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Waited Too Long to Replace My Cassette

07.10.2012 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

I’ve never been vigilant about maintenance to my house, or my car,  or my bike. That gets me into trouble from time to time. The house is okay, now that we replaced the air conditioning system a year ago. But the car sounds like it needs brake rotors. And the bike has been giving me fits.

I mentioned in the last post that I replaced the chain, but that didn’t solve shifting problems I was having. The new chain skipped just as badly as the old one, because it was having trouble with the worn teeth on my cogs.

I figured a chain might take care of the problem, because I had gone way longer without replacing it than one is supposed to. I think the chain easily had 6,000 miles on it. Most bike books say to replace it after about 1,500 miles, although posters to some online forums I’ve visited maintain that a chain could last about as long as mine did with no trouble. Cassettes are supposed to last three times as long as a chain, so most riders can replace them every year to year and a half. I’ve had mine three years. I know. I’ve been bad. But like I say, no problems until about a month ago.

Now, I ride a cassette that isn’t all that uncommon, judging by comments and emails I’ve received here at Bike Noob HQ, as well as other websites I visit. It’s an 11-28, nine speed. I need that 28-tooth cog to negotiate some of the steeper hills around here, and frankly, even it’s not enough on some of them.

So, I called around town Saturday morning looking for a replacement cassette. No one had it. This, in a city that has 33 bicycle shops, according to one source I’ve seen. (I didn’t call all of them, but probably 10 or so.) Most had 11-23s, or 12-25s. No one carried an 11-28. One shop told me they aren’t made. That would be news to Sram. I went back to my first shop, only a mile from my house, and ordered one.

Great service. It came today. When I went over to the bike shop to pick it up, there were some moments of panic because the outer cog ring — the 11 tooth — wasn’t on the cassette. It turned out it had fallen off in the shipping box with all the other items the shop had received by truck today. A few minutes later, I was on my way out the door with a shiny silver cassette standing out against my black spokes, and my black chainstays, and my black chain. I gotta be more regular at cleaning that thing.

I was all ready to ride and check out the new purchase, but the skies to the north threatened rain. I think I’ll be able to ride tomorrow afternoon. Maybe even in the morning, if I can get out before work. I can tell you one thing — a few pedal strokes were enough to show me that skipping is a thing of the past.

With the new cassette, I’ll be in a position to start targeting that century I talked about the other day. Finally, I’ll be able to apply some power to the pedals. Can’t wait.

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Categories // Components Tags // cassette, chain

Replacing Your Chain and Cassette

05.26.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 5 Comments

Guest poster Don Blount tackles a daunting task — and finds out it’s not so bad.

Never in my life did I think I would be using whips and chains on a Saturday evening, but I had put it off long enough. It was time.

That is, it was time to replace the chain and cassette on my bike.

And this time I was going to change the cassette myself.

I try to replace my bike chain about every 1,500 miles. The cassette is replaced annually unless it shows excessive wear or the gears begin skipping. Skipping is one sign of chain and cassette wear. Cassettes also wear down so the sprockets get that shark-teeth look.

This would be the first time I had changed a cassette. This seemed like the type of maintenance I could do, saving me both money and the time of going to the bike shop.

I was as prepared as I could be. The last time the cassette was replaced the mechanics at my LBS showed me how it was done, I also looked up information online. The entire procedure seemed simple enough.

I only needed a few tools for this job: chain whip, cassette lockring tool and socket wrench.

Removal was actually fairly simple: remove the skewer from the wheel, place the lockring there in its place. The chain of the chain whip goes over one of the sprockets to hold the cassette in place. Then use the socket wrench to loosen the cassette for removal.

Slide it off…

Old cassette (Yes, quite dirty), new cassette

Wheel after cassette removal

slide on the new cassette…and then use the lockring tool and sprocket wrench to lock it in place. Spin it to make it sure it spins freely and then put the wheel, and chain, back on the bike.

I was done within 20 minutes, and I was moving slowly, double-checking my work. I have seen bike mechanics do it in less than 5 minutes.

New cassette

I was surprised at how easy it all went. And I was pleased to add another item to the repairs and regular maintenance services I can perform on my bike.

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Categories // Maintenance Tags // cassette, chain

Cassettes – Wide or Tight?

02.22.2011 by Ray Niekamp // 24 Comments

I met up with my biking friend John T after work today. He was excited because he made a major change on his bike: he got a new cassette.

He’s excited about it because the largest cog on the cassette has 27 teeth. It replaces the original cassette that came with the bike, that had a 23t large cog. Last summer, he managed to climb “Heart Attack Hill” west of Austin with the 23, but he’s sure he couldn’t do it now, after several months of low-mile riding. He thinks the 27 will make it easier for him to climb.

I’m sure it will. When I got a new cassette more than a year ago, the bike shop found one with a 28t cog. A 26 was the largest that came with my bike. I couldn’t climb Heart Attack Hill with the 26, but I can with the 28 (and better conditioning).

In fact, my cassette has a wide range. Its smallest cog is an 11, so its progression is 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-26-28. Yes, nine speeds. I like it, because I can really fly in the big ring with the 11t cog, and the 28 gets me up the hills. But lots of bikers hate wide range cassettes.

Their concern is with the gaps between some shifts. I have two-tooth jumps in most gears. A lot of cyclists will tell you they prefer one-tooth jumps — that wider gaps like I have make it hard to figure out just what gear you should be in, and that means more shifting between the big ring and small ring up front.

So, the more gears you’re running in back, the tighter your cassette will be. Another option would be a triple up front with a tight range in back. The small front ring will get you the granny combination you’ll need for climbing.

Both John T and I run 50/34 compact cranksets up front. We’re not racers. We’re not climbers. We both need help on the hills. For us, a wide range cassette works.

What do you run on your bike? What do you see as the pros and cons of wide range versus tight range cassettes?

 

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Categories // Components Tags // cassette, cranksets

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