raja_mastana

Hi,
I am planning to replace the wheels on the bike (Ridgeback motion rapide) as the rims are worn out. So thinking of getting wheels with freehub which are supposedly superior to thread-on freewheels.
The bike currently has Shimano MF-TZ21 7 speed freewheel (14/28), 28-48 chain rings, Shimano CN-HG40 chain, and ST-EF51 shifters.
The rear dropout is 135mm

I am planning to get the following, but unsure if they would all work together

Rims: EXAL ZX19 Racing Road Bike Wheelset (For 7/8/9/10 SPEED Cassette with JOYTEC hubs)
Cassette: Shimano CSHG200 7 Speed Cassette 12/28T

OR should I stick to freewheel and just buy freewheel compatible wheels

Please advise, thank you

pjthomas

Since you wore out the rims and are willing to replace them, you like the bike. You might as well replace wheel since replacing the rim is a costly wheel rebuild. Going with an 8/9/10 freehub is better, even with a 7 speed cassette/spacer, than a freewheel. The down side is you won't be able to reuse your freewheel but if you wore out the rims you probably wore out the cogs.

pjthomas

Also, road wheels are narrower than hybrid wheels so check the width of the drop outs.

raja_mastana

Thanks for the reply.
I corrected the typo in my post - I am planning to change the wheels, not just rims.

If I upgrade to wheels with freehubs, I have the following concerns
1. The rear dropouts are 135mm wide, Will I be able to swap in the new (EXAL ZX19) 7-10 speed freehubs wheels without issues?
2. Should I go it for a 7 speed cassette with spacer or should I buy a 8 speed one so I do not need a spacer. I do realize I won't be able to use I cog. It would be a upgrade path for future?

pjthomas

1. I can't answer without knowing the width of the hub, not the rim, so you need to get that info from the seller. And it MUST be 135mm to match your frame.
2. Probably not. The spacing between each cogs is different, 5,0mm for 7 speed and 4.8mm for 8 speed. You index shifting won't work properly.

dabac

GrainBrain

I tried looking up your wheelset, "EXAL ZX19 Racing Road Bike Wheelset" and it looks like these are for both disc and rim brake. I would guess that since they're marketed as "700c/29er" the 29er label maybe assumes a 135mm spacing. The wheels I found with that name were disc brake compatible.

Do you need disc brakes? It would help to post a link to what you want, and maybe a picture or name of your old wheelset.

There's a lot of guessing potentially happening here, make sure return policy is good!

Cassette vs free wheel, not a big deal really. The cassette may give you more options for 7 speed then a freewheel (like a reliable 11 or 12 tooth cog option). Also you could swap the wheels to another bike and have 8,9,10 speed compatibility. The freehub design has a better placement of bearings on the axle, so you'd have a stronger rear axle vs a freewheel.

raja_mastana

Thanks a lot for the reply guys - I have been into bikes just for a month and since then been going through lots of YouTube videos and understanding stuff. But its getting a lot confusing, and your replies really help.

I will check with the seller about the hub dimensions tomorrow.

I like things to be near perfect and have low tolerance if things don't work right - so I will rule out 8 speeds.

I don't need disc brakes. I was just looking for wheelsets and came across the Exal zx19
(www) firecloudcycles (co) (uk)/exal-zx19-racing-road-bike-wheelset-700c29er-alloy-silver-disc-7-8-9-10-speed-shimano-compaible-cassette-4105-p.asp
(can't post URLs as I have less than 10 posts)
I have not decided on those wheels - just came across when I was searching wheels. Please let me know if there are better wheels available.

Here are some pics of the existing wheels
cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/1800x1200/_img1995_resize_714326d8190feac1617cb66a3478e3f268af9071.jpg
cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/1800x1200/_img2001_resize_b1feb10f1b8ce890722d0554005350951323a8a2.jpg
cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/1800x1200/_img1998_resize_19c2a639fb981ab6c30a3c189022a919b63d027a.jpg
cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/1664x1248/img_20180812_091353_hdr_resize_9a0507be099c3dc428b68fcf1a855d71d60f9309.jpg

andrei_r

^^ image and link assist

andrei_r

Yeah, that didn't work so well..

raja_mastana

Thanks, I guess you need the http too.
i found another set of wheels which includes Shimano 7 speed cassette 11/28
It's available for £55 so it's cheaper and includes most of required parts like cassette and skewers. I just to check about rim tape.
What do you guys think? How will the gear be impacted with 11/28 considering the existing is 14/28

hokiefyd 

That wheel set should work well. Your "slow" gear will be the same (still 28 teeth), but your "fast" gear will be a good bit faster, at 11 teeth instead of 14 teeth. You'll still be able to choose whatever gear you desire for your forward speed and pedaling cadence.

raja_mastana

The conversion is is finally complete after 2 weeks of searching, ordering, installing, testing, reinstalling and retesting
Upgraded to the following
1. Wheels - Mach 1 240 with Formula hubs
2. Tyre - Continental Contact 622 * 42
3. Cassette - Shimano CS-HG200 7 Speed
4. Brake pads - Lifeline V brake pads

The problem, as I had expected, was with the spacing. The spacer I purchased from eBay which said it is for "7 speeds cassette for installing on 8-9 speed hubs" was not compatible. It was 2.5mm thick and there was a lot of play. I think 3.5-4mm is required in my case. I went to Evans and they were able to provide me some spare spacers to try out - big thumbs up to Evans Cycles .

I rode the bike about 14 mi today and it seems fine - needs some fine tuning though.

raja_mastana

Here are some pictures of the bike after the upgrade

hokiefyd 

It looks great! Nice photography. I might suggest removing the zip tie from the rear derailer's cable housing. Having it tied like that really decreases the bend radius and can increase friction/wear. Or, perhaps route the cable over the end of the quick release axle -- that would provide for a larger radius and an easier time on the inner cable.

raja_mastana

Thanks hokiefyd
Your suggestion makes sense - I will remove it. The reason I tied the cable was get more precise shifting as the cable will not move around. But as you said, looks like the cable is stressed in that position.

hokiefyd 

If you had issues with this, it would likely be with upshifting (shifting to smaller sprockets). When you downshift (to larger sprockets), you're actually pulling the derailer in towards the frame, via cable pull from the shifter, and extra friction from cables isn't usually a problem (because your hand or thumb pressure can easily overcome it). But when you upshift (to smaller sprockets), you release cable at the shifter, and the derailer spring must pull the cable back out as it moves the derailer out. If there is friction in the cable that doesn't let the cable slide out smoothly, the derailer spring can't "snap" the derailer out quickly, and you can sometimes get a lag when upshifting (to smaller sprockets).

raja_mastana

Thanks for the info - helps understand the shifting mechanism much better.
Just noticed another issue. When testing the bike on the repair stand, I noticed there is a lot of vibrations on the chain on the smallest sprocket (12T). The vibration reduces as I move up to 14T. It goes away from the next sprocket onward. The vibration is on the 12T is such that I can feel it on my hand through the pedals.
Could it have anything to do with the spacers (currently using two spacers - a 2mm + 1.5mm).
I ensured the chain is not rubbing on the rear frame.

hokiefyd 

No, this vibration is very common. It's called "chordal action" and the effect is more pronounced as you reduce the number of teeth on a sprocket (as with the smaller sprockets):

2.2.1 Chordal Action

There was a time when many people wouldn't run smaller than a 14T sprocket. Now, folks are running 9T and 10T sprockets on special freehub bodies! Most cassettes come with an 11T sprocket as the smallest one, and 12T smalls are probably the second most popular. I've never owned a cassette and chain system that didn't exhibit this vibration on sprockets smaller than about 13 or 14 teeth. You generally will not feel this as much while actually riding, but you can definitely feel it in the pedals when on a work stand.

raja_mastana

Thanks for that hokiefyd - one less thing to worry about