Cassette needs extreme brute force to remove

[Jon George]

I'm assuming I may have done something wrong. I replaced the 8-speed cassette on my #2 bike with an identical match to the worn one. I made sure to include the spacer as I done with the previous cassette. After tracking down an occasional rattle to the cassette, I tightened it up a little more (there was noticeable movement) to remove the noise, but now it is extremely difficult to undo - last time I had to put one foot on the chain-whip and one on the socket wrench and use my leg muscles to loosen it. (I went to do the same today to do some fettling and bent the chain-whip.)
Why have I needed to over-tightened it to remove the noisy slack?

 

[Mo1959]

I'm assuming I may have done something wrong. I replaced the 8-speed cassette on my #2 bike with an identical match to the worn one. I made sure to include the spacer as I done with the previous cassette. After tracking down an occasional rattle to the cassette, I tightened it up a little more (there was noticeable movement) to remove the noise, but now it is extremely difficult to undo - last time I had to put one foot on the chain-whip and one on the socket wrench and use my leg muscles to loosen it. (I went to do the same today to do some fettling and bent the chain-whip.)
Why have I needed to over-tightened it to remove the noisy slack?

Maybe I'm just a weakling but I find cassettes really hard to remove too. Not sure if the cycling action actually continues to tighten them when they are fitted??

 

[shouldbeinbed]

That does sound a tad OTT. Crossed thread not allowing for a properly square on contact and needing to be compensated for???

 

[Jon George]

That does sound a tad OTT. Crossed thread not allowing for a properly square on contact and needing to be compensated for???

I'm confident I didn't cross-thread it.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Maybe I'm just a weakling but I find cassettes really hard to remove too. Not sure if the cycling action actually continues to tighten them when they are fitted??

Last time I needed to remove a freewheel I could not manage, took the wheel to lbs, it took 2 mechanics and a lot of brute force ... the first mechanic to attempt it had to call on another, more muscle endowed
Now I've got a spanner extension leaver, which is just the bottom tube of an old garden parasol.

 

[User6179]

I also bent my chain whip so I made one out of 2x2 timber and a couple of nails and a bit of chain , it is about 2 foot long and even the tightest lock nuts come of easier now .

I bent mine when I put on a cassette that was slightly smaller than previous , both were ten speed but the new one didn't come past the freehub so when tightened it was not pressing against the cassette , I then over tightened it trying to get the play out of the cassette then when I tried to undo it I broke the chain whip .

There was only about 2mm of a difference in the width so I put a large washer on before the lock nut which worked .

I would check that your cassette is proud of the freehub before tightening .

 

[Jon George]

A new chain-whip (£9.99 from Halfords), which is slighter longer and more substantial than my previous one, together with some imaginary spinach and some good old-fashioned, this-bugger-is-coming-off has done it. Thanks all for your input.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Fulcrum power!

Or is it leverage?

 

[lpretro1]

Recommendation for cassette torque is 40nm

 

[cyberknight]

I always thought you could not over tighten a lock nut as it makes a clicking sound once you reach a certain tightness?

 

[400bhp]

Easily done if you didn't apply any copper grease to the lock nut before tightening it

 

[Jon George]

Recommendation for cassette torque is 40nm

Ah, Christmas present to myself solved. A torque wrench! Cheers!

 

[jack smith]

40nm is a heck of alot for some people btw needing that kind of force is normal

 

[ayceejay]

40 nm is the MAXIMUM not the recommended. if you changed cassette and installed the lock nut that came with it and this is giving you problems why not use the old one? Also make sure the treads are clean, it is not unusual for a thread to have remnants of the machining.

 

[zacklaws]

I had one once that would not come free, so I wedged it between the bottom of the wall to stop it moving and my legs and got all my weight on the chain whip and on the wrench, but it loosened all of a sudden when I gave it a bit of a "yuck", the result was I flew forward like a rocket and cracked my head on the wall and nearly knocked myself out leaving a bump and cut for a few days.

What I do now is use a very long torque wrench to free it or just slide a length of pipe about 2 foot or more onto the wrench, with the extra long leverage they free easy and in a more controlled manner.

The torque wrench is the one Aldi's sell for cars, they recently had them for sale, I think for about £15, but jobs on the bike only good for bottom brackets and cassettes, anything else a small one is needed. Tightening up to 40nm is easy and hardly takes any effort due to its length