Novatec 11s freehub upgrade? (SOLVED)

[sigismond0]

EDIT: The answer is no. You'll have to replace the hub altogether, but the good news is that the hubs should be similar enough that you can reuse your spokes.

I have a feeling that the answer will end up being "Lace 'em up with better hubs!" but I promised my wallet I'd ask anyway:

I have a wheel with a Novatec F372SB, and I'm looking to upgrade to 11s in the near future. From what I can tell (Novatec sucks at giving you details), all new Novatec hubs with the Shimano freehub are 11s compatible, older ones obviously aren't. Does anybody know how I can get my hands on a new 11s compatible Novatec freehub?

Based on their site, I've been able to figure this much out:
F172SB is the Shimano version of the hub.
F272SB is the Campy version of the hub.

So what is F372SB? Is that their 3-in-1 universal freehub? As long as the rest of the hub is the same as the F172SB, replacing the freehub should work just fine, yes?

Edit: Made some progress and found this: http://novatecusa.net/wp-content/upload ... -02-08.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Looks like all I need is a new Tpye-A freehub. Now it's a matter of finding one...

[btompkins0112]

I have heard, and this is not first hand knowledge, but I plan on confirming later this week, that Campy 11 and Shimano 11 are interchangeable. So a Campy 11 wheels with a Campy 11 cassette SHOULD run perfectly on a Shimano 11 bike.

I say this because an 11 speed Campy freehub may be an easier item to source for your hub. Just food for thought and another option if you can't find the Shimano 11 freehub.

[sigismond0]

Do you mean that you think the freehubs are interchangeable or that the cassettes are interchangeable? http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/12/12/int ... ur-wheels/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; says the cassettes are, for the most part, interchangeable.

Unfortunately, that would mean having to find both a Campy freehub body for my wheel, but also getting a 11s Campy cassette, and those are by no means cheap and are not known for being super robust. I'd really like to stick with the Force PG1170 cassette to match the rest of the groupset. (Largely because it comes with said groupset, but also the new Sram cassettes are pretty darn cool as pieces of technology, too.)

[btompkins0112]

The cassettes have the same spacing, but yes, that would require you to get a campy 11 cassette instead of a shimano cassette. Campy 11 cassettes are pretty widely available (Athena, Chorus, Record, Super Record) so getting one cheap isn't really an issue.

Anyway, it was just a thought as I am running DA 9k and was looking at the relative price of Campy 11 compatible wheels to 9k compatible wheels and finding some good deals.

[sigismond0]

I'll definitely keep it in mind as an option. I think I'd probably rather just bite the bullet and lace up to new hubs, though. The bike probably deserves it.

[ms6073]

Edit: Made some progress and found this: http://novatecusa.net/wp-content/upload ... -02-08.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Looks like all I need is a new Tpye-A freehub. Now it's a matter of finding one...

Take a look at BDOP Cycling's NOVATEC FREEHUB BODIES page - the link is to the online site for brick & mortar store in Tiawan and the proprietor is a forum member who has posted in the past.

[Dammit]

I emailed them about this as I am in the same boat- response was that the older 10 speed hubs cannot be upgraded and that the entire hub needs to be replaced.

[sigismond0]

Super bummer. Thanks for the info though.

[Dammit]

The email:

I'm sorry to say that no Nivatec hubs can be converted from 10spd to 11spd as the 11spd freehub is 1.85mm longer than the 10spd.

We have ordered the new D712SB-11 but it will be at least 60 days before we see delivery.

Regards,

BDop Cycling Co., Ltd.

[coolmingli]

If the 11 speed hub body fit the axle, then you can always re dish the wheel.

[ms6073]

If the 11 speed hub body fit the axle, then you can always re dish the wheel.

Sounds to me like a 10-speed D712SB hub would require both a new, longer axle, the 11-speed freehub, and a re-dish of the wheel.

I have several sets of disc cross wheels built on the 10-speed 712SB hub not and my Zipp 303 Firecrest pre-date 11-speed by only a couple months. pre-11-speed. What has me confused with all this 10-speed -> 11-speed conversion talk is that for all those wheels, whether I run Ulltegra 6700 or Dura Ace 7900 cassettes, I use the supplied spacer which has me wondering why cant I just omit the spacer, redish the wheels and go 11-speed?

[boolinwall]

That's not making any sense. Any hub that can be set-up to run campy 9/10/11 speed already has the required axle spacing for a shimano 11 speed cassette. Now,, if your hub never had the option to use a campy freehub (and a few hubs exist that are dedicated shimano) than you will not be able to put 11 shimano on it. Plus,, they'd have to make a freehub body that allows that conversion. I'm sure a lot of manufacturers won't make a 10 to 11 conversion kit though. And not due to greed. Simply due to the number of different freehub options they've made over the years. If you make an upgrade to one or two,, do you have to make an upgrade for all of them? Where do you draw the line?

[sigismond0]

The problem isn't the spacing, it's that the actual hub body is wide enough that hub+current freehub=130mm. Hub+new freehub=131.85, which is too wide to fit in dropouts and is longer than the axle. New hubs are approximately 1.8mm narrower to accomodate the new freehub.

For Shimano hubs with the 1.8mm spacer, all you have to do is remove the spacer and install the new freehub. No re-dish necessary. If your spacer is narrower than 1.8mm, that's a no-go.

[ms6073]

New hubs are approximately 1.8mm narrower to accomodate the new freehub.

Ah! Looks like I will be needing several new Novatec 11-speed rear hubs as well.

If your spacer is narrower than 1.8mm, that's a no-go.

Aren't the spacer that comes stock with all Shimano 10 speed cassettes which is installed on the freehub before the cassette, only 1.0mm wide?

[sigismond0]

New Shimano freehubs (the 11s compatible ones) use a 1.8mm spacer to switch between 11s and 10s mode.