Removing rear cassette, large wrench or similar needed

[borderghost]

I assume one of the reasons mine get so tight is because of my up hill riding, where i live its hills on any route i take. And yes sorry for the confusion it is the cassette i want to remove, would give the scafolding bar a try if i could find one.

[DesWeller]

If you have access to a vice it's often easier with freewheels to mount the tool in the vice, plonk the wheel on top and crank it round by grasping the rim.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Yes, Freewheels..............vice mandatory, and watch the wheel flex
They by nature of a thread that tightens with normal use are tight

Problem with cassettes is that you still need to hold cassette with chainwhip with your other hand.

[RogerThat]

Vice option every time, if you have access to one. It's often the only way to shift really stubborn cassettes/freewheel.

[Freddie]

My suggestion on the previous page requires no extra tools and isn't hard to do. Personally, I'd try it first before spending money.

Edit: You do have to have cone spanners though. If you don't have these, it might be worth buying these before a big spanner, because hub bearings will always need servicing.

[andrew_s]

If you've got the correct remover, I'd suggest taking it and the wheel round to someone who has a suitably solid bench vice, and begging the use of it.

On my first proper tour, before I started building my own wheels, I begged the use of the vice in a French LBS, a sawmill, and the main Opel dealers in Gernika.

[Brucey]

I was having the same problem and removed the hub axle, as I wanted to check the bearings, once I had it was much easier to remove the cassette. The removal tool goes in much further without the axle and has much better purchase this way. It might stop you needing a longer spanner.

My suggestion on the previous page requires no extra tools and isn't hard to do. Personally, I'd try it first before spending money.

Edit: You do have to have cone spanners though. If you don't have these, it might be worth buying these before a big spanner, because hub bearings will always need servicing.

The remover tool will only go on further with the axle out if it somehow fouls on locknuts. On many freehubs the tool bottoms out on the seal within the freehub body, not the locknuts. If you remove the axle it makes no difference whatsoever on such hubs.

IME using a bench vice or similar is better than a single spanner because the tool isn't trying to cam out of the freehub body in the same way. As suggested earlier in this thread using a deep 24mm socket (or whatever you need to hold your tool) and then a sliding type 1/2" drive breaker bar (with two pieces of tube on) makes a tool that will easily manage 200ftlbs or so which should be more than enough for this job.

What no-one has mentioned thus far in relation to cassette removal is what kind of a chain whip you need. I have a pair of chain whips and each one of them is over 18" long. I find I do occasionally need both of them to shift a very stubborn cassette lockring.

I wonder how many of the people who have read or contributed to this thread are confused by the replies because they are mistaking a screw-on freewheel for a cassette, or vice versa?

cheers

[Thomas125]

If you're thinking about tools Halfords stuff comes with a lifetime guarantee and is pretty robust.

They have sales on their socket sets from time to time too. I got the biggest one half price for a hundred quid in sale and rate it as one of the best tool purchases I've made.

Gets used for car bike and various other day jobs.

I've got some silver line pliers and screwdrivers too. Finishing can be a little rough on them sometimes but theyre plenty strong enough and a bargain to boot.

[Thomas125]

I've got a local car garage by me and I've taken stuck thingsbin before with a few cans of beer and asked nicely for a favour with their air wrench.

If you really can't shift it might be an idea to find a mate or local garage with a big vice or air gun.

[Mick F]

Agree completely.
Find a garage/engineering firm/workshop and ask them nicely to use their facilities.

[PT1029]

"I assume one of the reasons mine get so tight is because of my up hill riding, where i live its hills on any route i take" - on a cassette, your pedalling does not tighten the lock ring (but will tighten a screw on freewheel).

As someone who does some repairs without access to a vice, stubborn cassette lock rings can be an issue for me. My solution is to put the cassette tool spanner (15" adjustable) and chain whip at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock positions, with loosening by pushing down. The pick up wheel/tools still in place and thump it down in the ground - the impact loading has always worked to loosen the ring for me.
Years ago working in a LBS, we occasionally had to grind the end of the lock ring off (which removes the stress on the threads).
I tend not to overly tighten cassette lockrings, after all, all they have to do is to stop the sprockets from sliding off the end of the freehub. Mr Shimano recommends they get tightened as much as square taper crank bolts if I remember correctly, which seems rather over the top for the job in hand.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

What no-one has mentioned thus far in relation to cassette removal is what kind of a chain whip you need. I have a pair of chain whips and each one of them is over 18" long. I find I do occasionally need both of them to shift a very stubborn cassette lockring.

I wonder how many of the people who have read or contributed to this thread are confused by the replies because they are mistaking a screw-on freewheel for a cassette, or vice versa?

cheers

Yep,............I have had to hold the chain whip in the vice before now.
Even my own greased up cassettes take a huf to unscrew them (yeh I know the grease makes tightening easy but undoing hard)
After knocking up a freehub cone remover in the vice which doesn't bend I need an easier chain whip for stubborn cassettes.
The £2.70 jobs off ebay are fine for most, but I always fear that I will bend a sprocket When using a lashup in the vice.
Oh, add the QR to hold the cassette tool on, and as said watch the axial length of your tools, ideally using a flexi bar you should try to put other hand on the end nearest tool (cassette) to support the sideways forces normally pulling socket off nut / bolt but in this case bending the hub complete against spokes
I favour a spanner on the cassette tool as it keeps closer to the hub than a flexi bar.

Its one hand on the chainwhip and the other on the cassette tool whilst leaning over wheel which is upright.
Or tool in vice and only one hand on chain whip, very difficult.
Or chainwhip in vice and large lever on the cassette tool, fear of bending cassette sprocket

I fancy a tool to go in vice made from an old cassette and when you apply force to cassette tool with big lever the only force is going through the freehub outer shell and not diverted into wheel through spokes

[Brucey]

....I tend not to overly tighten cassette lockrings, after all, all they have to do is to stop the sprockets from sliding off the end of the freehub. Mr Shimano recommends they get tightened as much as square taper crank bolts if I remember correctly, which seems rather over the top for the job in hand.

Having seen quite a few cassettes (on which the lockrings were not tight enough) merrily chomp their way into even steel freehub bodies I take the view that cassette lockrings are better tight; at least as tight as the likes of Mr Shimano or Mr Campagnolo suggest.

In all fairness, the worst of these is usually seen on MTBs where low gears and plenty of chain tension is the order of the day, but such wear can happen on any bike. It makes your transmission inefficient, too, BTW.

cheers