Shimana Dura Ace AX hub question

Ianch

Retro Newbie
Hi, fairly new to this but I'm just starting a project to restore a classic road bike and have just managed to pick up a pair of Dura Ace AX hubs. The rear hub has come with 5 cogs and 4 spacers but no lockring. The questions I have are:-
1. how many cogs was this designed for (it looks as though I could get a sixth on)
2. If I stick with the 5 what type of lockring do I need and where can I get one.
3. If It does take 6, what type of cogs does are on there at the moment and wheres the best place to buy one.
4. Do I need a specific chain type to work with this ?

Hope someone can help - thanks
 

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I'm pretty sure you have an Ultra Glide (UG) Shimano Freehub there

The smallest cog screws on at the end, holding the rest in place

Sheldon Brown has extensive info here: http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

Shimano dropped this type of free hub fairly quickly for the Hyper Glide (HG) one, which has a lock ring on the end, and these are still used today.

In terms of chain, you ideally need to run a UG chain, or a HG chain, depending on what kind of cassette you are using.
 
Re:

Thanks for the info and the pointer to the Sheldon Brown site. Looks like I need to source a lockring cog !
 
No problem

I think you may find that UG lock rings/cogs are somewhat difficult to come by, and if you do they can be very expensive.

Alternatively, you can buy a new HG freehub, and then you can choose whatever cassette you want!
 
As I thought Ian, horrendously expensive!

A new HG free hub, cassette and chain is probably the way to go, especially if the bike they are attached to are going to get ridden extensively!
 
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