Which rear hub?

[Brucey]

Spline pattern is the same, but a road 11 speed cassette is 1.85mm wider than an 11 speed MTB one, even though the sprocket spacing is the same - and won't fit on an MTB hub without modification.  FH-M8000 is shown as 8/9/10/11 speed MTB compatible, the FH-RS505 is 10/11 and comes with a Low Spacer (1.85mm) to fill the gap: http://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-FH-RS505-3871.pdf

are you sure, I have a 135mm hope pro4 rear hub on my GT grade, works fine with shimano 105 cassettes

Hope Pro 4 is supplied with a long freehub body that is '10s/11s compatible', the former by utilising a spacer as described, so yes you can fit a 'road' 11s cassette, no worries.

  Chris's comment re the FH-M8000 is quite correct; this will accept a shimano MTB 11s cassette (which is about as short as a 10s cassette and has a more heavily dished #1 sprocket) but not a 'road' 11s cassette, which is longer.

BTW the penalty you have for choosing a hub with the longer freehub body is that the wheel dish is worse.  If I want to build a strong and lightweight set of wheels, I will often choose to use a hub with a short freehub body and fit a shortened cassette on it, since in most cases I would value the extra wheel strength over having (say) an 11T sprocket which I would hardly ever use.

cheers

[Brucey]

Alternatively, there's the Novatec D772SB-CL if you want a non-Shimano solution.  They also do a 6-bolt version.

I've been running one through October to February.  The freehub seizes slightly when left for a day. Not very reassuring.

IME that usually means that there is some (salty) water inside the bearings. It doesn't take much to cause this sort of thing to happen.   The hub is crying out for some love...

Q&D approach says to remove the freehub body, then (if the freehub body isn't already drilled, which some are) nudge the spacer between the bearings to one side, and add as much gear oil as you can into the space between the bearings, and carry on. With a following wind some of the oil will get into the bearings and it might be enough to forestall their demise.
Past that you can't do much without removing the bearings, which can easily damage them; this being the case you may as well replace them once they are out.

When fitting new bearings to this kind of freehub body, I usually remove the inner seals from the bearings, and use as much semi-fluid grease between them as I can.  They last a lot longer that way, even with the usual imperfect seals.

cheers

[citoyen]

no play with the QR half- tight or less means that the bearings are definitely set too tight and will have a significantly reduced life unless they are adjusted.

Noted. I'll have a look at adjusting the hub when I get the time to give it my full attention with no distractions.

[citoyen]

the deciding factor for me would be sealed bearings - every time i have to service cup&cone bearings it is such a faff!..

I should add that another reason I don't want to re-use the existing hub is that it requires straight-pull spokes. Not being an especially experienced wheelbuilder, I'm very wary of straight-pull spokes and this for me is a far greater consideration than what type of bearings it uses.

Much of what I've learned about bike maintenance over the years has come from experimenting by taking stuff apart and then trying to put it back together again - usually using the wrong tools. I taught myself how to adjust cup-and-cone bearings this way back in the 80s - I was probably doing it wrong, but making mistakes is not necessarily a bad way to learn.

[Brucey]

...Much of what I've learned about bike maintenance over the years has come from experimenting by taking stuff apart and then trying to put it back together again - usually using the wrong tools. I taught myself how to adjust cup-and-cone bearings this way back in the 80s - I was probably doing it wrong, but making mistakes is not necessarily a bad way to learn.

we've all been there.... it took years for the penny to drop re the free play required in cup and cone QR hubs but I have not had a worn cone appear (any type)  since then, not in hubs that I have set up.

Years after I'd figured this out, the internet appeared and I was heartened to find that Sheldon Brown does (did) the exact same thing. He recommended using 'a hub vice' (which improves accuracy and greatly speeds the work) but if you want one you will probably have to build it; I built one (with a 'holder' for a 17mm locknut on the RHS)  and it makes setting cup and cone hubs (with locknuts that size) an absolute breeze.

cheers

[Chris N]

Chris's comment re the FH-M8000 is quite correct; this will accept a shimano MTB 11s cassette (which is about as short as a 10s cassette and has a more heavily dished #1 sprocket) but not a 'road' 11s cassette, which is longer.

Thanks Brucey.

BTW the penalty you have for choosing a hub with the longer freehub body is that the wheel dish is worse.  If I want to build a strong and lightweight set of wheels, I will often choose to use a hub with a short freehub body and fit a shortened cassette on it, since in most cases I would value the extra wheel strength over having (say) an 11T sprocket which I would hardly ever use.

Boost hubs on road bikes?