Freehub notches

Andrew Martin said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

What do you mean by "notching"? Do you mean the tooth faces become hooks? In that case, check your
chain wear. A worn chain bears mainly on the last tooth before disengagement and causes wear pockets
higher on the tooth, pockets that a new chain cannot engage because they are at the larger pitch of
the worn chain.

Your choice of pedaling, standing, sitting, only on the downstroke or otherwise, has no effect on
sprocket wear although climbing hills does because the chain force is greater.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden] Palo Alto CA

"Andrew Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

If you mean cog wear that's not a function of riding style. It's a function of chain cleanliness and
miles. No "user error" is involved here and riding one way or another would have no effect.

--
Andrew Muzi yellowjersey.orgyellowjersey.orgOpen ↗ Open every day since 1 April 1971

"A Muzi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Andrew Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

If you mean cog wear that's not a function of riding style. It's a function of chain cleanliness
and miles. No "user error" is involved here and riding one way or another would have no effect.

Ok - I'm describing this wrong. I'm not talking about wear on the cogs. What I'm talking about is
the cassette freehub (I thought that was the term) body on the rear hub. The cassette cluster mounts
onto the freehub just fine, but at some of the cogs, it seems that I am notching the freehub body on
the freehub/cog interface.

Thanks - a

In article <[email hidden]>, Andrew Martin

Quoted message said:

"A Muzi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Andrew Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

If you mean cog wear that's not a function of riding style. It's a function of chain cleanliness
and miles. No "user error" is involved here and riding one way or another would have no effect.

Ok - I'm describing this wrong. I'm not talking about wear on the cogs. What I'm talking about is
the cassette freehub (I thought that was the term) body on the rear hub. The cassette cluster
mounts onto the freehub just fine, but at some of the cogs, it seems that I am notching the freehub
body on the freehub/cog interface.

Yes, this happens with aluminum freehub bodies. It helps if the cassette has as many cogs bolted
together on carriers as possible, so they don't individually cut into the splines when under drive.

Other freehub bodies are made of steel and don't do that. They are also heavier.

Andrew Martin said:

Ok - I'm describing this wrong. I'm not talking about wear on the cogs. What I'm talking about is
the cassette freehub (I thought that was the term) body on the rear hub. The cassette cluster
mounts onto the freehub just fine, but at some of the cogs, it seems that I am notching the
freehub body on the freehub/cog interface.

Ah yes, of course. In the pursuit of saving a gram or two at great expense, we have gotten
components that don't work. This reminds me of the aluminum sprockets Campagnolo offered, also at
great expense. Hey! If you gotta have it, it's worth the trouble and expense.

A steel bodied cassette hub solves that problem... or you could stop riding hills and soft pedal.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden] Palo Alto CA

Quoted message said:

Ah yes, of course. In the pursuit of saving a gram or two at great expense, we have gotten
components that don't work. This reminds me of the aluminum sprockets Campagnolo offered, also at

There are some one-piece machined 9x cassettes that look really nice and impressive. Make good
paperweights, somewhat expensive though...

--
MfG/Best regards helmut springer

Andrew Martin said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

I had a similar problem with my Chris Kings. I started making really sure that I torqued the
retaining ring to the spec and it hasn't done it since.

David

David Kunz said:

Quoted message said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

Quoted message said:

I had a similar problem with my Chris Kings. I started making really sure that I torqued the
retaining ring to the spec and it hasn't done it since.

Tightening a retaining ring does not reduce stress between the inside splines of sprockets and the
sprocket carrier. I think there is no cause and effect link in this case. Unless the sprockets were
wobbling previously, the lock ring does not alter contact pressure.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden] Palo Alto CA

Quoted message said:

David Kunz said:

Quoted message said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

Quoted message said:

I had a similar problem with my Chris Kings. I started making really sure that I torqued the
retaining ring to the spec and it hasn't done it since.

Tightening a retaining ring does not reduce stress between the inside splines of sprockets and the
sprocket carrier. I think there is no cause and effect link in this case. Unless the sprockets
were wobbling previously, the lock ring does not alter contact pressure.

The lock ring compresses the gears together making them share the shearing load. In my case, the 3
small gears were cutting into the free hub splines -- they are individual. With the lock ring
tighter, all of the gears are compressed harder against each other and the spider that carries the
larger gears. This makes for a setup that is more of a single carrier this spreads the load over a
wide area vs. individual narrow elements that focus the pedal pressure on a small area if just the
one gear with the chain on it alone carries all of the force.

David

David Kunz said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I had a similar problem with my Chris Kings. I started making really sure that I torqued the
retaining ring to the spec and it hasn't done it since.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Tightening a retaining ring does not reduce stress between the inside splines of sprockets and
the sprocket carrier. I think there is no cause and effect link in this case. Unless the
sprockets were wobbling previously, the lock ring does not alter contact pressure.

Quoted message said:

The lock ring compresses the gears together making them share the shearing load. In my case, the 3
small gears were cutting into the free hub splines -- they are individual. With the lock ring
tighter, all of the gears are compressed harder against each other and the spider that carries the
larger gears. This makes for a setup that is more of a single carrier this spreads the load over a
wide area vs. individual narrow elements that focus the pedal pressure on a small area if just the
one gear with the chain on it alone carries all of the force.

This has no effect on spline contact pressure. Imagine removing the spline teeth from the inside of
one sprocket and relying on friction to keep it from rotating. It may be able to drive the bicycle
under light load on level ground but ultimately, under higher torque the sprocket will rotate
independent of its neighbors. The same is true with an in tact sprocket only that through clearance
the sprocket will also displace radially on the sprocket carrier from chain pull so that basically
one spline flank is loaded. That is what causes the indentations.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden] Palo Alto CA

[email hidden] (Andrew Martin) wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

"A Muzi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Andrew Martin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've pretty much always had problems with notching on my 13, 14, 15 cogs. Some people's wheels
just don't seem to do this. Is there anything I can do to reduce this (other than pedal more
circular when I'm sprinting out of the saddle)?

If you mean cog wear that's not a function of riding style. It's a function of chain cleanliness
and miles. No "user error" is involved here and riding one way or another would have no effect.

Ok - I'm describing this wrong. I'm not talking about wear on the cogs. What I'm talking about is
the cassette freehub (I thought that was the term) body on the rear hub. The cassette cluster
mounts onto the freehub just fine, but at some of the cogs, it seems that I am notching the
freehub body on the freehub/cog interface.

Thanks - a

It's aluminum bodies, all right. I have a set of wheels built wuth "Real" brand hubs, and the
freehub body is aluminum, and seriously cut up. My 105 and Ultegra hubs, OTOH, never suffer from
this problem.