Changing a cassette

Moominman2

Hi guys,

I've just received some new wheels and need to put a cassette on it. I'm probably going to just buy a chain whip and cassette tool and change my current cassette over to the new wheels, and at a later date, put another cassette on my current wheels in time for winter. The cassette hasn't seen any more than 500 miles I'd say.

So the question is, do I need to get my bike serviced if I'm changing the cassette? Or will it be fine to ride straight off?

Ps...can anyone recommend me a chain whip and lockring? I've been looking at this one...http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-shiman ... ip-bundle/

Thanks,
Luke

plodder73

That bundle looks fine, better than mine.

Can't see any reason you would need to get it serviced if it runs ok now.

Moominman2

That's great, all I needed.

Thanks

lesfirth

If you are capable of changing a cassette you should ,with a bit of on line guidance, be able to do your own servicing and any other bike maintainance. Give it a go.☺

Moominman2

Thanks for the encouragement. I have been thinking about it, so I reckon this will be the first step. I'll see how it goes Never changed a cassette before, but it looks easy enough from a few videos.

Cheers

doug5_10

The only thing that I would be double checking after a new cassette is limits and indexing. As above, if you're going to attempt to change the cassette yourself, I would presume you're already confident adjusting your gears accurately?

ai_1

Changing a cassette is just a case of taking one off and putting another on. The only potential complication is if the chain length needed to be changed.
If you're doing it yourself, what would a service consist of?

Moominman2

Nope, no confidence in adjusting my gears.

Am I better off just buying a new cassette and letting my lbs fit it, and just continue taking it to them to sort?

ai_1

Moominman2 wrote:

Nope, no confidence in adjusting my gears.

Am I better off just buying a new cassette and letting my lbs fit it, and just continue taking it to them to sort?

There should be no need to adjust the gears. The position and spacing of the sprockets on the new cassette should be identical to the existing one so the indexing will be fine as it is. But even if you did need to re-index it's simply a case of following Shimano's instructions. Do it once and you'll have the confidence. If it doesn't work out for you for any reason you can still take it to the LBS and get tehm to sort it out at no more cost than what you're already planning to do.

zx6man

if its an exact cassette change, as above then it takes minutes and will require no adjustment. If not, as also mentioned, the B screw may need adjustment if its a bigger cassette. There is a possibly a new rear mech is needed if it excedes what the current mech can handle tooth wise.

Moominman2

Thanks for the info guys.

All I'm doing is taking off the cassette on my current rear wheel, to then put it on my new set of wheels. So that means I won't need to adjust anything?

The bike is about 5 years old anyway, so it makes sense to try and pick things up on this before I buy another later on.

Thanks for the advice all,
Luke

arlowood

Moominman2 wrote:

Thanks for the info guys.

All I'm doing is taking off the cassette on my current rear wheel, to then put it on my new set of wheels. So that means I won't need to adjust anything?

The bike is about 5 years old anyway, so it makes sense to try and pick things up on this before I buy another later on.

Thanks for the advice all,
Luke

Bookmark this video for future reference on setting your indexing. Who knows - if you run into any issues with the swap over you may need to refer to it sooner rather than later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkzvfCaIbyQ

It's one of the better videos out there IMHO. On all the builds I've done over the past 4 years this is the technique I've applied and it's not let me down

Moominman2

arlowood wrote:

Moominman2 wrote:

Thanks for the info guys.

All I'm doing is taking off the cassette on my current rear wheel, to then put it on my new set of wheels. So that means I won't need to adjust anything?

The bike is about 5 years old anyway, so it makes sense to try and pick things up on this before I buy another later on.

Thanks for the advice all,
Luke

Bookmark this video for future reference on setting your indexing. Who knows - if you run into any issues with the swap over you may need to refer to it sooner rather than later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkzvfCaIbyQ

It's one of the better videos out there IMHO. On all the builds I've done over the past 4 years this is the technique I've applied and it's not let me down

Nice one, thanks for that

joenobody

For a little extra money you could get yourself a toolkit like this one - http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TOJWTK/job ... e-tool-kit

That's what I did when I needed to change a cassette recently (didn't need to index by the way, and no problems with shifting) and now I also have a collection of useful tools for other maintenance tasks I might take on

Moominman2

I did see that! But planet x always puts me off a bit...how can everything be so cheap?! Is the kit good quality?

Ahh fantastic, I may just buy the kit and change it over myself then, cheers!

wishitwasallflat

Moominman2 wrote:

Nope, no confidence in adjusting my gears.

Am I better off just buying a new cassette and letting my lbs fit it, and just continue taking it to them to sort?

No learn to do everything yourself - even the best shop mechanic in the world won't be able to spend the time and devote the attention to your bike that you will or they would never make money. The satisfaction alone is well worth the effort, very tool pays for itself many times over if you do and kind of mileage.

joenobody

Moominman2 wrote:

Is the kit good quality?

I'm no expert, but it looks reasonable to me.

drlodge

Ai_1 wrote:

Changing a cassette is just a case of taking one off and putting another on. The only potential complication is if the chain length needed to be changed.
If you're doing it yourself, what would a service consist of?

If its the same cassette then chain length would remain the same too.

You may need to "reindex" the gears as not all freehubs are the same so the cassette may end up slightly inbound or outbound compared to before. But then its just a matter of tweaking the rear derailleur cable barrel adjuster to line up the rear derailleur cage with the sprocket. I find it easier to do this *before* you put the chain on, that way you can see exactly where the top jockey wheel is in relation to the sprocket.

nilla

Moominman2 wrote:

All I'm doing is taking off the cassette on my current rear wheel, to then put it on my new set of wheels. So that means I won't need to adjust anything?
Luke

I would try it out yourself. I was in the same place you are now a few years back. I started off biking with a Hybrid bike and after a while i dropped the stock tires for more slim and lighter rims and tires. This required me to change the rear cassette as well. I just watched Youtube vids and then bought the tools and did it.

The tools are good to have around if you want to give the cassette a proper cleaning yourself too. The chain whip to my knowledge is universal. For the lockring removal tool it depends what kind of lock ring you have so be sure to get the right one. You can find them for about $12 to $15 a piece.

Not sure what a LBS would charge for the service but if it comes out to be more than half the total of both tools you are better off buying them and doing it yourself IMO.

If i can figure it out i am pretty sure you can too. It really isn't all that hard.