Which Freehub do I need?
With so many cassette models on the market and the seemingly endless release of new technology, choosing the right freehub (or driver) for your drivetrain can be a real headache.
With that in mind, we put together this comprehensive freehub compatibility guide to help!
Mountain bike cassettes:
Generally, you can determine your required freehub model by counting the number of teeth on the smallest cog of your mountain cassette. If the smallest cog has 11 teeth, an HG (Hyperglide) freehub is required. If it has 10 teeth, an SRAM XD or Shimano MS (Microspline) freehub is required.
We’ve also created an easy guide for the most common Shimano and SRAM cassette models for easy reference:
SRAM
SX or NX Eagle – Shimano HG freehub
GX, XO1 or XX1 Eagle – SRAM XD freehub
SRAM DH 7 Speed – HG
PG-720 cassette – HG
XO1 DH – XD
Shimano
11spd – HG (Hyperglide)
12spd – MS (Microspline)
eThirteen
eThirteen makes wide-range cassettes for both Mountain bike and gravel drivetrains, and what’s unique is their use of a 9t sprocket.
These cassettes are compatible with both SRAM and Shimano drivetrains but can only be mounted on SRAM XD and XDR freehub bodies. eThirteen does have a list of hubs with incompatible freehubs on its website, which is worth reviewing when considering your hub choice.
Road and gravel cassettes:
SRAM
11sp and 12spd cassettes all require a SRAM XDR freehub body. You’ll need a Shimano HG freehub for SRAM cassettes that are 10spd or less.
Campangnolo
The new 12 and 13spd Campagnolo cassettes, which use either 9t or 10t cogs as their smallest sprocket, require a Campagnolo N3W freehub body.
Shimano
12spd GRX Di2 – Shimano HG (this 2x 12spd cassette is back-compatible with the 11spd HG freehub)
Shimano GRX 2x – Shimano HG road
Shimano GRX 1x – Shimano MS-R (Miscrospline Road)
Shimano 11spd, 10spd and anything below – Shimano HG road
Onyx hubs:
All Onyx rear hubs have a freehub compatible with road and mountain cassettes. In order to run a mountain cassette, you’ll need to use the 1.85mm spacer that arrived with the hub. If you’re running a road-style SRAM cassette, do not use the spacer behind your cassette. This same protocol applies to their Shimano HG and MS/MSR freehubs.
*The other hub manufacturers whose hubs we carry all make road and mountain-specific freehub bodies for SRAM and Shimano cassettes, determined by whether you’re running a road/gravel or mountain cassette.