Changing cassette but not sure whether to leave spacer on

ForumNewbie

Hi there, I am changing my cassette from a 105 10 speed 12-27 to a Tiagra HG500 10 speed 11-32. When taking off the old cassette there was a thin spacer (1mm I think) behind the cassette. I assume that the spacer came with the 105 cassette, but the new cassette did not come with a spacer to go behind the cassette.

Should I therefore leave the spacer on when fitting the new cassette? To have the sprockets in the same place in relation to the wheel so that the gear indexing works properly, I would have thought I would need to keep the spacer there, but I'm just not sure, as I would have also thought the new cassette would have come with a spacer behind the cassette if it was necessary.

arlowood

ForumNewbie wrote:

Hi there, I am changing my cassette from a 105 10 speed 12-27 to a Tiagra HG500 10 speed 11-32. When taking off the old cassette there was a thin spacer (1mm I think) behind the cassette. I assume that the spacer came with the 105 cassette, but the new cassette did not come with a spacer to go behind the cassette.

Should I therefore leave the spacer on when fitting the new cassette? To have the sprockets in the same place in relation to the wheel so that the gear indexing works properly, I would have thought I would need to keep the spacer there, but I'm just not sure, as I would have also thought the new cassette would have come with a spacer behind the cassette if it was necessary.

10-speed Tiagra cassettes generally do not need a spacer. I used a 12-30 10-speed Tiagra cassette for several years - no need for a spacer as the mono-bloc lower sprockets have an effective spacer built in with the design of the bloc.

fatdaz

That's kind of the opposite of the problem that I have mind you

fatdaz

Ignore that - I got my posts mixed up and answered the wrong post

Sorry

ForumNewbie

arlowood wrote:

ForumNewbie wrote:

Hi there, I am changing my cassette from a 105 10 speed 12-27 to a Tiagra HG500 10 speed 11-32. When taking off the old cassette there was a thin spacer (1mm I think) behind the cassette. I assume that the spacer came with the 105 cassette, but the new cassette did not come with a spacer to go behind the cassette.

Should I therefore leave the spacer on when fitting the new cassette? To have the sprockets in the same place in relation to the wheel so that the gear indexing works properly, I would have thought I would need to keep the spacer there, but I'm just not sure, as I would have also thought the new cassette would have come with a spacer behind the cassette if it was necessary.

10-speed Tiagra cassettes generally do not need a spacer. I used a 12-30 10-speed Tiagra cassette for several years - no need for a spacer as the mono-bloc lower sprockets have an effective spacer built in with the design of the bloc.

Thanks arlowood, yes there are spacers built in the big block, but there is no spacer to put behind the biggest (32) sprocket. The back of the biggest sprocket on the HG500 cassette looks the same as the back of the biggest sprocket on the older 105 cassette, but 105 came with a separate loose thin spacer at the back.

When I changed the cassette on my other bike last year, an Ultegra 11-28 for an Ultegra 12-30, I'm sure there was a spacer that came with it that I had to put behind that cassette on that one.

That makes me think that I should keep on the spacer that was on with the 105 cassette?

dj58

The Tiagra 4600 cassettes do not need a separate spacer, as mentioned above the spacer is built in to the cassette block. If your new CS-HG500-10 11-32T cassette does not come with a separate spacer, then I would assume it features the same in-built spacing. I would therefore remove the thin spacer that came with your 105 cassette and use the new cassette without it.

arlowood

ForumNewbie wrote:

arlowood wrote:

ForumNewbie wrote:

Hi there, I am changing my cassette from a 105 10 speed 12-27 to a Tiagra HG500 10 speed 11-32. When taking off the old cassette there was a thin spacer (1mm I think) behind the cassette. I assume that the spacer came with the 105 cassette, but the new cassette did not come with a spacer to go behind the cassette.

Should I therefore leave the spacer on when fitting the new cassette? To have the sprockets in the same place in relation to the wheel so that the gear indexing works properly, I would have thought I would need to keep the spacer there, but I'm just not sure, as I would have also thought the new cassette would have come with a spacer behind the cassette if it was necessary.

10-speed Tiagra cassettes generally do not need a spacer. I used a 12-30 10-speed Tiagra cassette for several years - no need for a spacer as the mono-bloc lower sprockets have an effective spacer built in with the design of the bloc.

Thanks arlowood, yes there are spacers built in the big block, but there is no spacer to put behind the biggest (32) sprocket. The back of the biggest sprocket on the HG500 cassette looks the same as the back of the biggest sprocket on the older 105 cassette, but 105 came with a separate loose thin spacer at the back.

When I changed the cassette on my other bike last year, an Ultegra 11-28 for an Ultegra 12-30, I'm sure there was a spacer that came with it that I had to put behind that cassette on that one.

That makes me think that I should keep on the spacer that was on with the 105 cassette?

OK go ahead and try it with the spacer if you want. I was only giving you my thoughts and experience from another Tiagra 10 speed cassette.

It won't cause Armageddon. You'll soon know if the spacer is not needed as you may experience difficulty with the lockring not seating correctly or there may be indexing issues if the chain line is not ideal

ForumNewbie

DJ58 wrote:

The Tiagra 4600 cassettes do not need a separate spacer, as mentioned above the spacer is built in to the cassette block. If your new CS-HG500-10 11-32T cassette does not come with a separate spacer, then I would assume it features the same in-built spacing. I would therefore remove the thin spacer that came with your 105 cassette and use the new cassette without it.

Thanks DJ58, do you mean that it's built into the overall width of the cassette - i.e. total width from biggest sprocket through to smallest sprocket, because without the spacer at the back I assume my biggest sprocket will be 1 mm nearer the wheel than the 105 biggest sprocket was?

dj58

ForumNewbie wrote:

DJ58 wrote:

The Tiagra 4600 cassettes do not need a separate spacer, as mentioned above the spacer is built in to the cassette block. If your new CS-HG500-10 11-32T cassette does not come with a separate spacer, then I would assume it features the same in-built spacing. I would therefore remove the thin spacer that came with your 105 cassette and use the new cassette without it.

Thanks DJ58, do you mean that it's built into the overall width of the cassette - i.e. total width from biggest sprocket through to smallest sprocket, because without the spacer at the back I assume my biggest sprocket will be 1 mm nearer the wheel than the 105 biggest sprocket was?

Yes, the spacing is correct for the overall width of the cassette, the 10sp Tiagra 4600 cassettes were the only type to feature this, so it seems logical that your new HG500-10 10sp cassette is the same, if as you say, it is not supplied with any stand alone spacer.

As I said fit it without your existing spacer and see how it feels once torqued down, there shouldn't be any side to side play, though you should still check the limit positions of your RD jockey wheels and the indexing function as a matter of course.

ForumNewbie

Thanks for your advice. I've put it on without the spacer and it seems to fit perfectly. I've not had a ride with it yet, but on the workstand the indexing seems perfect - it didn't need adjusted at all, and the limit screw settings seem to be set correct without any adjustments, so all looking good.

Before I put the cassette on, I lined up both cassettes on a table it looked like the 105 one was slightly wider even without the extra spacer which seemed strange. Maybe the spacer wasn't even needed with the 105 cassette but the LBS fitted that cassette so maybe it was.

dj58

I don't know whether you have read this post?, you may find it of interest.
viewtopic.php?f=40101&t=12905742

Man Of Lard

Try putting it on without the spacer - you'll soon be able to tell if you need it (the cassette will shoogle even with the lockring tightened) - of course then you have to remove the cassette again to fit it.

DON'T RIDE WITH THE CASSETTE SHOOGLY THOUGH. That way expense and possibly injury lies.

ForumNewbie

Man Of Lard wrote:

Try putting it on without the spacer - you'll soon be able to tell if you need it (the cassette will shoogle even with the lockring tightened) - of course then you have to remove the cassette again to fit it.

DON'T RIDE WITH THE CASSETTE SHOOGLY THOUGH. That way expense and possibly injury lies.

Thanks. As I said above I did fit it without the spacer and it seems to fit perfectly. I've not ridden it yet, but I'll double-check that it's not shoogly before I do.