# Converting Uniglide to Hyperglide



## Stogaguy (Feb 11, 2006)

This is a cross post from the thread titled “ISO DA 7 Speed Cogs”. That thread evolved into a discussion of converting from Uniglide to Hyperglide cassettes. Thanks to everyone who partisipated in that thread for their input. I learned a lot. I thought I would repost my “summary” as the start of a new thread to invite more input, especially from those who may have first hand experience with such a conversion.

My bike has DA 7400/7401 components with 7 speed indexed shifting and down tube shifters. If I understand it correctly in order for me to Hyperglide I would need to do the following. Please note there are some questions in here.

7 Speed:

Change to a Hyperglide freehub body: FW8946 (for 7 speed, 126 mm spacing) or FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing, would require a spacer inboard of the cassette for 7 speed)
Change to 7 speed Hyperglide cassette.
All other drive train components remain the same.

8 Speed:

Change to a Hyperglide freehub body FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing)
Change to 8 speed Hyperglide cassette.
All other drive train components remain the same.

9 Speed:

Change to a Hyperglide freehub body FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing)
Change to 9 speed Hyperglide cassette.
Change to 9 speed chain
Change to 9 speed shifters (down tube to utilize existing braze-ons, what is the part number?)
Change to 1997 or later Shimano derailleur
All other drive train components remain the same. (Is a 9 speed chain compatible with my DA7400 chainrings?)

10 Speed:

Change to a Hyperglide freehub body FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing)
Change to 10 speed Hyperglide cassette.
Change to 10 speed chain
Change to 10 speed shifters (SL-7800)
Change to 1997 or later Shimano derailleur
All other drive train components remain the same. (Is a 10 speed chain compatible with my DA7400 chainrings?)


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## Mark McM (Jun 18, 2005)

*Conversion issues*



Stogaguy said:


> This is a cross post from the thread titled “ISO DA 7 Speed Cogs”. That thread evolved into a discussion of converting from Uniglide to Hyperglide cassettes. Thanks to everyone who partisipated in that thread for their input. I learned a lot. I thought I would repost my “summary” as the start of a new thread to invite more input, especially from those who may have first hand experience with such a conversion.


Hmmm... This conversion may not be as simple and easy as you might think. More details about the complications below ...

My bike has DA 7400/7401 components with 7 speed indexed shifting and down tube shifters. If I understand it correctly in order for me to Hyperglide I would need to do the following. Please note there are some questions in here.

7 Speed:

Change to a Hyperglide freehub body: FW8946 (for 7 speed, 126 mm spacing) or FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing, would require a spacer inboard of the cassette for 7 speed)
Change to 7 speed Hyperglide cassette.
All other drive train components remain the same.
[/QUOTE]

No can do. As I think was mentioned in the other thread, pre-'97 Dura-Ace hubs used a different method to 'bolt' the freehub onto the hub shell. Only pre-'97 Dura-Ace freehubs will fit on pre-'97 hubs (and all 7spd Dura-Ace freehubs were Uniglide).



Stogaguy said:


> 8 Speed:
> 
> Change to a Hyperglide freehub body FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing)
> Change to 8 speed Hyperglide cassette.
> All other drive train components remain the same.


More parts will be required. For starters, your axle is presently about 137mm long (126mm over locknuts, plus an additional 5.5mm per side to engage the dropouts). If you re-use the axle, you'll only have about 1/8" of axle sticking out past the locknuts on each side to engage the dropouts. While some have done this, I'm not sure I'd recommend it. The standard axle for 8/9/10spd hubs is 141mm long.

Your present right side cone probably does not have the correct seal to mate with the freehub seal in the new freehub. You could try to pry out the old freehub seal and install it in the new freehub, but it is almost impossible to pry out the seal ring without damaging it. A better bet is to get the matching cone for the new freehub.

Your 7spd indexed shifters will provide close-but-not-quite indexing on the new cassette. You might be able to adjust it so it works adequately most of the time, but the adjustment (and shifting) will always be a bit finicky. A better bet would be, rather than installing an 8spd cassette, use a 7spd cassette. There is a spacer made that can be used to fit a 7spd cassette onto an 8/9/10spd freehub. This will allow the indexing to work perfectly. Alternately, you could get 8spd shifters, but these would have to be Dura-Ace, or you'd have to either replace the derailleur or use some type of cable travel conversion device.

And what about your frame? I assume it presently has 126mm rear axle spacing. Steel and titanium frames can be spread to fit the wider axle, but jamming a 130mm axle into a 126 rear triangle is not recommended for aluminum or carbon frames.

In addition to replacing the parts above and possibly having your frame cold-set to a wider width, you'll also have to have the wheel(s) redished, as the hub center will shift with the wider freehub body. As I think mentioned in the other thread, the tool to change Dura-Ace freehub bodies is no longer available, so you'd have to find a shop that had one (or an individual you could borrow one from).




Stogaguy said:


> 9 Speed:
> 
> Change to a Hyperglide freehub body FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing)
> Change to 9 speed Hyperglide cassette.
> ...


See above about the axle length and frame rear triangle width, but otherwise everything else above is correct. The only difference between 8spd and 9spd chainrings is that the inner chainring is slighly offset inward, to prevent the small chance that narrower chain might not fall into the teeth correctly, and will skate along on top of the teeth. This is generally not a big issue, so you can wait until the inner chainring is worn out before replacing it with a 9spd version.

Slight comment: The FW8808 freehub body can not accept 11 tooth sprockets, so you'd have to use a cassette that uses a 12 tooth or larger top sprocket.

Also, if you stay with downtube shifters, the front derailleur will still work fine, but STI shifters use indexed front shifting, and different models of shifters are only compatible with specific front derailleurs.




Stogaguy said:


> 10 Speed:
> 
> Change to a Hyperglide freehub body FW8808 (for 8/9/10, 130 mm spacing)
> Change to 10 speed Hyperglide cassette.
> ...


All comments about 9spd also apply to 10spd.


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## Stogaguy (Feb 11, 2006)

Mark, Thank you for your very detailed and informative response. I appreciate it


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## steelbikerider (Feb 7, 2005)

UG to HG

I have made the the changes from 7 to 8 to 9 to 10. Here are some things I discovered.

9-speed DT Dura-Ace shifters work with DA 8speed rear deraillers for 8-speeds. 

UG and HG cogs can be mixed without too much loss in shifting precision. 

The old 8-speed casette body lasts a long time. It is currently running a 10 speed.

The seal on the cassette side is not as crucial because it is protected by the cassette body. If it's not a perfect match, just use lots of grease. 

If you need UG cogs, e-mail me. I have 12 - 21, maybe 23. 

Finding parts can be difficult. It will probably be easier to go with a new hub unless you don't want to build a new wheel. 

9-speed DA deraillers work fine with 10 speed shifters.


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