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I might have some freehub bodies lying around. Not sure if they'd work though. Probably off Computrainer hubs and 10spd and I only have old non-dyanamo road front hubs to get rid of.
Shimano rear MTB hubs are only £25-35 aren't they? ebay used wheelsets?
hippy-
Ah cheers, very kind!
I think it's gonna be hard to find cheap spares, as it's one of the fancier XT hubs with the wide hollow axle and the matching freehub. The current equivalent is FH-M8000 but this is the specific one I have: https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/deorext-m780/FH-M785.html
This is exactly why I'd want to go for something lower end/older if I'm switching the wheel - I have a bucket of basic Shimano spares kicking about that would've made this whole thing a lot easier!
trigs
This rear wheel is turning out to be a bit of a saga, particularly considering that it's a) on its last legs and b) not what I'd ideally want anyway.
The 'brand new' donor hub off eBay turned up today, and turns out that the bearings have been nicked and the freehub is just as crunchy as the one I was hoping to replace. Back it goes...
The next best option is to get an actually brand new M8000 hub as a donor, but this will be at least £50 and I then have to wrestle with removing the freehub from an unlaced hub without the benefit of a bench vice. The other option is to buy a new axle and a new freehub as parts, but this all comes to £85 - silly money.
Given that I want to eventually replace the wheelset with one that has wider rims and a dynamo up front, it does seem like a waste of time and money to throw all this at a wheelset with very worn rims.
My ideal wheelset (Shimano dynamo, Shimano rear hub, 6 bolt, Andra 40s) would cost about £200 to sort, so just over double the parts cost here, but I've run out of things to sell to fund this. More thought needed before I make a choice, clearly.
At least the lovely repainted frame isn't here to tempt me into a rushed solution...