I cant reinstall my rear cassette!

[eskimo1986]

Hello. I'm having issues reinstalling my rear cassette. I removed it to regrease the wheel bearings but now I can't get it back on. I have no issues getting the cassette on the hub, the problem is getting the lock nut into the locking wheel once the cassette is back on. I can only finger tighten the locking wheel and the lock not has no room to engage the lock nut once everything is in place. The spacer is on before the cassette so I know there's no issues with the cassette itself. Hopefully the images can show what I mean.

Any help would be great. Thank you.

 

[Paulus]

Firstly I would check that you have the spacers correctly fitted. I had a similar problem some years back. I had one spacer the wrong way round so it was holding one of the cogs too far out for the lockring to engage.

 

[TheDoctor]

Check the spacer? Some of them have notches cut out to clear the rivets / bolts that hold the cassette together, and if the bolts and notches don't line up, everything is sitting a couple of mm out.
Not that I've done this myself, you understand...

 

[eskimo1986]

There was only 1 spacer, which is correctly installed.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Is it one solid cassette or are some of the smaller cogs separate? If seperate check you have them the right way round and slotted into the next bigger cog correctly.

 

[Buck]

The 4th smallest cog has no stamp marks on it that I can see - that might indicate it has been fitted in reverse?

I have a 12 speed cassette that is really fine tolerance and fitting vertically is almost impossible, so if the above isn’t true, place the wheel horizontally and then gently wiggle the cassette and see if it seats better.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

The 4th smallest cog has no stamp marks on it that I can see - that might indicate it has been fitted in reverse?

I might have done this once
I don't do mechanics very often

 

[EckyH]

the problem is getting the lock nut into the locking wheel once the cassette is back on. I can only finger tighten the locking wheel and the lock not has no room to engage the lock nut once everything is in place.

Could you please show us a photo of the freehub without the cassette installed?
I've a suspicion but I need more evidence to be able to form a valid theory...

E.

 

[eskimo1986]

View attachment 727292

 

[eskimo1986]

Could you please show us a photo of the freehub without the cassette installed?
I've a suspicion but I need more evidence to be able to form a valid theory...

E.

Spacer is there just to show spacer is there...if that makes sense

 

[eskimo1986]

The 4th smallest cog has no stamp marks on it that I can see - that might indicate it has been fitted in reverse?

I have a 12 speed cassette that is really fine tolerance and fitting vertically is almost impossible, so if the above isn’t true, place the wheel horizontally and then gently wiggle the cassette and see if it seats better.

I have tried different configurations to no avail. As far as I can tell, they all fit together just fine

 

[eskimo1986]

Is it one solid cassette or are some of the smaller cogs separate? If seperate check you have them the right way round and slotted into the next bigger cog correctly.

It is mostly one solid cassette with 2 smaller separate cogs. They all sit together neatly

 

[Ajax Bay]

This is a 9sp cassette. No spacer required if on an 8/9/10 freehub.
How thick is the spacer you've used? (assume slotted on before cassette).

 

[Paulus]

I would still be looking at either the spacer or a cog fitted the wrong way round.

 

[Aristotle Kristatos]

Freehub has moved too close to the outer cog. This results in the 5th cog not locating into the spline for the 9th cog.
Adding the big hammer to this on the 8th cog will result in the 7th cog slotting into the correct place which is why you need a new wheel and hub.