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I pulled the 11 speed cassette off what I believe to be a DT Swiss 350 hub (it's on a 2nd hand E1700 Spline 2 wheel). The freehub splines are pretty chewed and the ends of them look like they could shear off.</p>
My first thought was the lock ring had been loose at some point. But it looks more like the the freehub is too short. Maybe an older 10 speed one?? By the time I add all the cogs there is only the smallest amount of thread available for the lock ring. The chunks missing from the splines ends are the amount the smallest cog can slide on. It has been working fine up until this point, but it was pretty easy to remove the lock ring.
Does this look right or has it got the wrong freehub for cassette? Will I die if use it as is? I guessing the small cog could just spin, but I'm not sure if the lock ring would then undo.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/195513551@N06/53130776818/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/195513551@N06/53130295416/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/195513551@N06/53130294991/in/dateposted-public/
Other than being chewed up by a cassette it looks fine to me, at least mine looked like that when I fitted an 11 speed XT cassette to a Hope freehub. 10 and 11 speed uses the same freehub anyway
My bet is that the last cog was in the wrong place but the lock ring could still be screwed on. It's then been tightened and reshaped the freehub. Guess how I know this! Though in my case only one spline in the freehub was damaged where the wider spline in the cog was misaligned.
Looks like someone has tightened the lock ring with the small cog not properly aligned and it has taken chunks out of the splines at the top (second pic). So now when you try and seat it you may or may not end up with it sitting on the “shelf” where the splines are deformed. New freehub time …
Shimano MTB HG freehubs have been the same spec since 8-speed, and work with 9, 10 and 11.
They've only changed now with the move to 12-speed/Microspline so any wheel made in the last decade should be fine.
That freehub does look like its been run for a long time with a loose lockring though, I'd replace it if possible.
Ok, that's reassuring. The bearings are still perfect so if it will work for a bit longer then that would be great. I suspect by cleaning all the muck out of the spacers and lock ring threads I can find another mm too.
The loose lockring has possibly done that to the end of the freehub but if you have a cassette with separate loose cogs then it will inevitably gouge into a softer alloy freehub body. The issue really is that freehub bodies were never designed to be made out of aluminium.
I've seen this on a few DTswiss freehubs at work now. Could be coincidence but haven't seen it with any other brands.
You'll need a new one as the mangled end of the freehub will let the lock ring come loose.
the fact that the splines are chewed on all sprockets suggests the rider is a brute with their (up)shifting. Either that or they are Marcel Kittel.