specialmonkey

I bought these 36h hubs on ebay - Shimano 105 SC ( 1056 ) 8 spd Freehubs 36.36 / 130 mm HG bicycle hub - NOS



similar to what's here (purported to work with both Hyperglide and Uniglide cassettes -- any familiarity with this system -- did it work as advertised? ...):

VeloBase.com - Component: Shimano FH-1055 / HB-1055, 105SC
Does anyone know if this system works well for HG cassettes and if the SRAM cassettes are also compatible in this dual system (where they normally work with HG)?

I imagine Uniglide will be hard and / or expensive to come by (not that I want them unless they work better in this system). Are HG compatible 8-speed cassettes likely to be available for a while?

ThermionicScott 

Excellent choice! Most of the rear hubs in my collection are from this transitional period where HG was in the marketplace, but the freehubs were still threaded on the outside to use UG cassettes. AFAIK, they worked fine with either HG or UG cassettes. (I've only used HG.)

HG-compatible 8-speed cassettes should be available in some form for a long time, although Shimano has been paring back the gearing options lately (less of the tight "road" combinations.) You will probably always be able to get 11-28 or 11-32 8-speed cassettes from Shimano, SRAM, or the smaller makers.

pastorbobnlnh 

Or you can disassemble HG cassettes and using sprocket sizes you like best, it is easy to create your own custom made cassettes.

T-Mar

That hubset is designed for Uniglide, Hyperglide and Hyperglide compatible cassettes including SRAM. The only compatibility issues are with some outer cogs.

The threaded outer Uniglide cog for the 1978-1984 Dura-Ace EX will not work because it used a smaller pitch diameter in order to allow cogs down to 11T. All spined Uniglide cogs will work. All other threaded outer Uniglide cogs will work.

The 11T Hyperglide cogs also have issues with this freehub. Due to the smaller diameter of the 11T cog, it has a reinforcing flange that prevents the cog from from fully seating on a standard Hyperglide freehub. It is intended for a Hyperglide -C(ompact) freehub with the outer edge of splines being relieved. Still, an 11T Hyperglide cog will work on standard Hyperglide freehub like yours but the entire cassette will sit slightly farther out and require a spacer behind the large cog. This shift may cause clearance issues with the frame stays.

There's no reason to use Uniglide if your freehub is Hyperglide compatible. Hyperglide, provides better shifting, particularly under heavy load and has wider availability, with better ratio selection.

Regarding the future availability of 8 speed Hyperglide cassettes, I don't see them being discontinued in the near future. As of 2019, Shimano still offers 8 speed on their Claris group in several popular ratios (12-25T, 13-26T, 11-28T, 11-30T, 11-32T and 11-34T). Shimano typically continues to offer replacement parts support for consumables like cassettes, for several years after they have been discontinued as an OEM item.

Dave Mayer

I own the Shimano 600 version of this hub. Rode it yesterday; works great.

Heads up: this freehub WILL accept Hyperglide (and clone) cassettes from 8 to 10 speeds. Or 7 speeds with an extra spacer. No point in suffering with hesitant and clunky Uniglide shifting when you can get Hyperglide.

However, your freehub will NOT accept the 11-tooth cog found in most cassettes these days. Minimum: 12. And make sure you use the compatible 12+ tooth cassette lockring. The smaller lockring does not provide enough retention on the cassettes that start with 12, 13 etc teeth.

Note that 11-tooth cassette cogs are practically useless. If I am going 40mph: I'll coast.

ThermionicScott 

That 13-14-15-17-19-21-23-26 variant has always struck me as having a nice range and progression. No silly tiny cogs at the top, tight spacing at the high gears, spreading out gradually to the 26T at the bottom that plays well with most "road" RDs... I've squirreled a couple away in case I build up an 8-speed bike some day.

specialmonkey

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the info!

T-Mar

This is incorrect. The dual compatibility freehubs, with the exceptions and qualifiers previously mentioned, do accept an 11T HG cog. Groups like RSX came with dual compatibility freehubs and were equipped with 11T small cogs as standard issue. This was recently discussed in another thread. The spline channel dimensions (inner diameter, outer diameter, widths and spacings) are the same for both the 12T and 11T HG cogs. The only difference is that the spline channels do not run the entire width of the 11T cog.

Dave Mayer

So can an 11-tooth cog fit on an old Uniglide/Hyperglide freehub? Well, I just had to try. So I went to my 10-pound bin of Shimano freehubs. And my 20-pound bin if loose Shimano cogs and cassette lockrings.

The 11-tooth cog does indeed 'fit' on the end of the dual freehub, but it sits about 1.5mm higher than it should. So the spline engagement between the cog and the freehub is about half of what it should be. Next, I tried to tighten it down with a lockring. I didn't even get a full revolution before I ran out of threads. This is in contrast to the 2-3 revolutions you should get when tightening the lockring.

So to recap, the useless and pedantic answer here is that it 'fits'. But this combination results in a ticking time bomb that will eventually cause major problems and injury when the splines of the inadequately-engaged 11-tooth cog shears off. Or when the inadequately-engaged cassette lockring breaks free and all of your cassette cogs decide to jump into your chainstays.

ThermionicScott 

I couldn't resist playing, either.

Got out an 11-28T IG cassette and an old RX100 hub (7-speed, no notch). I only got the lockring hand-tight, but there was no more play than with my 12-28 E cassette, also installed hand-tight. (The tiny amount I can feel is from the freehub itself, confirmed with no cassette installed.)

Also checked how far the 11T cog would go onto the hub with and without the rest of the cassette and it had the same amount of engagement with the splines... all that it apparently wants/needs.

The 11-28 cassette does stand about 1/32" prouder of the end of the freehub than the 12-28 cassette, but its 11T lockring is also about that much longer on the threaded section. So I think it all works out, as long as you're not mixing and matching parts. (Or, less optimistically, a notched freehub body wouldn't have helped get more engagement anywhere in my case.)

T-Mar

There is no "ticking time bomb". An 11T HG cog has the same amount of spline engagement on both on a dual capability HG freehub and an HG-C freehub. It only appears to be less on the former, because the cog protrudes farther beyond the outside edge of the freehub body. However, this is because the 11T cog has a reinforcing lip around the outside edge, to prevent the smaller cog from splitting. Consequently, the spline channels are not the full width of the cog (see photo) and it will protrude further beyond the outside edge of a freehub body on which the splines run right to the outside edge. However, this additional, protrusion is only equivalent to the width of the lip. The freehub body splines are still engaging to the full width of the spline channels in the cog.

On a Hyperglide-C freehub body, the splines do not run to the outside edge but are cut back by just slight less than the width of the lip on the 11T cog (see photo). This allows the 11T cog to sit farther onto a Hyperyglide-C freehub body and gives the appearance of more spline engagement, However the spline engagement is the same as with a standard HG freehub or dual capability HG freehub. Consequently, the splines will not "shear off".


Also, as noted by Thermionic Scott, the thread engagement for the lockring is not an issue, provide you are not mixing parts.