Replacing a Capreo cassette

[simonineaston]

Funnily enough, another Simon has just popped up on the Moultoneer's site, asking about replacement 9 to x cassettes. He has spotted that Sun Race do a small range of cassettes, with 9 cogs and up...

from Sun Race' website

Update: I'm trying to get an answer from SunRace re distribution, either from Taiwan or their European office in Holland...

[Tigerbiten]

From Sheldon Brown gear calculator it looks like 3T also do a couple of 11 speed cassettes from 9 upwards.
The Overdrive cassette has sprockets: 9-11-12-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32.
The Bailout cassette has sprockets: 9-10-11-12-13-15-17-19-22-26-32.
The bailout look more useful with the 10 sprocket.
But it does mean going from 9 speed to 11.

Luck .........

[simonineaston]

So far, I'm pinning my hopes on the SunRace angle, however, I've heard back from two disributors who simply report that they don't stock them... if they'd have read the email at all, they would have noticed that I wasn't asking simply if they stocked them or not, but rather under what circumstances would they be prepared to stock them, ie was there a minimum order.
I'm rather more hopeful to hear what SunRace themselves have to say, as I think it's a reasonable assumption to make that having made the bloomin' things, they may actually want to sell them, one way or another!

[Sid Aluminium]

Tern Verge X18...

I'm confident that Chosen and SunRace 'Capreo pattern' cassettes will return to aftermarket availability in the G7 after the present COVID-driven worldwide bike boom abates.

But it's a Verge X18; it deserves the best. When the time comes, rebuild the rear wheel around a SRAM XDR hub and fit a 10-28, 12-speed cassette, upgrading to an X24. You'll need a compatible rear derailleur and shifter, of course. £$€¥₿

[Mick F]

Can I interject her please?

No issues with makes of cassettes, but I do have issues with small cogs.
Last cassette I had on my Moulton had a 11t small cog.
I bought four replacements as the 11t wore out. Tiagra and 105, but the rest of the cassettes were fine.
Eventually saw the light ............... as I knew already ............... and have a 12-30 cassette instead of 11-25 and 11-28.

The thing is, the smaller the cog, the more inefficient the transmission.
Instead, invest in bigger chainwheels and bigger cassettes.
Big ring on mine is 61t and it originally came with 58t.

9t and smaller rings is silly.

You know it makes sense.

[simonineaston]

You know it makes sense.

It can do. I'd already considered doing the obvious thing which would be to switch to a regular Shimano rear hub, use any of the miriad of cassettes offered with a smallest sprocket of 11 teeth and simply up the tooth count on the chainring, as you suggest Mick - but I didn't want to rule out the possibility of keeping as much of the existing transmission as possible as the starting point for regular services and work up from there. A few years ago, when the Capreo groupset was more readily available, simply replacing the cassette instead of having to get a whole new back wheel (the Capreo cassette won't fit on a standard Shimano freehub...) and non-standard chainrings would have been the way to go. Things have changed now though.

[Mick F]

Yes, things have changed.

Look at ICE trikes for instance.
These days, they don't seem to tell you about the cassettes.
There was a time when they proclaimed the 9t Capreo.
Don't seem to discuss it now or promote it on their website, but they used to do.

https://www.icetrikes.co/tech/gearing

Look at Moulton.
Smallest they do now is a 10t ......... from what I see.
Almost as stupid, when all they need to do is make the chainwheels bigger.

[Mick F]

Let's say 100" as a top gear on a 20" rear wheel.
Good choice for the small cog is 13t.

My 20" rear wheel has a rolling diameter of 18.5" and if I wanted 100" with it, I would need a chainwheel of 70t.
Go down to 12t, and it comes out as 65t.

More longevity, than continually replacing a 9t cog.

[drossall]

I agree with the argument, but how common are 65T rings? And there's the cost of replacing the wheel to consider. I could do a build if I could lay my hands on a 9-speed hub, I suppose.

[simonineaston]

Fortunately for me, as a light twiddler, life is slightly more straightforward. My ideal fast day bike would be near 28-98 from one chainring, which on my newly-aquired vintage Moulton, is exactly what I get from the Capreo cassette, so the notion of having to make other arrangements is slightly galling...
To be honest, the aquisition of the '87 AM was a whim and given the constraints imposed by the cassette and more particularly the 369 rim size, I don't think it's going to be a permanent feature, here at the old pile, lovely though it is to ride!

[Mick F]

I agree with the argument, but how common are 65T rings? And there's the cost of replacing the wheel to consider.

Spa have TA rings up to 61t .............. which I have on Moulton.
https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s113p0/ ... inrings-TA
In order to get higher gears rather than using silly small cogs, fit a SA 3sp as well ............. which I have done.
Friction bar-end shifter works perfectly with it. In-line for 2nd gear (direct drive) and all slack for 3rd, and all tight for 1st.
https://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/produ ... rf3-silver

[drossall]

Possible, though whether 3-speed is right for this bike I'm not sure.

[Mick F]

PS:
10sp Tiagra, 10sp 105, and 10sp Ultegra fit on it fine ................. despite them saying that it's 8sp and 9sp.

The SA comes as 135mm OLN, but it has two locknuts on the left. Remove one, and hey presto it's 130mm OLN.

My Moulton TSR is a triple 10sp, but TBH now I have the 3sp SA, it could easily be a double. I originally fitted the 61t because I wanted higher gears than the standard 58t. It helped, but not good enough, so fitted the SA to raise it ............... and wow! it really raised it!

Since then, I've gone away from the 11-25 and 11-28 cassettes, and fitted a 12-30.

So long as you don't mind a bit of extra weight on the rear, and you don't mind having a bar-end shifter on the left, it's a simple (and interesting) modification to increase your gear range and give some flexibility to the gear selections.

For instance, instead of going to the inner ring for what could be a short time, I flick it into 1st gear. Also helps if you get caught in the wrong gear if you have to stop unexpectedly.

[Mick F]

PPS:
One disadvantage is that you can only buy them as 36h in UK.
One of our members on here wanted 28h so got in touch with SA in Japan, and after much discussion, he was able to import one.

[drossall]

I should have thought that 36H 20" rims were like hen's teeth? Haven't checked.