Just looking to buy a new 9spd cassette and am pretty horrified by the prices (~£50)

Ive got Hope ProII hubs and my friend has Hope XC, so im looking at cassettes with the ally spider to prevent excessive damage to the freehub.

Am i better off buying a steel freehub for my ProIIs and then saving a bit in future with cheaper cassettes?

Any advice for cheap deals on cassettes, i need two and would be prepared to buy a couple of spares if it brings the price down a bit.

thx

SLX?

There are some good deals on SRAM 990 cassettes at the moment too.

SLX has one less ring on the spider and is a lot cheaper for about 20-30g weight penalty ie nothing.

Can be picked up from Rose bikes very cheap but yup, a steel freehub could be a good idea if worried. Maybe buy slx and now and see how it goes then get a new freehub next time? I think the Hope “XT or better” statement was made before SLX came out.

I’ve got a new, unused m770 11-32 cassette you could have, say £45?

Edit

Actually you can get them for £45 on CRC, so £40?

Rose bikes have XT cassettes for £38, although postage is £6.

I’ve used a SLX cassette on my pro2 & it did start to gouge the freehub body. I’d just remove the cassette after every 2 or 3 rides, clean, grease & re-fit and it never got stuck. I’ve since upgraded to XT, although there are plenty of people online that say they gouge the freehub too.

Just looking to buy a new 9spd cassette and am pretty horrified by the prices (~£50)

Horrified, really?

Been looking myself and I thought the current deals for XT (£45) was pretty darn good actually, especially if the new one last anywhere near as long as my current one – 7 years and counting and I think I paid more for it back then.

Time for a group buy?

if i thought i would get seven years use out of a part for £50….. unfortunately i seem to get more like two years and thats probably about four chains*

Anyone know if the older Hope XC hubs** are as easily destroyed? If they were made of sterner stuff i might plump for a couple of SLX’s and start saving for a steel freehub.

*are cheaper chains the issue, i change them when stretched as per chain checker
**this is on my mates bike so i cant take it apart and have a look

Weight difference is far too small for my riding to notice, im happier with cheaper and longer lasting.

SRAM PG 980 cassettes have an ally spider and are £37 at Merlin. Been using them on my Hope hub for 4 years

SRAM PG 980 cassettes have an ally spider and are £37 at Merlin. Been using them on my Hope hub for 4 years

Same here, I did think about XT but picked up a new PG980 for less than £30 from absolutebikes on ebay!

My PRO2 freehub is fine, but every few rides in winter I do whip it off to clean & lube it!

a few more pennies to be saved by going the ebay route, but merlin have been good to me, cheers guys

http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=497672#p497672