cassette for phil?

[10speed]

So I just finished building up a new touring wheel set, phil touring 36H hubs to velocity deda rims w/ DT straight gauge.

My question is, do I need to run a high quality cassette w/ alloy cogs or are cheap steel options just as good?
my concern is for life of free hub body and expected milage on cassette.

part #s are appreciated. 

Thanks yall

[whittierider]

Myself, I sure wouldn't use alloy.

[CastAStone]

You won't find anything made of harder, sturdier metal than a SRAM 70 series cassette (870, 970, 1070 depending on your cog count). It wears slower and is less likely to break than anything else on the market. It has an alloy spindle and steel cogs. Its not as light as their top of the line 90 series, but its stronger; its also stronger than their lower-end 50 and 30 series, and anything Shimano makes (nothing against Shimano, whose XT series is usually the strongest on the market, but cassettes is one area where this is not true).

Its also reasonably priced.

[10speed]

thats helpful, anyone agree or disagree w/ sram 70 series?

[whittierider]

My SRAM PG-970's have definitely proven to be more durable than Ultegra cassettes.  I use 12-26.

[waynemyer]

I am using 970s.  The 11-32 and 11-34 are really great cassettes, lots of bang for the buck.  The 11-23 and 11-25, however, shift very roughly.  Which should be irrelevant, but I mention it just in case. 

[DaveB]

"Alloy" cogs in bike-speak implies aluminum and no one makes aluminum cogs any more.  All decent name-brand cassettes (Shimano, SRAM, Campy, etc.) are good quality steel and differ only in finish and weight. Higher line cassettes have groups of cogs mounted on aluminum spiders to save weight.

The very highest line (read: expensive) cassettes such as Dura Ace and Campy Record have a couple of the largest cogs made of titanium as a weight savings measure but sacrifice durability for low weight.  In fact Campy makes an all-titanium cog cassette but it is a very expensive specialty item and isn't a consideration for your use. 

CastAStone's generalization that SRAM cassettes wear better and are stronger than Shimano's doesn't match my experience at all.  I find Shimano cassettes just as durable and "strong" as any SRAM.  You won't go wrong with either.

[10speed]

Dave B,


Thanks for the education, will aluminum spider cassettes have any advantage besides weight for touring use? Is it true that they just notch out you freehub?

[whittierider]

do I need to run a high quality cassette w/ alloy cogs or are cheap steel options just as good?
my concern is for life of free hub body and expected milage on cassette.

I think the only concern there is with aluminum freehub bodies.  If your freehub body is not aluminum, I don't think there's any problem.  See http://sheldonbrown.com/dura-ace.html#10

[DaveB]

Dave B,


Thanks for the education, will aluminum spider cassettes have any advantage besides weight for touring use? Is it true that they just notch out you freehub?

Whittierider is correct.  The only problem is using steel cogs on an aluminum freehub body if the design isn't up to the load.  Almost all Shimano and SRAM freehub bodies are either steel or Ti and aren't subject to the notching you are concerned about.  Campy does use aluminum freehub bodies but designs their cassettes to be compatible so it isn't a problem with them either.

Shimano did make some recent aluminum freehub bodied hubs (Dura Ace 7800 and a few high-line pre-built wheel sets) but designed them with taller splines to distribute the load better.  Those are known as 10-speed ONLY hubs since Shimano 10-speed cassettes have deeper notches to match while 8 and 9-speed cassettes do not.   These aluminum bodied hubs are no longer being made and all current Shimano hubs now have steel or Ti freehub bodies and work with 8, 9 or 10-speed cassettes.