Dura ace 7800 hub machining

I've bought a set of Dura ace wheels on ebay, bloody bargain.

What I didn't realise was that they are the 7800 series which only accept a specific 10 speed casette which is a complete PITA as I'm planning to use them on bikes with an 8 or 9 speed set up.

After doing some research I've discovered that they can be machined to accept the older style 7,8 and 9, as well as the newer 10 speed casette.

has anyone had experience of doing this before? does anyone know a good machinist in london (preferaby east) who would be up to the job?

it requires milling the freehub body splines down by .25 mm as well as milling the end of the body off by about 1mm

Can you just swap out the freehub body for a normal one that uses a spacer for 9spd?

milling freehub body sounds like a lot of work unless you own a milling machine and lathe ?

is there not another freehub body you could just replace the old one with ? just change them over ?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=78990&_$ja=tsid:46412|cgn:Wheels+Hubs+Spares|cn:Chain+Reaction-UK-PLA-PLA-Eng-DT-SE|kw:110812UK_FH-5600+Freehub+Body

?

2004 Dura-Ace (10-speed) 7800-series Freehubs were completely redesigned too. The Freehub body was attached to the axle, rather than to the shell, to save weight and to have the pawls act at a larger radius.

Also in an effort to save weight, the 2004 Dura-Ace Freehub body is aluminum.

So no, I don't think so

I don't know the 7800 cassette .. but is it possible to split the cassette and respace the cogs with spacers from an old 9 speed cassette to suit a 9 speed.

Alternatively your cash may be better spent buying a new hub as you've got to rebuild the wheel. Machine time is not cheap unless you know someone who'll do it at mates rates.

the 7800 wheel set uses a hub designed for straight pull bladed spokes, not the standard 7800 hub, so I'd just be reusing the rim. I need the lathe/machine option.

The splines on a 7800 hub are higher than on most other DA's and the grooves on the cassettes are, accordingly, deeper - I need a machinist, I was hoping to find someone on here who's done something similar...

Oswald is on the money here- it's going to be massively easier to use a 10 speed chain and 10 speed sprockets which are respaced, with a spacer.

You'll need to crack the largest three off their carrier, but that's handrill level work, then either use a belt sander to adapt some spacers, or shop that out.

I can make them with my mitre saw to a good enough level to test the theory out.

The 7800 freehubs are no longer available, I'd want to maintain one in good condition.

Grab a 10 speed 105 cassette, some spacers and some handtools and make a prototype- and save yourself a fortune.

Yes .. I understand the f**k up Shimano made with the design which is why the cassette body was changed rapidly to a titanium one of lower spline height.

Anyway, a typical machine shop will charge you in the area of £50+ per hour .. that's why I'm suggesting possible alternatives that you can do yourself.

Good news - Tom Donohue has machined down a spare 7800 freehub to fit the old (and new) shaped splines - I have matched this with a sram PG 990 where the 6 main cogs are attached to an alloy carrier, this will stop the steel cogs from eating into the lower and softer aluminium splines. Testing and finishing the wheel build this weekend...