Cassette Removal Hell ! Help

[Deleted member 1258]

Is that definitely a casette/freehub or a screw on freewheel?

I was wondering about that, I've got both the cassette tool and the screw on tool in my toolbox and they are very similar.

 

[midlife]

Blocks don't usually have such small cogs near the tool, easy to check by looking at the shape of the hub

 

[Sharky]

Can we have a photo showing the smallest sprocket, without the removal tool in place please.

 

[andrew_s]

Shimano cassette and freewheel tools look very similar, and with 7 sprockets and a 13/14T small cog it could be a freewheel.

It's easy to tell - put the tool in the splines and spin the sprockets backwards. If the remover turns with the sprockets, it's a cassette, if it stays still with the wheel, it's a freewheel.

The best way to remove a freewheel is to clamp the remover in a solid bench vice, and turn the wheel rim.

 

[si_c]

There is no lockring that I can see - I'd be pretty confident that's a freewheel not a cassette.

 

[si_c]

Almost certainly a freewheel - try removing without the chainwhip - if it is a cassette it will just spin, if a freewheel then you were counteracting yourself with the chainwhip which is why you struggled to remove it.

 

[figbat]

If it’s a freewheel then this will explain the broken chainwhip, as you would have been working against yourself.

 

[HumpTdumpty]

Can we have a photo showing the smallest sprocket, without the removal tool in place please.

 

[HumpTdumpty]

Here you go re without the tool

 

[figbat]

That’s a freewheel. You remove it by simply unscrewing it from the wheel. No chain whip needed. Put the tool in then use an appropriate spanner to undo it in the conventional rotation. Or, as others have suggested above, place the tool in a vice, place the freewheel onto the tool and turn the wheel in a lefty-loosey direction.

Ignore me

 

[Ajax Bay]

Freewheel

 

[midlife]

Put the tool in and spin it anti-clockwise. Do the cogs move ? After my time but that looks like a cassette lock ring ?

 

[ChrisEyles]

Agreed, that's a cassette lock ring, so you'll need the chain whip.

Have you tried using the QR to hold the removal tool in place? I've honestly find this very helpful in getting stubborn lock rings off, and once chipped the edge of a free hub applying excessive force causing the removal tool to slip out. Give it a go and get a longer lever on your removal tool.

Another tip - if you're applying opposing forces through a pair of levers, you can generate much more force if you have the two levers (in this case, chain whip and spanner) positioned close to one another (eg at 3 and 4 o' clock), and press them in towards one another. Don't know the reason why, but this allows significantly more (biomechanical?) leverage to be applied.

Apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs here!

 

[Sharky]

Here you go re without the tool

Thanks, back to thinking it is a cassette.

As others have said, put the qr skewer back in to keep the tool in place. Is your chain whip completely broken now? You might be able to block/jam the cassette from the other side using a screwdriver through the holes in the largest sprocket. And a large spanner or adjustable and a bit of force.

Good luck

 

[boydj]

For a freewheel yes, but not a cassette on a free hub.

All my bikes (apart from the single-speed) have cassettes on freehubs, so it does work.