I'm 6'3", 200lbs and have broken axles twice on Campy Nuovo Record hubs. I had a Phil Wood freewheel hub many years ago, which was pretty much indestructible (until a thief separated me from that old Bontrager mountain bike - sniff). I've never had any issues with cassette hub axles.
However, this brings me to my AHH.... I didn't have a 135mm spaced, 700c rear wheel to put on the AHH and did not have the coin to just go out and buy one, so I resurrected an old but true pair of Specialized sealed hubs (maybe made by Suzue back in the early 80's?) laced to Mavic MA 40's to run on this bike. Needing to respace the hub from 126 to 135, I was turned away from 3 shops until, lo and behold, I found a NOS titanium axle of the exact length to fit the bill that had been sitting in a drawer in Menlo Velo since, well, the 80's. So far the wheels feel strong and silky smooth, but I am a bit worried that I may break that axle at an inconvenient moment (like the upcoming Moss Beach Randonnee). What do you guys think? Place your bets on when / if that axle will break.... Meanwhile, should I save my pennies for a decent cassette hub, or go Phil Wood / freewheel? -br "my first post to the RBW group!" On Dec 1, 12:17 pm, Peter Flint <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > No doubt there's plenty in the archives on this subject, but one quick > difference in my opinion is the greater strength of the cassette/ > freehub system. I'm a big guy, 6'2" 210lbs. I've broken one axle on a > freewheel and seen several others bent by people of similar size. > Never had any trouble on freehub bikes. Which is not to say I don't > ride freewheels - I have a couple frames with freewheels on them, but > I do try to ride a bit more gently on them. > > Also it's a bit easier to customize your gearing on the cassette vs. > the freewheel. But this depends on your needs of course. > > Peter > NYC > > On Dec 1, 3:05 pm, "Seth Vidal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > If this has been discussed previously, I'll be happy to be referred to > > the archives. > > > what's the functional differences between cassettes and freewheels? > > I'm looking at wheels on riv's site and I can't figure out what I'd be > > gaining or losing with one or the other. > > > thanks, > > -sv- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
