stezza said:
... I have an old Shimano 105 group set on my road bike but I need to change the cassette. The problem is thst it's the old FreeHub type 126 mm where the last gear of the cassette screws on to lock the cassette to the hub. I have SIS 7 speed gear changers so Im stuck with this old fitting. Is there any way I can change to Hyperglide 8 speed 105?
You can change your wheel's current freehub body to a freehub which uses a lockring ...
When I had to address this issue several years ago, I ended up cannibalizing a freehub body from another Shimano hub ...
Because the freehub body is essentially the same on most Shimano hubs (propietary, but I think it was licensed by one, perhaps two, wheelmakers at one time), I bought the least expensive SHIMANO rear hub that I could find because buying the least expensive SHIMANO rear hub was actually cheaper than ordering-and-buying a freehub separately from an LBS or via mail-order.
The 'new' hub has to be partially laced (say, a dozen spokes) to allow you to have enough leverage to torque the hollow bolt that holds the freehub on the hub body -- Sheldon Brown explains this in detail.
In brief, you need to remove the axle, remove the bearings on the
old hub & wipe the old grease out of the cups with a paper towel, insert a 10mm Allen wrench into the freehub body, the 10mm Allen wrench will nest in the hollow bolt, unscrew the hollow bolt (this will take a lot of leverage ... I need to use a "cheater bar" on my Allen Wrench whenever I want to remove the bolt which was torqued on at the factory).
Repeat on the OTHER hub ... you don't have to wipe the grease out of the cups on the "new" hub.
Swap freehub bodies & secure with the respective hollow bolt.
Since you have the "new" hub, you may as well transfer the new bearings to your current wheel UNLESS you recently replaced those bearings.
Add fresh grease, as necessary. White Lithium grease is available at places which have automotive departments like WalMart/KMart/etc.
Reassemble the rest of the hub on your wheel with your original axle/etc.
Reassemble the "new" hub with the old bearings & its axle + cones & nuts & put it in a plastic baggie & then into your tool box.
N.B. Shimano 'currently' has two freehub body lengths ... the standard 8-/9-/10-speed freehub & a shorter, 7-speed freehub that you will find on an ACERA rear hub (unless things have changed, which may always be the case).
If you opt for an 8-speed freehub, then you may need to move the washer on the non-driveside to the driveside & redish the rear wheel ...
The ACERA hub is intended for 135mm rear spacing (not a concern since you aren't using the entire hub) and is one of the least expensive Shimano sells (nothing wrong with that), so you may as well buy/use it -- only about $20, I think ... check eBay. Why pay more?
