too hard (IMO) to use a file
- if you have NOT used a Grinder, before, then you probably don't want to try thinning the last cog UNLESS you are willing to swap out Freehub bodies if you botch the job!
- you can use a pair of vice-grips to hold the cog ...
BTW. You can buy separate MICHE cogs on eBay, so you could theoretically buy a 27t Shimano-compatible cog & simply restack your current Cassette to something like 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 27 ...
Or, buy two MICHE cogs & restack it to 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 24, 27 ...
Or, whatever combination you think will work for you.
ULTIMATELY, the least expensive option would probably be to simply buy an 8-speed Shimano, SRAM, or SunRace Cassette & omit one of the intermediate cogs + the last cog AND then continue to use the threaded 12t cog as your last cog.
- as you may have observed, the teeth on the Uniglide Cassette's cogs are NOT ramped ...
- ramping greatly improves the shifting to the point where the indexing does not have to be as precise ...
- buying an OLDER 8-speed Shimano Cassettes which does not have ramped cogs & should probably be avoided (IMO) ...
----
With apologies to everyone else, let me mention for the umpteenth time that CAMPAGNOLO SHIFTERS can be mated to an otherwise Shimano drivetrain ...
- you can usually buy a pair of "used" 10-speed Campagnolo shifters on eBay starting at about $100 ...
- here is Chris Juden's compatibility "matrix" ...
- [COLOR= rgb(24, 24, 24)]AFAIK, the "Good mixed marriage" presumes UN-ramped cogs ...[/COLOR]
- [COLOR= rgb(24, 24, 24)]again, the ramping on the cogs greatly improves the shifting to the point where the indexing does not have to be precise AND I think that many Cassettes-Shifter combinations can probably considered to be acceptable.[/COLOR]
- Campagnolo shifters can be mated to almost ANY front derailleur
- I recommend a 9-speed SHIMANO chain as the best value ...
- BUT, not if you are using 8-speed Shimano indexed shifters for which you will want to use an 8-speed Shimano chain
- OR, if you are using a 10-speed Shimano shifter, then you will want to use a 10-speed Shimano chain + 10-speed Shimano front derailleur