cassetes are they all the same ??

[dlv13]

i cant find this anywhere else ,,sure it must have come up before .. so sorry if i am repeating
but there are quite a few different cassettes available hg 31 ,, hg 40 ect. plus sram and suntour , all in the same sort of price brackets, varying by just a few pounds
now whatever no of cogs / teeth you need there still seems to be a choice , so which one to buy ? . ive always viewed cogs and chains as consumable items so have bought in the about £25 cassette and about a tenner for a chain price bracket, never really had any problems . now if i paid £50 for a cassette would it last twice as long ? given the same care and usage as the £25 cassette ? are they all made from the same metal ?
at the bottom end of the market, if they are all made from the same metal { i am assuming that metal hardness = length of life ? ] is it most economic to say ,buy the cheapest shimano that you can find that suit your needs or will the £15 one last better than the £10 one ?

[reohn2]

............ now if i paid £50 for a cassette would it last twice as long ? given the same care and usage as the £25 cassette ?........ .........is it most economic to say ,buy the cheapest shimano that you can find that suit your needs or will the £15 one last better than the £10 one ?

Speaking for Shimano cassettes,the only difference I've found between high end and cheap stuff is weight.The h/end stuff being lighter because the bigger cogs are riveted to an aluminium spider,they all last the same given the same maintenance regime.
I usually buy HG50 level cassettes but that's because they're chrome(?) plated so I can see at a glance when they're needing cleaning,similar with chains(Sram 971).

[Brucey]

if you want to make a cassette last longer, a good way is to buy several chains and rotate between them at regular intervals. This way a cassette can be made to 'last for three chains worth' of use.

cheers

[NetworkMan]

I have an old 7 speed HG-50 and a similar slightly less old HG-70. The more expensive one is held togethet with bolts; the cheaper with rivets. The more expensive one is plated, the cheaper one isn't. Apart from that no difference I can see. It's logical to imagine that they all come down the same line and then the more expensive ones have an extra plating process done on them. Hard to imagine the base metal is any different.