CHris King Stainless Steel Drive Shell X-Post
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Why not just buy a new one from King? If you do just get the shell itself, are you prepared to take the bearings out of your aluminum shell and press them into the new shell?
I have a buddy who owns the hub service tool and he's experienced with the inner workings of the hubs. I posted the question with the hope that maybe someone had a steel drive shell that they had decided not to use. I have heard of some folks hesitating to use them because of the extra weight.Bikinfoolferlife said:
Also, these babies go for $89 new and I was hoping to save a few bucks
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12,390 Posts
Wow, didn't realize they had upped the price that much, should come with bearings for that price (what is the price with bearings?)...I bought one a while back and yet to install, getting max use out of the aluminum first (sorry, but not interested in parting with mine). Was more curious if you were able to do the switch yourself...
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12,390 Posts
Ouch on the 140...good luck on your search for a lonely ss body languishing in someone's toolbox...
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192 Posts
HOW chewed up?
If this message seems screamingly obvious, please forgive me. Not trying to talk down to anyone, but one of the difficulties about answering questions on the net is that we don't have any idea how much you already know about the topic.
Just curious if your aluminum carrier really needs to be replaced. All aluminum cassette carriers (a.k.a. "drive shell" or "rotor") get little tooth marks where the individual cogs cut into them. This is normal and not a cause for concern. Even if they are pretty noticeable, unless they threaten to cut through the splines you may not need to do anything.
What happens with a new hub is that almost all the pressure from the steel cassette is sitting on the corners of the aluminum carrier splines. The small contact area between the two parts creates an overload on the softer aluminum and it deforms. As it does so, the contact area between the two parts increases. Eventually you (hopefully) have enough contact area to support the pressure load over and you reach an equilibrium between the load and the surface area available to support it. At that point the cassette cog will stop cutting down into the spline.
(Many folks who have previously only used Shimano hubs are alarmed when they see "bite marks" on an aluminum carrier. Shimano uses heavier or more expensive metals (steel or Ti) for their MTB carriers, so they don't get the same sort of marks on them. Hope and White Industries also offer Titanium cassette carriers...and charge a lot less than Chris King charges for cheaper materials.)
The amount of deformation is determined by the pressure load and to some extent by how often it is applied. Big cogs generate more torque force than smaller ones, so you typically see a pattern where the marks get bigger as the cogs get bigger, assuming you use them all regularly.
If you have been using a cassette where the larger cogs are pinned or bolted together,
one thing that can really help with this problem is to use a cassette where the largest cogs are all mounted together on an alloy base unit called a "spider". Examples of this would be an XT or XTR cassette. By mounting the 4 or 5 largest cogs (which otherwise do the most damage), together on a wide base, the pressure from these big cogs is distributed over a large area and doesn't create problems with aluminum carriers. On a pinned or bolted cassette, each cog can move a little bit individually, and this creates high localized pressure on the carrier splines.
The main issue with these "bite-marks" is that it makes it more difficult to remove the cassette for maintenance, especially if you don't know they are there. Then you are just left wondering why the blankety-blank cog is stuck. The best approach for dealing with an embedded cog is to immobilize the rest of the cassette (and thereby also holding the cassette carrier still) using a chainwhip, then use a second chainwhip to "rock" the stuck cog backwards out of the little groove it is sitting in. Greasing everything when you put it together helps minimize problems too.
If this message seems screamingly obvious, please forgive me. Not trying to talk down to anyone, but one of the difficulties about answering questions on the net is that we don't have any idea how much you already know about the topic.
Just curious if your aluminum carrier really needs to be replaced. All aluminum cassette carriers (a.k.a. "drive shell" or "rotor") get little tooth marks where the individual cogs cut into them. This is normal and not a cause for concern. Even if they are pretty noticeable, unless they threaten to cut through the splines you may not need to do anything.
What happens with a new hub is that almost all the pressure from the steel cassette is sitting on the corners of the aluminum carrier splines. The small contact area between the two parts creates an overload on the softer aluminum and it deforms. As it does so, the contact area between the two parts increases. Eventually you (hopefully) have enough contact area to support the pressure load over and you reach an equilibrium between the load and the surface area available to support it. At that point the cassette cog will stop cutting down into the spline.
(Many folks who have previously only used Shimano hubs are alarmed when they see "bite marks" on an aluminum carrier. Shimano uses heavier or more expensive metals (steel or Ti) for their MTB carriers, so they don't get the same sort of marks on them. Hope and White Industries also offer Titanium cassette carriers...and charge a lot less than Chris King charges for cheaper materials.)
The amount of deformation is determined by the pressure load and to some extent by how often it is applied. Big cogs generate more torque force than smaller ones, so you typically see a pattern where the marks get bigger as the cogs get bigger, assuming you use them all regularly.
If you have been using a cassette where the larger cogs are pinned or bolted together,
one thing that can really help with this problem is to use a cassette where the largest cogs are all mounted together on an alloy base unit called a "spider". Examples of this would be an XT or XTR cassette. By mounting the 4 or 5 largest cogs (which otherwise do the most damage), together on a wide base, the pressure from these big cogs is distributed over a large area and doesn't create problems with aluminum carriers. On a pinned or bolted cassette, each cog can move a little bit individually, and this creates high localized pressure on the carrier splines.
The main issue with these "bite-marks" is that it makes it more difficult to remove the cassette for maintenance, especially if you don't know they are there. Then you are just left wondering why the blankety-blank cog is stuck. The best approach for dealing with an embedded cog is to immobilize the rest of the cassette (and thereby also holding the cassette carrier still) using a chainwhip, then use a second chainwhip to "rock" the stuck cog backwards out of the little groove it is sitting in. Greasing everything when you put it together helps minimize problems too.
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