Repeated cassette removal considered harmful?

[Manc33]

I've had cassettes on and off countless times on the same rear hub trying out different gear combinations and never had a problem. The lockrings I'd be wary of is aluminium ones, that are so light you can hardly tell it's in your hand (for example the CS-7700).

[fastpedaller]

My last cassette was on and off many many times - I kept it going as long as possible (26,500 mile) by reversing some of the cogs and never had any problems (and with totally dismantelling the cassette so as to reverse individual cogs, so was having to tightening it to the full 40nm which seems overly tight to me)

Was that a Uniglide cassette?- If Hyperglide sprockets are reversed they won't work, due to the shape the chain won't engage.

7 speed shimano Hyperglide seem to work perfectly well when reversed, my 4th gear (the one I use the most) done over 8000 miles forward then about the same reversed, I then salvaged another 4th gear and ran that forwards and backwards.
In total when I finally retired the casstte about 4 of the cogs were reversed. It makes good environmental sense to use things to their max.

I guess if you reversed a cog on a brand new cassette you would probably notice a difference, but if the cassette is already well worn and you just reverse one cog to preserve the cassttes life than I doub't you can tell the difference on a semi worn out cassette.

My bike is 7 speed, maybe it wouldn't work on a state of the art 11 or 13 speed cassette. ?

Do you grind the 'small tag' off the sprocket to enable it to fit on the freehub?

[TrevA]

I do wonder if such regular maintenance would put stress not on the locking, but the part that it screws into - the end of the freehub. The threads on my wife’s freehub broke off, rendering it useless. This means a new freehub at least, or a new wheel. This was a Shimano RS11 wheel with steel freehub.

I don’t regularly remove the cassette for cleaning, usually I just use a small screwdriver or old spoke to clear out the crud between the cogs.

[531colin]

On this thread viewtopic.php?t=116834&hilit=reverse+we ... e&start=45 theres a cassette I got 10 years wear from.
Thats only 10 times taking it off for cleaning, with my cleaning regime!
i don't tighten them up to anything like shimano's stated torque, that seems brutal to me.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
I normally do up the lock ring pretty tight!
But I have never seen any wear on the freehub cog splines.
Reason for this is that many bikes I used to break (dismantle/recycle for parts) always had the lock ring very loose and or showed freehub cog spline wear.
If you see any wear on the splines, ie notching not just witness shiny marks, then the cogs might well be on the move.
Too loose a lock ring allows the cogs to move laterally whilst driving.

Of course its actual personal use probably might well have something to do with it.
I tend to use a low cadence, and a spinner might well exert a fraction of the force I do on the pedals.
Actual force on the spines will be dependant on pedal rpm at same power through to the tarmac.
Mmmmm I think that is incorrect.........................all the power has to go though the freehub, so at same rpm and power of wheel, force on the cog and freehub splines is the same.
But smaller wheels at same power and road speed will see less force, as they spin faster. (as power is force X distance X time)

Does any one remember the post about the cassette lock ring spacer/shim discussed?
I have never used one ( I believe that it came with certain cassettes, although it appears you can use it elsewhere?) so it it fits between the the serrations?

Degreasing cassette with solvent whilst on the wheel is something I dislike on the basis that the solvent may enter the cassette freehub mech!

[531colin]

For the same force at the tyre, force on the splines will be greater with a big sprocket than with a small one, but I'm not sure it matters.

I use steel hubs with steel freehub bodies, and all I see is shiny witness marks where the sprocket meets the spline. With plastic spacers between the sprockets, and everything lubricated, I would expect the sprockets to move relative to each other however tight you do up the lockring.

[jb]

For the same force at the tyre, force on the splines will be greater with a big sprocket than with a small one, but I'm not sure it matters.

I use steel hubs with steel freehub bodies, and all I see is shiny witness marks where the sprocket meets the spline. With plastic spacers between the sprockets, and everything lubricated, I would expect the sprockets to move relative to each other however tight you do up the lockring.

I'm not sure that's correct. the force on the splines is the the force required to turn the wheel which is the same regardless of sprocket size (for the same incline). The person pedalling sees a difference but not the spline.

[531colin]

Damn, you are right!
For a given force at the tyre, force on the splines is constant; force at the teeth varies.

[bluespeeder]

For the same force at the tyre, force on the splines will be greater with a big sprocket than with a small one, but I'm not sure it matters.

I use steel hubs with steel freehub bodies, and all I see is shiny witness marks where the sprocket meets the spline. With plastic spacers between the sprockets, and everything lubricated, I would expect the sprockets to move relative to each other however tight you do up the lockring.

I'm not sure that's correct. the force on the splines is the the force required to turn the wheel which is the same regardless of sprocket size (for the same incline). The person pedalling sees a difference but not the spline.

I agree with jb on this one. Force at the wheel will be bike speed and power output dependent whereas force on the knees is reduced by a higher cadence for the same power output.

Regarding the torque on the cassette I think the idea is to compress the cogs and spacers sufficiently to prevent movement. Because of the ratcheting effect with the lockring this compression goes up and down with each click and therefore requires a lot more torque than if the lockring was smooth. I use one of the foil washers which I think helps to achieve the required compression with less torque and makes it easier to undo.

[jb]

Of course the less the incline is, the less the force required to turn the wheel and its therefore likely the smaller the sprocket used, so the spline will see less force employed at the smaller end over its lifetime. But that's due to the rider preference.

[rmurphy195]

I've always felt distinctly unimpressed by how little thread engagement there is on the lockring, it wouldn't surprise me if that let go after repeated disassembly. I've never had any problems cleaning it in situ, but I don't completely drench it, I just brush it with an old Bridget brush dipped in white spirit then run strips of rag between the sprockets.

+1