Powertap G3 - freehub splines

[sawyer]

My limited interval training has eaten the splines in the freehub.

Use has been fairly light and I've never eaten a freehub before.

Anyone else had experience a G3 cheese freehub?

[mattr]

What cassette you using?
Lower model cassettes tend to eat aluminium freehubs.
Or failing to torque the lockring correctly.

[sawyer]

Record 10s cassettes

I don't use a torque wrench on the lockring, though would be suspicious about that being the likely explanation.

Many/most bikeshops will not use a torque wrench on this, and I've fitted scores of cassettes on dozens of wheelsets without this problem.

Suspect it's a soft freehub body

[jekyll man]

Tends more to be a shimano cassette problem, with the splines being so much shallower.

never really had a problem on my SL+ (now on G3) and camapg cassettes of various levels and also different makes.

Perhaps you've just being unlucky.
And maybe tighten it a bit more.

[mattr]

Yeah, if it's campag, that's unusual, they use a far deeper spline than shimano, think the idea behind that was to make them aluminium friendly. The shimano one has always been designed to run on a hardened steel (or titanium) freehub. Hence the shallow splines...... Very intolerant to loose lockrings. Or cheap, individual, sprockets.

Easiest fix for shimano is to tighten the lockring down hard, even above the rated torque, to minimise movement between the sprockets. That's why i suggested it.

With a campag cassette, i'd be looking at either the lockring not tightening down properly/being left loose or freehub having not been heat treated (maybe).

And i think i'm about 50/50 for shops that use torque wrenches on lockrings, 40Nm is rather a lot. More than you might expect

[maquisard]

Powertap freehubs are as soft as butter. There was talk of Powertap bringing out a Ti freehub to tackle what is a known issue but they haven't brought anything to market yet. As others have said a major cause is not having the freehub lockring tight enough so that there is zero play between each cassette cog.

The other option is to use the steel freehub which is slightly heavier but does last. I use one on my powertap training wheels.

[sawyer]

Thanks for the responses ... I will pay particular attention to torque-ing when I fit the replacement ... not cheap at c£50

Point of raising wasn't to check warranty as it's past that data, but instead to see if others have found the freehub soft (as maquisard has) ... as I've never had this problem with Campag freehub bodies in 10 years on Campag

[Rick]

When you say "eaten" what are the details ?
Every aluminum freehub body I have used has always gotten chewed a bit. I use a file to smooth off burrs whenever I change cassettes. They still work fine, and after a few deburrings they tend to stop getting the burrs.
I thought it was just the price we pay for a lighter freehub body.

[sawyer]

When you say "eaten" what are the details ?
Every aluminum freehub body I have used has always gotten chewed a bit. I use a file to smooth off burrs whenever I change cassettes. They still work fine, and after a few deburrings they tend to stop getting the burrs.
I thought it was just the price we pay for a lighter freehub body.

Shallow notches across the middle section of the splines (i.e. corresponding to the cogs in which I'd put in the hardest efforts during hill intervals - while on the big ring I might add )

When in operation a casssette will make a bit of noise in those gears ... some ticking. It is the play between the sprockets and the freehub body due to the notches/grooves.

[maquisard]

Below is a good example ( Shimano freehub ), they are the softest freehub bodies I have come across.

[mattr]

I've seen a shimano/hope freehub that was used with a deore cassette (and left loose) where the sprockets had actually cut through the spline completely, two or three sprockets in the middle would rotate freely round the freehub.....

[eric]

The PT Shimano freehub is the softest I have used.

I think that someone has adapted or fitted a Novatec freehub with steel Anti-Bite Guard to PT hub, and posted here.
But that'd be a Shimano solition not Campy.

If the cogs are rotating around on the freehub you should check the lockring and also make sure that there's not a spacer missing.

[sawyer]

The PT Shimano freehub is the softest I have used.

I think that someone has adapted or fitted a Novatec freehub with steel Anti-Bite Guard to PT hub, and posted here.
But that'd be a Shimano solition not Campy.

If the cogs are rotating around on the freehub you should check the lockring and also make sure that there's not a spacer missing.

Interesting that having raised the issue, there are a few who similarly regard the PT freehub as a small lump of cheese

The hub has a great weight at c325g, though they might have overdone the WW ism on this part given it's a tool for putting in big efforts ...

Cassette was always fitted correctly in terms of spacers and lockring, though as stated I don't torque wrench on cassettes, but do apply a fair amount of force, and have done it this way for 15 years without ever having had any problems on 20 or more wheelsets.

I've ordered another one and will torque wrench but also be on to P-tap for a not-fit-for purpose product if it gets eaten again

[harmonix1234]

I had this problem. Solved it by purchasing a Tiagra cassette. They are heavy, but all but the smallest two rings are riveted to one carrier so the individual sprockets don't chew into the freehub. And, the smallest two sprockets lock inside each other which also helps. You'll add a few grams to the bike. But the shifting is as good as any high end SRAM or shimano cassette, and they last forever. I chewed out two free hubs in 12 weeks. Absolutely minced. Since using Tiagra cassettes I don't even have a scratch on my Ali freehub after a year of abuse. Best kept secret in cycling, the Tiagra cassettes. Btw they only come in 10spd, not 11.

[odin99]

what about using sram red cassettes?