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What Cassette / Fre...
 

[Closed] What Cassette / Freehub combination for ebike?

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Offline  james
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My mothers emtb came with the 'made for ebike' EX1 groupset. After 3 years I'm less than impressed:
The 11-48T HG* cassette has slim engagement with the aluminium** freehub and both have worn well into each other to the point the cassette no longer spins 'true', I'm amazed its not ghost shifting as it rotates.
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[img]72A969EF-5250-4DE9-8B88-3593329A7D91<script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>[/img]

It needs a new freehub at £90, with the choice of HG, XD or microspline, all aluminium
Replacement EX1 cassette retails at £450 so I've scope for many*** different cassettes, mechs, shifters alternatives at that

What might the ideal cassette and freehub for a ebike be that they don't eat into one another?

I understand it that:
SRAM 11spd only goes upto a 42T?
SRAM eagle XD aren't Ebike rated
SRAM NX eagle is ebike rated, but its HG and has an even slimmer engagement with the freehub?

*Why on earth is it not XD?
**Trek have said they have no plans for a steel freehub
***availability allowing

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 1:30 pm
Offline  steve_b77
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SRAM eagle XD aren’t Ebike rated

*Why on earth is it not XD?

I rather think you've answered your own question there.

To be fair 3 years and given the state it's all in doesn't seem too bad, just fit the same again and look after it a bit more?

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 1:38 pm
Offline  james
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What looking after it can you do to stop the cassette eating into the freehub?

I see what you mean from treks point of view, I was alluding more to SRAM designing a ground up ebike groupset and choosing HG which was problematic with eating freehubs since back in the days before ebikes when cassettes only went upto 32/34T.
My experience of XD and GX eagle (aside from struggling to remove it on occasion) that it has no cassette eating into freehub issues

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 1:54 pm
Offline  chiefgrooveguru
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How many miles has it done? I get through chains and cassettes horribly fast on my Levo, it’s just too much torque for normal MTB parts.

I’m staying with HG cassettes on a steel freehub in 11 speed. 11-46 is a pretty wide spread of gears but you can get wider with the new Shimano 11 speed stuff.

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 1:55 pm
Offline  hatter
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It's just going to chew it again.

I'd be tempted to replace the wheel for a proper Ebike wheel, like the DT H1900s, which have steel freehubs and are designed for them.

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 1:55 pm
Online  Tracey
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We running Hope XD freehubs on our Turbo Levos on Sixth Element wheels. Still the originals, one freehub is 4 years old and the other 6 years old. Both are on the second SRAM 11 speed cassettes and SRAM X1 chains. They have both had loads of use and still going strong.

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 2:04 pm
Offline  james
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Couldn't tell you miles but its gone through 3x 10spd (EX1) chains taken to 0.75% stretch with a new 15t drive sprocket each time (chainsucks if not)
Its also had the smallest three sprockets replaced at two years just because it was £20 or so
Cassette teeth aren't super worn so I'd put another chain/sprocket on to keep it going if it weren't for the trueness issue

Shimano M4100 10spd 11-46 is appealling now I know NX eagle has such a poor interface with a HG cassette
Don't know much of Deore m6100 12spd or any of the Box groupsets or others?

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 2:05 pm
Offline  FOG
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My ebike came with DT 1900 wheels with an slx cassette. This has really chewed up the freehub to the extent I have to hammer the cassette off every time I swap to my road wheels (Shimano hubs and much less sensitive). Is there a compatible DT freehub that is more resistant to spline damage?

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 4:09 pm

Offline  james
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Popped Up on another thread, yes they exist and you can also ‘upgrade’ to ratchet rings over your 3pawl hub

[url= https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/dt-swiss-hub-spares/?material=steel ]steel dt freehubs[/url]

What speed slx cassette have you in order to determine what freehub standard you have now?

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 6:56 pm
Offline  FOG
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11spd, 11-46, I have just replaced it with an XT same ratios

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 7:46 pm
Offline  james
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[url= https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-spares/dt-swiss-hybrid-steel-pawl-freehub-conversion-kit-for-shimano-mtb-142-x-12mm-or-boost/ ]HG freehub to stay as you are[/url]
Will fit 148 boost

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 8:58 pm
Offline  james
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Else

[url= https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-spares/dt-swiss-ratchet-ln-kit-for-3pawl-mtb-hubs-18tooth-shimano-hg-hybrid-steel/ ]18T star ratchet ‘upgrade’ kit[/url]

[url= https://www.neviscycles.com/shop/products/dt-swiss-ratchet-ln-conversion-kit-for-3-pawl-hubs-mtb-36-tooth-shimano-hg-hybrid-stee ]36T star ratchet upgrade kit [/url]

Can’t see a kit that includes 54T star ratchets so you’d have to get them separately on top?

Your 3pawl hub will have 24 points of engagement so the 18T rings would only be an upgrade on possibly durability but I’m not aware the 370 pawl hub in countless 1900 series wheelsets out there are prone to failure?
Ratchet conversion would require two proprietary Chinese/polish/genuine tools.
you’d only want the pawl tool once (and the cheapest one I’ve seen is the bitul copy) so I’d find a bike shop to swap
Then if you wanted to swap bearings yourself in future there’s loads of Chinese ratchet tools on eBay for not a lot, else bike shop or bitul

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 9:26 pm
Offline  VanHalen
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Steel freehub and an occasional strip and clean. Cassette of choice to fit.

I'd be flipping ecstatic if my freehub lasted 3yrs on the ebike. I've got one year out of mine and am on a new wheel.

 
Posted : 14/01/2022 9:51 pm

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