Cassette Removal & Installation
Why Bicycles Stack Exchange recommends it
Bicycles Stack Exchange users link it when someone needs to take a cassette off a hub, whether to replace worn cogs or to reach something behind it.
Recommended by 2 people across 2 different months, 2020 to 2024.
What it is
A Park Tool workshop video in which mechanic Calvin shows how to remove and install a bicycle cassette, including how to pick the right lockring tool. It notes that freewheel systems need a different procedure and links to companion videos for telling the two apart.
What people said
Recommends Bash Noel · 2023-07 · Bicycles Stack Exchange · on “Opening up a geared hub motor”
It must be that the cassette (gear cluster) is blocking access. Check in between the cassette and the motor.You will probably see screw heads You need to get a cassette removal tool. Here's a video that explains everything you need to know. [this video]
Recommends Erlkoenig · 2024-05 · Bicycles Stack Exchange · on “Freewheel removal”
You are slightly mixing up the terms [LINK] . Your bike does not have a classic freewheel, but a freehub and a cassette. The freehub body and the hub itself together form the coasting mechanism [LINK] . The cassette consists of the cogs but has no moving parts, and is mounted to the freehub body. You replace the cassette when it is worn. To install a cassette on the freehub body, you just turn the removal tool clockwise, and the coasting mechanism will engage so it tightens fine. But to remove the cassette, you need to hold the cassette in place using a chain whip tool, like e.g. the Park Tool SR-12.2 [LINK] : Don't try to hold the cassette with your hands, as you need a lot of force. Watch
Cites php_nub_qq · 2020-07 · Bicycles Stack Exchange · on “How to disassemble pinned sprockets from a freewheel”
I have a shimano freewheel like this one [LINK] Picture taken from Cassette Removal & Installation [this video] I need to use separate sprockets from it but I'm not sure how to extract them without causing any damage. I got the urge to just drill through those pins but I thought I'd rather ask first before the damage is done. How do you take apart the sprockets?
Cites Argenti Apparatus · 2020-09 · Bicycles Stack Exchange · on “Get a tougher gear on Shimano GRX, 11-34T, 2x11”
You cannot get a higher gear ratio by replacing the cassette. The 11 tooth sprocket is the smallest you can get on a compatible cassette. (Systems with 10 tooth sprockets exist but use a different freehub design). The issue is that you have 46/30 tooth sub-compact chainrings (I looked up specs here [LINK] ). Which are giving you the low ratios. This is common on gravel bikes as they have larger diameter tires run at lower pressures and are designed to negotiate rougher surfaces. A road bike typically has 50/34 or 52/36 tooth chainrings. If you want higher gear ratios you have to get larger chainrings. GRX 2x11 cranks only come in the 46/30 size. You may be able to find larger rings made by a
Cites Sam7919 · 2022-03 · Bicycles Stack Exchange · on “Why are there multiple chain whip styles when cogs can take out-of-plane forces?”
This answer is an educated guess. Any chain whip will wrap around a cassette's smallest cog. A wider (fixie) tool will protrude, but that's not a problem. There will still be plenty of room left for the lockring tool. A fixie (or in general wider) chain whip cannot be set [LINK] on the second (from smallest) to, maybe, sixth cog ( image source [LINK] ). The pins of the chain are too long, and the two adjacent cogs on both sides will impede proper wrapping of the chain whip. The side plates will basically sit on the next smaller cog. On the larger cogs on an MTB (7-11, maybe) the diameter difference to the next smaller cog will be large enough that once again any tool can be used. On most roa