Old cassette removal

[Exit Stage Left]

Or stick it in a handy bit of dry stone wall (sorry ESL).

I broke some drive side spokes while touring Sicily many years ago. If you take the axle out of the wheel you could usually find a suitable piece of protuding metal around to undo the old style of two slot freewheel bodies. In my case on a parked farm trailer. Armco barriers also worked on occasion. I carry a hyper-cracker these days, as improvisation is less possible with new kit.

[Jurek]

And it was done.

Jurek very kindly stopped off on his way to Whitstable to lend a hand and between us we managed to get it off. Like this:


Yes, it's a big spanner tied to a broom handle. Jurek held the wheel and I bent the broom handle.

The result:


Thanks everybody (especially Jurek)!

Heh!
'Apprehensive' would be an understatement when I saw Nicknack's contrived weapon of choice  .
And despite a worrying degree of bend being introduced into the broom handle - the hub released the freewheel at the first attempt.
Good to meet you NN.

[nicknack]

Good to meet you NN.

And you sir.

[drossall]

I've broken jaws on a couple of vices trying to undo bike bits like that...

[Seineseeker]

Sorry if my advice was wrong, freewheel not cassette 

[nicknack]

No problem. I managed to display my ignorance with the initial post.

[nuttycyclist]

OOhhhh look.  Are you going for a fixie conversion?   

[nicknack]

OOhhhh look.  Are you going for a fixie conversion?   

Not in a million years.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Reviving this thread as I couldn't find one specific to what I want.

Having fitted a new chain yesterday dark o'clock, I've found this morning that it's skipping. Looking at it I diagnose new chain not meshing with worn cogs (or are they called sprockets, I never remember which is which?) It's an 8-speed cassette, I've never taken it off but I presume it's one of these splined things. There are various markings on it but the only ones I can decipher are numbers of teeth. The bike is a 1998 model if that helps. So:

a) how do I take it off?
b) how do I fit a new one?
c) what tools will I need?
d) what level of brute force, skill and trickery are involved?
e) how long is it likely to take?

Also:
f) any other likely reasons for skipping chain (the teeth look pretty worn, but as they're not evenly shaped when new, it's hard to be sure).

Thanks!

[Biggsy]

Check for stiff links in the chain first of all.

Consider continuing with the chain if the skipping is only slight and tolerable.  The skipping will stop once the chain has worn in (slightly elongated).

Get a cassette lockring tool anyway - Shimano type for Shimano or SRAM - and a chain whip to hold the cassette still.  It takes only a minute.  Find instructions on the Park Tools website.  A cassette is a great deal easier to remove than a freewheel because the sprockets aren't effectively screwed on tight by the chain, and cassette lockring doesn't need to be mega-tight to do its job.

Arguably, a "cog" meant just a single sprocket tooth in olden times, with a "cog wheel" being the whole sprocket.  But now "sprocket" and "cog" are perfectly interchangeable.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Hmm. I think I have a non-lockring type, in which case I need - if I've understood the Park Tools site correctly - two chain whips but not a special tool.

I'm kind of tempted to just refit the worn chain for the time being!

[Biggsy]

I think two chain whips are only required when removing individual sprockets from a freewheel.  A whole freewheel is removed with a single tool, with no chain whip being needed at all, unless maybe it's an unusual hybrid cassette-freewheel.

8-speed freewheels aren't common, so I was assuming you have a cassette.  See http://sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html

[Cudzoziemiec]

Yes, but the Park tools site mentions older cassettes without a lockring. Anyway, I need to take a closer look at it cos right now I'm not sure if it's Shimano or Sram or what - could be either, I have Shimano derailleur and Sram "grip shift" but it's definitely not Campag!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Ah, reading Sheldon it seems those non-lockring cassettes are antiques now - from the late 80s or earlier.

[Biggsy]

Yes, but the Park tools site mentions older cassettes without a lockring.

Oh sorry, I don't know about those.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Reading Sheldon - those were Uniglide cassettes, which are no longer produced.

To remove a Uniglide cassette, you use two chain whips, one to hold the cassette, the other to unscrew the smallest sprocket. Turn the smallest sprocket counterclockwise with a chain whip, while holding the cluster from turning backwards with another chain whip.

Uniglide cassettes are no longer available. If you have a hub that only uses Uniglide cassettes, the best thing to do is to upgrade the hub by transplanting a Hyperglide body onto it.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Yes, but the Park tools site mentions older cassettes without a lockring.

Oh sorry, I don't know about those.

There has to be one thing you don't know! 

[harvee]

Reading Sheldon - those were Uniglide cassettes, which are no longer produced.

To remove a Uniglide cassette, you use two chain whips, one to hold the cassette, the other to unscrew the smallest sprocket. Turn the smallest sprocket counterclockwise with a chain whip, while holding the cluster from turning backwards with another chain whip.

Uniglide cassettes are no longer available. If you have a hub that only uses Uniglide cassettes, the best thing to do is to upgrade the hub by transplanting a Hyperglide body onto it.

[/quote


I removed a uniglide cassette last week to change a spoke. Normal method is two chainwhips the small sprocket comes off anticlockwise. Removal is easy, the other sprockets just slide off to replace just slide them on and screw up by hand.
Process is quick superhuman strength not required.

[mzjo]

I seem to recall that there are some Shimano freebodies, produced about the time of the change from Uniglide to Hyperglide that were designed to take either type of cassette. I have a 7sp hub that is equipped like this, threaded male and female and I am sure Sheldon mentions it in his bit on cassette hubs. So you should be able to use a "modern" cassette on your old freebody, if it has an internal thread for the lockring as well as an external thread for the locking sprocket. Be warned you may need an additional thin spacer to correct the length (very easy to find).