What's the most durable steel rear cassette on the market?

[oldlegs]

Need to replace my original Suntour Superb 11 M 6 speed rear cassette after 32yrs of excellent service.

So what's the most duarble touring rear cassette on the market today? I am presuming that steel will be better than alloy. Thanks.

[Mick F]

Cassette?
32 years?

32 years ago was 1979 and we had freewheel units back then.

Are you meaning a freewheel?
If so, the market is fast dwindling and you don't have much choice in the matter nowadays. The quality units aren't made any more.

[Father Jack]

One thing I liked about steel cassettes and chainrings, they last forever although wearing a ton, brothers old chainset was probably as heavy as a £2000 bike!

[niggle]

Maybe its time to update to 7 speed freewheel (I think this will be a no cost option as long as you have enough room inside the driveside dropout?), or maybe its time to go to freehub and cassette, from 7 up to 11speed and £+++ for all the other bits with STIs or Ergos, or then again maybe just stick with what you have got....

For 6 & 7 speed freewheels, IRD Defiant are supposed* to be quality http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/ird-defiant- ... prod22875/ and http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/ird-defiant- ... prod22876/ Also for closer ratio 6 speed you have Regina freewheels: http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/freewheels-6 ... ept78_pg1/

* I have no personal experience, I have used a low end HG20 Shimano one which seemed alright for sprocket durability, but the freewheel mech was not so great IMO, draggy and needing fairly frequent lubing.

[gregoryoftours]

Good grief - 32 years? Was your old freewheel (I presume it was a freewheel rather than cassette?) non-indexing? This would help to explain it's longevity as non-indexing sprockets were made of much thicker metal than indexing ones, which are much thinner and profiled to enable slicker shifting. I don't know if more expensive cassettes are made of harder materials - sometimes the higher end stuff is focussed on weight - saving rather than durability.

[oldlegs]

Hi Everyone
Many thanks for your replies - sorry about delay in answering but daughter took a tumble over the weekend - she's on the mend now.

Yes apologies for my inaccurate terminology - it is a Suntour Suberb m 11 Freewheel non-indexing 6 sprockets and they are still in good condition despite many thousands of touring miles. I purchased my King-of-Mercian in 1979.

I don't see weight as an issue as I am so used to the bike and I've no experience of modern light weight indexing kit. All I want is to know if I can buy some durable rear sprockets to see me through to the grave (I'm retired now) - not the latest technology that will wear out in a couple of thousand miles

niggle: thanks for the links, I'll investigate IRD Defiant and those suppliers. Many Thanks.

[BigG]

Need to replace my original Suntour Superb 11 M 6 speed rear cassette after 32yrs of excellent service.

So what's the most duarble touring rear cassette on the market today? I am presuming that steel will be better than alloy. Thanks.

What range do you want? I have two wide range Suntour freewheels that I saved as spares in case I needed them. My limited riding these days makes at least one of them superfluous.

[oldlegs]

BigG
What size sprockets do you have available. My existing set (Suntour Cyclone m 11) is spaced 13 - 15 - 17 - 20 - 24 - 28.

Because I'm 32 more years older than when I first spec'd the gearing ratios in I'd really like to alter this to target something like this to help me keep climbing and not be left behind by my daughter, for example: 15 - 17 - 19 - 25 - 29 - 31

I guess it's just a question of what you may have available. Cheers.

[BigG]

I was slightly mistaken! The freewheel I use is Suntour, but my 6 speed spares are Shimano and Regina. The Shimano is 14-17-20-24-28-32 (this has indexing ramps on the sprockets) and the Regina is 14-16-19-23-28-32. I think both are unused. Both seem to me to be a slightly odd choice of sprockets; but if either interests you, let me know. I don't know whether it is correct to use this forum for sales, but a nominal £10 to cover packaging and postage is OK for me. Email me on graham@gthompson.plus.com.

[oldlegs]

Graham
Email on its way - thanks for your input - appreciated.

[oldlegs]

Solution now underway thanks to BigG

My thanks to everyone for their helpful inputs, PM's and emails re their understanding of my lack of knowledge concerning the marriage of old (1979) and new technologies - appreciated. Gosh bike kit has really changed a lot