9-T driver Odyssey V3 cassette hubs and wheels are shipping now. The wheels will be available in either hard-anodize black or chrome, and the hubs are available in black, gold, high-polished or white. The drivers will be available separately toward the beginning of the new year, and they’ll be compatible with all of our earlier 14mm cassette hubs.
Why did it take so long? Well, as I’m sure you already know, 9-T drivers seem to love eating through cartridge bearings and chains of every type. Now although we don’t make chains, when it came to the driver, we didn’t want to produce anything smaller than a 10-T until we could improve on the life of the bearings for you.
Our new 9-T driver uses a scaled-down needle bearing and bushing configuration similar to the one found on the G-Sport Ratchet hub. We’ve made the 9-T drivers at a new shop that allows us to achieve tighter tolerances, and therefore also lets us maintain a higher level of concentric precision on the pawl turrets. This ensures that all three pawls are engaging at the same time, improving reliability, and allowing for a smoother overall drivetrain.
Thanks for reading!
Since we know you’re going to ask, 9-T drivers for the G-Sport Ratchet Hub will be available sometime in the first quarter of 2009.
