Cassette Replacement, Installation, and Cleaning
To replace your cassette, you'll need a cassette tool that corresponds to the brand of your components. SRAM and Shimano use the same pattern, while Campagnolo cassettes require a different tool. You'll also need a chain whip, a wrench, and some grease.
Cassette Removal
- Remove your wheel from your bike, and then take the skewer all the way out of the hub.
- Insert your cassette tool, fitting the splines of the tool into the splines on the cassette lockring.
- Engage the chain whip clockwise around the cassette.
- Using the wrench, turn the cassette tool counter-clockwise. This will require some force, and you will hear a loud clicking sound as the locking teeth separate.
- Loosen the lockring and carefully pull the cassette off of the freehub.
- Slide the cogs and spacers onto the freehub. No grease is needed between the cogs and the freehub.
- Lightly grease the lockring and carefully thread it into the freehub. Be very careful to ensure it threads on straight! Lockrings can have very delicate threads.
- Using a wrench and your cassette tool, tighten the lockring until snug and ensure that the cogs cannot move laterally on the freehub. Be careful not to overtighten, which can strip the freehub threads.
- Re-install your wheel on your bike, and you're ready to ride!
Cleaning Your Cassette
Maintaining a clean cassette is one of the most important factors in keeping your bike running well. It may seem like a tedious chore, but once you establish a routine, it is simple and quick. Many cyclists swear by soaking cassettes in strong degreasers—however, we strongly advise against this! Not only does it simply not clean the cassette thoroughly, but degreaser residue can work its way into the hub and freehub, strip the bearings of their grease, and cause a lot of unnecessary problems.
Our favorite method of cleaning a cassette is simple and straightforward. With the cassette off the freehub, wipe each individual cog thoroughly with a rag. For cogs bound together by a carrier (multiple cogs connected together), scrub them with an old toothbrush. Really stubborn grime? A few drops of chain lube clears up grit and grime better than most corrosive cleaners. Once the obvious grit and grime is gone, polish each cog with a rag. With this method, the dirtiest, most neglected cassettes will shine like new.
Cassette Installation
For any questions about cleaning or servicing your cassette, give us a call at 1-800-682-0570 or email us at [email protected]; we'd be glad to help you out!