Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion

Oct 26, 17 6:16

Post #1 of 32 (5834 views)

I know this is an OLD topic and much talked about but Google is failing me here. I have converted several 10-speed-only hubs to 11-speed by grinding down the freehub body by ~1.85mm but on Shimano hubs that will not work.

I have seen a mod where people (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cazQt5oleo4) take some material off the back of the cassette body, but no one has confirmed that this will work without interfering with the spokes. I have a couple of CX wheels that I would like to use, and before I bust out the grinder.......or rebuild the rear wheels with new hubs I thought it would be worth asking.

I have Shimano Ultegra 6600 hubs laced up with traditional J-bend spokes. Looking to run an 11-28 casette....

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 7:31

Post #2 of 32 (5816 views)

I looked into awhile back with 7900 hubs and used this as a reference
http://benmanson.com/...to_11/7900_to_11.htm

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [mike s] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 7:36

Post #3 of 32 (5810 views)

Can't grind down the hub shell on 6600 hubs so that solution is out.....

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 7:45

Post #4 of 32 (5805 views)

it's not going to work. the 6600 hub is a 10s only hub. by grinding a 11s cassette you can make it 9s wide which is WIDER than 10s: it will go on 8-9-10s hubs (such as 7900's, older zipp's etc.), but not on 10s (6600's, 7800's...)

Last edited by: jollyroger88: Oct 26, 17 7:46

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 7:55

Post #5 of 32 (5796 views)

atc134 wrote:

Can't grind down the hub shell on 6600 hubs so that solution is out.....

Grind down the back of the cassette with a lathe!

This is what you want to do (the logic is laid out in the first 4 min, and they get to the actual lathe part at ~4:20)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cazQt5oleo4

edit: I see you already have seen this. I've used this approach to great success with a Renn Disc wheel.

Last edited by: beston: Oct 26, 17 7:56

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [jollyroger88] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 7:55

Post #6 of 32 (5795 views)

" by grinding a 11s cassette you can make it 9s wide which is WIDER than 10s"

HUH?

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [beston] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 7:57

Post #7 of 32 (5791 views)

Yep beston that is the solution I am proposing......I am just concerned that the 28t cog will run into the spokes if I use a lathe to remove 1.85mm of material from the cassette "carrier"....

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:06

Post #8 of 32 (5783 views)

11s cogset is wider than 9s; 9s is WIDER than 10s

if you remove 1.85mm from a 11s cogset it becomes as wide as a 9s

BUT

it will not fit on the 6600 hub

BECAUSE

the 6600 hub can accomodate ONLY 10s cogsets (that are narrower than 9s)

a "machined" 11s cogset will instead fit on so called 8-9-10s hubs (i.e. 7900s)

hope it's clearer now

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [jollyroger88] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:14

Post #9 of 32 (5772 views)

Really you couldn't use a 9speed cassette on a 6600 hub? Guess I am stuck rebuilding, or doing the cog-omission trick......

#shimanoweirdness

Last edited by: atc134: Oct 26, 17 8:15

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:17

Post #10 of 32 (5771 views)

There several approaches out there. If it helps, we have listed some of the simplest and lowest cost options here:

http://darkspeedworks.com/blog-11speed.htm

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
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Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [DarkSpeedWorks] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:19

Post #11 of 32 (5765 views)

Thanks DarkSpeedWorks

I have been to your site and it was super helpful. We are just trying to hammer out whether a 6600 hub will worth with the Lasco Concepts solution you outlined.

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [jollyroger88] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:24

Post #12 of 32 (5761 views)

jollyroger88 wrote:

11s cogset is wider than 9s; 9s is WIDER than 10s

if you remove 1.85mm from a 11s cogset it becomes as wide as a 9s

BUT

it will not fit on the 6600 hub

BECAUSE

the 6600 hub can accomodate ONLY 10s cogsets (that are narrower than 9s)

a "machined" 11s cogset will instead fit on so called 8-9-10s hubs (i.e. 7900s)

hope it's clearer now

Unfortunately, much of this above is incorrect.

Before 11-speed, (for shimano) nearly ALL 8/9/10 speed hubs could accept ANY 8-speed, 9-speed, 10-speed cassette in any combination. (Yes, 10-speed cassettes included a tiny spacer that was required to be used all of these standard hubs.) The only except to this were some now somewhat rare shimano proprietary hubs.

A shimano 6600 hub WILL accept 11-speed modified cassettes.

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

Last edited by: DarkSpeedWorks: Oct 26, 17 8:27

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:25

Post #13 of 32 (5760 views)

To be honest, I have only experience with the dura ace 7800 rear hub and it was "10s only"; a couple of years later it was replaced by the 7850, which was 8-9-10s. I believe that the 6600's (Ultegra) implemented the same technology of the 7800's

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:26

Post #14 of 32 (5757 views)

atc134 wrote:

Thanks DarkSpeedWorks

I have been to your site and it was super helpful. We are just trying to hammer out whether a 6600 hub will worth with the Lasco Concepts solution you outlined.

No worries, a standard shimano 6600 rear hub WILL indeed accept properly modified 11-speed shimano cassettes as long as the largest cog is 25T or larger.

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
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Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:28

Post #15 of 32 (5754 views)

Stop the press! Ultegra 8000 cassettes WILL FIT on a 10 speed freehub with NO MODIFICATIONS:

I saw this in the comments section of the video that you linked to:
"You have probably heard, but Shimano's nextgen Ultegra (8000?) comes with the option of 11 speed-fits-on 10 speed cassette."

To follow up on this, I notice that a spacer is now used on 8000cassettes to install on a 11 speed hubs. Contrast this with longer 6800 cassettes that don't require spacers. The width of the spacer used with the 8000 cassettes is exactly the same difference between the width of a 10s to 11s freehub body (1.85mm).

https://www.excelsports.com/...major=1&minor=10
"1.85mm spacer is used when installing on 11-spd Shimano-type road hub"

Last edited by: beston: Oct 26, 17 8:30

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [DarkSpeedWorks] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:30

Post #16 of 32 (5750 views)

DarkSpeedWorks wrote:

jollyroger88 wrote:

11s cogset is wider than 9s; 9s is WIDER than 10s

if you remove 1.85mm from a 11s cogset it becomes as wide as a 9s

BUT

it will not fit on the 6600 hub

BECAUSE

the 6600 hub can accomodate ONLY 10s cogsets (that are narrower than 9s)

a "machined" 11s cogset will instead fit on so called 8-9-10s hubs (i.e. 7900s)

hope it's clearer now

Unfortunately, much of this above is incorrect.

Before 11-speed, (for shimano) nearly ALL 8/9/10 speed hubs could accept ANY 8-speed, 9-speed, 10-speed cassette in any combination. (Yes, 10-speed cassettes included a tiny spacer that was required to be used all of these standard hubs.) The only except to this were some very rare pre-built wheels from shimano that used some no longer manufactured rare shimano proprietary hubs.

A shimano 6600 hub WILL accept 11-speed modified cassettes.

I've had a dura ace 7800 32-hole rear hub and it accepted 10s cassettes ONLY. It was later replaced by the 7850, that was 8-9-10s compatible, as far as I know
Unless you're telling me that my hub was some kind of prototype gone onto the market by mistake

Last edited by: jollyroger88: Oct 26, 17 8:33

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [beston] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:34

Post #17 of 32 (5745 views)

wow, that's great news

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [jollyroger88] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:34

Post #18 of 32 (5745 views)

Yes, you are correct. I was mistaken, I forgot to say there were also some now somewhat rare dura ace hubs that also only accepted shimano 10 speed cassettes.

But those hubs (and the shimano prebuilt wheels, the rear hubs looked like the photo below) were the only exception to what I wrote. But thanks for clarifying this.

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [beston] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:43

Post #19 of 32 (5740 views)

Does not appear that this is confirmed to have worked, and I haven't found a picture of the backside of the R8000 cassette to confirm that is has some material removed, or at least a dish but it sounds like a slam dunk......

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [beston] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:43

Post #20 of 32 (5739 views)

beston wrote:

Stop the press! Ultegra 8000 cassettes WILL FIT on a 10 speed freehub with NO MODIFICATIONS:

I saw this in the comments section of the video that you linked to:
"You have probably heard, but Shimano's nextgen Ultegra (8000?) comes with the option of 11 speed-fits-on 10 speed cassette."

To follow up on this, I notice that a spacer is now used on 8000cassettes to install on a 11 speed hubs. Contrast this with longer 6800 cassettes that don't require spacers. The width of the spacer used with the 8000 cassettes is exactly the same difference between the width of a 10s to 11s freehub body (1.85mm).

https://www.excelsports.com/...major=1&minor=10
"1.85mm spacer is used when installing on 11-spd Shimano-type road hub"

Unfortunately, this is also incorrect.

ONLY the 11-34 cassette will fit 8/9/10-speed hubs without modification (to use this cassette on an 11-speed hub, you just use the included spacer).

All of the other 8000 series cassette sizes (25T, 28T, 30T, 32T) will only fit on 11-speed hubs.

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

Last edited by: DarkSpeedWorks: Oct 26, 17 8:57

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [atc134] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:45

Post #21 of 32 (5738 views)

atc134 wrote:

Does not appear that this is confirmed to have worked, and I haven't found a picture of the backside of the R8000 cassette to confirm that is has some material removed, or at least a dish but it sounds like a slam dunk......

Yup, because it's not correct, see my post above ...

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
--

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [beston] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:45

Post #22 of 32 (5738 views)

The notes on the Ultegra 8000 10 speed compatible cassette can be confusing, but if you look around at the various sources, it will help clear up that this configuration is only used with the new 11-34 cassette. Shimano is so conservative that they are only allowing this for this cassette with the huge (for road) 34 tooth inner cog which should clear all spoked wheels behind this big cog.

I just installed one of these on my 11 speed gravel bike with the spacer.

Edit: DSW typed up this same info while I was pecking away on the iPad!

Last edited by: SummitAK: Oct 26, 17 8:48

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [DarkSpeedWorks] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:49

Post #23 of 32 (5734 views)

it sounded too good to be true

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [jollyroger88] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:51

Post #24 of 32 (5731 views)

jollyroger88 wrote:

it sounded too good to be true

Yup, exactly. Because 11-34T is way too huge for my race bike.

But I gotta say that I am having great luck with the modified Lasco cassettes ... allows me to save my classic 10s wheels.

Greg @ dsw

Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
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Last edited by: DarkSpeedWorks: Oct 26, 17 8:52

Re: Shimano Ultegra 6600 Hub 11-Speed Conversion [jollyroger88] [ In reply to ]

Oct 26, 17 8:55

Post #25 of 32 (5725 views)

Thanks all......great info.

Off to the machine shop I go!

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