Dura Ace questions...
05-16-22, 04:26 PM
#26
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I'm running 2 sets of 7403 hubs; highly polished, quiet, elegant, and durable. I like the spoke counts.
I weigh 180lbs and have ridden them on centuries, climbs over 20%, and as fast as I could.
One set is 7403/Matrix ISO-CII's, it is running on 3x9 Ultegra 6500. Zero issues, and it's been on serious climbing centuries.
One set is 7403/Mavic hard-ano box section. It is running on 2x11 Dura Ace with an 11-32 cassette and a Wolftooth Roadlink, Zero issues.
I've picked up a 3rd rear hub for a Terry-spec steel road bike, to convert to 2x10 speed for a friend.
It will be laced to a Sun M14 box section rim, and I'll lace a comparable Ultegra front hub to the 24" front.
I hightly doubt there will be any issues.
I've also seen a 7-speed 7402 rear hub altered with a longer Ti axle to accommodate the 8/9/10 freehub, and as far as I know, it's working fine.
It worked just fine for me on a 1x9 road bike, with a 42T front and an 11-36 SRAM 9-sp cassette. The buyer still rides it all the time.
Like others here, I'd love a nice set of 7700 hubs, but they are hard to find. 6500 hubs are great, and very durable.
However, the spoke counts can get a little tricky once you get up to 7700. The WH-7700 wheelset uses different hubs.
Good luck. You should have no issues with 7403, and can run 11-speed on them with 2 Shimano cassettes, 11-32 and 11-34.
Your results may vary. Mine are above.
I weigh 180lbs and have ridden them on centuries, climbs over 20%, and as fast as I could.
One set is 7403/Matrix ISO-CII's, it is running on 3x9 Ultegra 6500. Zero issues, and it's been on serious climbing centuries.
One set is 7403/Mavic hard-ano box section. It is running on 2x11 Dura Ace with an 11-32 cassette and a Wolftooth Roadlink, Zero issues.
I've picked up a 3rd rear hub for a Terry-spec steel road bike, to convert to 2x10 speed for a friend.
It will be laced to a Sun M14 box section rim, and I'll lace a comparable Ultegra front hub to the 24" front.
I hightly doubt there will be any issues.
I've also seen a 7-speed 7402 rear hub altered with a longer Ti axle to accommodate the 8/9/10 freehub, and as far as I know, it's working fine.
It worked just fine for me on a 1x9 road bike, with a 42T front and an 11-36 SRAM 9-sp cassette. The buyer still rides it all the time.
Like others here, I'd love a nice set of 7700 hubs, but they are hard to find. 6500 hubs are great, and very durable.
However, the spoke counts can get a little tricky once you get up to 7700. The WH-7700 wheelset uses different hubs.
Good luck. You should have no issues with 7403, and can run 11-speed on them with 2 Shimano cassettes, 11-32 and 11-34.
Your results may vary. Mine are above.
And yes, they ran 10 speed cassettes with no problem.
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05-16-22, 05:56 PM
#27
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The 7700 BB has needle bearings, and is sort of rebuildable, but also can sort of fall apart. Hard to find in Oct V.1 Italian, as quoted above. I hoarded them for a while, but found that the FSA carbon cranks I like are more plentiful in ISIS BB styles than Octalink. The BB's are not proprietary, available from FSA and OmniRacer and Token.
I have one English and one Italian 5500 BB here (length for triple). I sourced the Italian before the scourge was released.
05-17-22, 10:31 AM
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Right. You're talking about the freehubs - FH-7403 and FH-7402 - not the freewheel hub, HB-7400r. My Ritchey, bought in 1997, came with a 7403 rear hub. They're fantastic hubs! When I get around to it, I'm going to rebuild them with their 3rd set of rims.
And yes, they ran 10 speed cassettes with no problem.
And yes, they ran 10 speed cassettes with no problem.
I'd read of the 8-sp freewheels, and their issues.
On the internet, so I was not sure it was even a thing.
05-17-22, 10:33 AM
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Even discounted, I considered it a clean breakup. Every build involved a search, like a +1 that only drinks one kind of wine.
I do love my remaining 7700, even if it's driven by ISIS crankset ideology.
Last edited by bamboobike4; 05-17-22 at 10:39 AM.
05-17-22, 10:35 AM
#30
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I have seen them on Ebay - rarely, so they did exist, but I suspect they were rare at the time and because of the issues, rarer still today. The only reason I saw them was I had a saved search for 7400 series, because of my fondness for that generation of DA.
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05-17-22, 01:00 PM
#31
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Note that Mavic freehub bodies on their 9 and 10s era wheelsets were long enough for mounting all 11s cassettes (with the hub's 1.85mm spacer removed).
On a distantly-related note, the 10s cassettes are actually narrower at their mounting than either 8s or 9s cassettes, so can be fitted to most unmodified 7s, pre-HG-c Shimano freehubs in cases where a longer SRAM 11s alloy lockring is nested into the recess in a 12t smallest cog.
05-17-22, 02:03 PM
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The Mavic thing is so good, makes upgrading much cheaper. With new wheels coming out all the time, the Mavics are rapidly becoming bargains. I picked up a Ksyrium SSC set in painted silver that needs a nipple, and two sets of newer Ksyrium UST's (1 Pro, 1 Ellite) with those Yksion tubeless tires already mounted. Add in a spare Campy freehub, and they'll go on about anything. The Yksion tires are certainly neither Veloflex Master supple nor Gatorskin durable, but swap meets often have them for $15-$20 NIB.
05-17-22, 03:18 PM
#33
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I only remember the shop (TLC for Bikes) offered me 2 (an 11-32 and an 11-34) that he said would fit on an 8/9/10 (non-Mavic) freehub and I bought them both, and used them. I did not own an "11-speed capable" set of wheels for at least 3-4 years after that. The 11-34 is on a 7403 freehub and the 11-32 is on an old set of Bontrager RXXXL box section carbon rims.
The Mavic thing is so good, makes upgrading much cheaper. With new wheels coming out all the time, the Mavics are rapidly becoming bargains. I picked up a Ksyrium SSC set in painted silver that needs a nipple, and two sets of newer Ksyrium UST's (1 Pro, 1 Ellite) with those Yksion tubeless tires already mounted. Add in a spare Campy freehub, and they'll go on about anything. The Yksion tires are certainly neither Veloflex Master supple nor Gatorskin durable, but swap meets often have them for $15-$20 NIB.
The Mavic thing is so good, makes upgrading much cheaper. With new wheels coming out all the time, the Mavics are rapidly becoming bargains. I picked up a Ksyrium SSC set in painted silver that needs a nipple, and two sets of newer Ksyrium UST's (1 Pro, 1 Ellite) with those Yksion tubeless tires already mounted. Add in a spare Campy freehub, and they'll go on about anything. The Yksion tires are certainly neither Veloflex Master supple nor Gatorskin durable, but swap meets often have them for $15-$20 NIB.
Could your wheels be from a transitional period, perhaps only nine years old(?), ...or perhaps a much older version but with a spacer removed?
None of my Bontrager wheels have any spacer on the freehub body to remove.
The RXXXL wheels are supposedly one bomb-proof wheelset. A friend claimed he ran over his front wheel with his truck and it wasn't damaged!
05-17-22, 03:48 PM
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I have two pair of Bontrager "Race" wheels here that I just picked up used for a song. Neither the alloy or steel "Race" freehub bodies accept my 11-28t 11s cassette, and neither does the steel Bontrager "Select" freehub body for that matter. Could your wheels be from a transitional period, perhaps only nine years old(?), ...or perhaps a much older version but with a spacer removed?
On older Bontrager sets, always check the fine print on the hubs. Some had DTSwiss 240 hubs.
I've had many Bontrager wheelsets come through my mitts; seemed to be the OEM set on so many bikes.
I've just never really preferred them to Mavics or building my own. The paired spokes haven't worked well for me.
Three exceptions:
1. The old RXXXL had cool carbon hubs, carbon box section rims, and the paired spokes in black, red, or white. Grooovoovy.
2. The RXL/TLR have nice hubs, nice light rims, and very petite spokes. They ride great (I use mine tubeless) but those spokes do break.
3. Aeolus 5.0's, an emergency buy, and the seller happened to be sponsored, got them free, so for what I paid, yep, I love them.
I have them on a red/white bike steel bike, and rode them on Hotter'n Hell in Texas.
The classic box section rims in carbon gives one a bit of a pause, mainly due to their age and appearance.
They look like someone said "Hey, Virgil, let's just reproduce these classic wheels in carbon and see how that goes."
