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The New Era of Silent Pulleys. Meet the Silent Xring Pulley ™
Does it bother you when you ride in tranquil scenery, but you can still hear your bike's chain engaging the pulleys? This familiar clunking noise has accompanied us on every ride for decades, and it’s time for a change.
Standard polymer pulleys are loud, which has always been the norm. Aluminum pulleys are even worse as the material radiates the sound more than any polymer, making them louder. We are introducing a new generation of pulleys, which can reduce the sound level by 12-14dB compared to stock Dura Ace pulleys, corresponding to roughly 60% of the noise reduction. Practically speaking, the cage becomes very silent.
We use a pending patent solution, our unique xring rubber suspended bands, that dampen the chain impact on the guide pulley teeth, eliminating the engagement noise, the single most significant contributor to overall drivetrain noise. From now on, your ride will be more silent than it used to be, and you will hear sounds you haven't noticed before. It's the new era of derailleur cages.
HOLLOWcage® for Shimano 9100 / 8000. Our revolutionary mono-plate OSPW design is the quietest, best shifting, aerodynamic derailleur cage design created to date, and it is a dawn of a new era for rear derailleurs. HOLLOWcage ® OSPW has a carbon-polymer mono-plate construction with bespoke, oversized, full ceramic bearings and the most advanced silencing pulleys ever created.
Why Is Our OSPW Hollowcage® so Special?
Flexible OSPW Cage Is Better than A Stiff One.
Contrary to common knowledge, flexibility is good as it allows the cage (and, therefore, the lower pulley) to align better with the angle of the chain when using the higher gears of the cassette. This means less friction (and less Watts lost) as the pulley doesn't have to fight against the chain. Shimano has partially solved this issue by bending the lower part of the cage slightly outwards to align better with the chain when using the top of the cassette range. We have taken a different approach and eliminated one part of the cage, creating a mono-plate cell that dynamically adapts to the chain angle.
Stiffer Guide Pulley, Not Cage, Means Better Shifting.
Many companies try to convey that a stiffer cage is a better-shifting cage. But the most critical factor that impacts the shifting is the upper pulley itself. Since the upper pulley is mounted directly to the rotating pivot axle, the flexibility of the cage plays a minimal role. The upper pulley moves the chain left and right, enabling gear change and stiffening the upper pulley for greater shifting precision. Most large pulley cage systems use tiny bearings, with much lateral play at the teeth, providing poor, sloppy shifting. HOLLOWcage®, unlike other pulley cage systems, uses abnormally large, bespoke, full ceramic bearings that make the pulleys incredibly stiff. The lower approach alone is big enough to fit an 11T pulley inside.
The Problem of Shallow Teeth.
Apart from pulley stiffness alone, one of the leading shifting issues stems directly from the low teeth profiles. When you change gears, soft teeth can't move the chain effectively left or right. They are the only points of contact with the chain, but for some bizarre reason, most oversized pulley systems come with very shallow teeth profiles. This is the significant contributing factor to large pulley cages shifting poorly. HOLLOWcage® uses very tall teeth of the upper pulley, which gives the best possible shifting precision.
Oversized OSPW Cage Is More Aero.
There is a general belief among some of the riders that oversized cages are less aerodynamic. Their larger surface area, when compared to OEM cages, must result in some power losses, which would offset the gains generated by the more oversized pulleys. We tested the market-leading and original Dura-Ace cage in a bespoke wind tunnel designed for smaller objects. HOLLOWcage® proved to be more aerodynamic than the OEM (DA cage) and the other leading brand.
However, the absolute difference is relatively small, proving that a giant cage will not set you back and cause significant Watt losses, no matter which pen you use.
HOLLOWcage® uses lower spring tension than any other cage on the market while still providing excellent shifting thanks to the unique combination of pulley stiffness and tall teeth profiles. In addition, it is the only cage that can dynamically adapt to the variable chain line, minimizing friction at the lower pulley.
absoluteBLACK HOLLOWcage full ceramic bearings or bearings are full ceramic. In technical terminology, it is a bearing with inner and outer race and balls made of ceramic material. The seals and the cage, however, are made of polymer. Other common types of bearings are steel bearings and hybrid bearings. The latter is often mistakenly called a "ceramic" bearing, but only the balls are ceramic; races are still made of steel. Hence there is a term "full ceramic," indicating that not only the balls are made of ceramic but both races too. Our bearing races are made of 100% Zirconia Oxide ceramic, and balls are made of Silicon Nitride ceramic. The cage and seals are, of course, made of low-friction polymer.
How to Mount Hollowcage
Please refer to the video instruction below. Use the lowest spring tension setting (First hole from left) only if you ride on smooth roads (no cobbles or potholes). Use the middle spring setting if you have Sub Compact (<34/50t) or Compact (34/50t) chainring combination and ride on roads with potholes, cobbles, etc. Use high spring tension setting if you have a 52t chainring or more significant.
SKU# TCRCAGEDA91/BK-RB_Std, TCRCAGEDA91/BK-GL_Std
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