Individual cassette sprockets?

[simmi]

Does anyone know a good site in the UK where you can purchase individual sprockets, I am after a 14T 9 speed shimano compatible highest cog which I was hoping I could buy on its own without the £30 or so expence of buying the whole cassette.
I am quite new to this and am really just messing about with various cassette ratios to see what works best for me.

 

[black'n'yellow]

Not available as individual items. Why do you want one?

 

[Andy_R]

Not available as individual items. Why do you want one?

....one of your usual posts there b&y...instead of trying to help, you ask why he wants to do something.

Try here Simmi - exactly what you're looking for, I think.

 

[ianrauk]

Good post Andy.

@simmi
Also give Spa Cycles a call. They are also very helpful with spares.

 

[andrew_s]

Note that sprockets come in different versions depending on what the adjacent sprocket is, so the ramps and things for easy shifting line up properly.
It won't matter for the smallest sprocket, but it you mix and match others failure to get it right will affect shifting. I recommend a bit of googling.

Also, the top gear cog has ridges on the outside face for the lockring. Shimano do a 14-25 cassette (iirc) for junior racing (restricted gears), so it may be worth finding the cassette model number and trying for that 14T sprocket rather than a normal one.
Individual sprockets are also available from Germany

 

[ricnott]

If you know what type of cassette you could check E-bay for old ones to take apart for the individual rings. I discovered that shimano cassettes are held together with a small allen headed screw so you could dismantle and build up your own custom ratios.

 

[PpPete]

I discovered that shimano cassettes are held together with a small allen headed screw so you could dismantle and build up your own custom ratios.

SRAM ones are like this. Some of the cheaper Shimano ones are riveted together. You can grind off the head of the rivet on the back of the cassette quite easily, and it doesnt have to be all bolted together again to work so long as the lockring is tight.

However the 14T is usually one of loose sprockets anyway.

I built up a custom 9 speed 12-30 some time ago and the shifting ramps do not line up at all - doesn't seem to affect shifting at all.

However if you don't have the ridges on the outside face of the smallest sprocket you might have problems getting the lockring to stay in place.

 

[black'n'yellow]

....one of your usual posts there b&y...instead of trying to help, you ask why he wants to do something.

Thank you sherlock. The question was posed in an attempt to better understand his motivation, with a view to helping. But don't let common sense and the bleedin' obvious get in the way of a sanctimonious rant, eh?

 

[simmi]

....one of your usual posts there b&y...instead of trying to help, you ask why he wants to do something.

Try here Simmi - exactly what you're looking for, I think.

Good post Andy.

@simmi
Also give Spa Cycles a call. They are also very helpful with spares.

Thanks guys will give them a try.
I knew you would come up trumps!

In answer to you question b' n' y I will post a copy of thread I have just started in the beginners section.

I am a bit of a tinker and am at the moment tinkering with my cassette ratios to get the optimum set up for me. (43 just starting out cycling with a average speed between 15 and 16mph and lets face it am never going to get Wiggins quaking in his boots)
With a bit of maths I have worked out that with a cadence of 90 and a wheel diameter of 675mm with a ratio of 1 : 1 I will be moving at 7.12mph so to translate to my current set up in my highest gear 52/11 I would be moving at 33.7mph and my lowest 39/28 would be 9.9mph.
My thinking is why on earth do most cassettes start off with 11 or 12 teeth, even with 14 I would be doing 26.4 mph.
On the flat I can keep to about 18-20mph for some time and obviously down hills can get higher speeds but to be honest spend more time coasting than pedalling.
I am going to change my set up from 11/12/13/15/17/19/21/24/28 to 14/15/16/17/19/21/23/25/28.

I am sure pro's and top club cyclists need the 11 and 12 teeth cogs but not sure why the rest of us would have them.
With a triple or compact chainset I can see this is a different matter, but with you standardish 39/52 double how often would 75% of cyclists use them?
Perhaps I am getting a little over involved for my level or ability but really just want to get the maximum from the effort I put in.
Any thoughts on my musings would be welcome.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Any thoughts on my musings would be welcome.

Since you asked, I believe all cassettes should have a 11T. The reasons are here.

Further for your terrain and speed range objectives you might well benefit from running Nx1.

As usual imho PpPete's comments above are absolutely relevant and true. Perhaps you could try stopping the lock ring slipping by roughing up the surface in contact with the lockring with a file if you do insist on having a 14T small sprocket.

 

[black'n'yellow]

In answer to you question b' n' y I will post a copy of thread I have just started in the beginners section.

I am a bit of a tinker and am at the moment tinkering with my cassette ratios to get the optimum set up for me. (43 just starting out cycling with a average speed between 15 and 16mph and lets face it am never going to get Wiggins quaking in his boots)
With a bit of maths I have worked out that with a cadence of 90 and a wheel diameter of 675mm with a ratio of 1 : 1 I will be moving at 7.12mph so to translate to my current set up in my highest gear 52/11 I would be moving at 33.7mph and my lowest 39/28 would be 9.9mph.
My thinking is why on earth do most cassettes start off with 11 or 12 teeth, even with 14 I would be doing 26.4 mph.
On the flat I can keep to about 18-20mph for some time and obviously down hills can get higher speeds but to be honest spend more time coasting than pedalling.
I am going to change my set up from 11/12/13/15/17/19/21/24/28 to 14/15/16/17/19/21/23/25/28.

I am sure pro's and top club cyclists need the 11 and 12 teeth cogs but not sure why the rest of us would have them.
With a triple or compact chainset I can see this is a different matter, but with you standardish 39/52 double how often would 75% of cyclists use them?
Perhaps I am getting a little over involved for my level or ability but really just want to get the maximum from the effort I put in.
Any thoughts on my musings would be welcome.

ok - I just read the other thread. My first reaction is that you are over-thinking it. If you are a beginner, then a compact 50/34 (or lower as GrasB suggested) combined with 12-25 or 12-27 would make more sense than messing with individual sprocket ratios....

 

[02GF74]

the large cogs on shimano and possible all the cogs on scram cassettes are rivetted togther. Older shimano casssettes had a long pin, threaded at one and with a small hex socket at the other so could be taken apart.

even if you can get the cassette apart, I don't think you can buy the larger sprockets but i stand to be corrected; note that they will need to be same thckness as the ones you are replacing.

 

[PpPete]

14T outer cogs may be difficult to find.... but the range you are aiming for is not a million miles from on of the Campag standard cassettes - the 13-29
Of course you will have to change everything else on the bike to suit....

Alternatively get a couple of £20 HG50 cassettes, a 14-25 and a 11-32 (or whatever provides the teeth you want) grind off the rivets and re-assemble the sprockets and spacers you want loose onto the freehub. This was how I built up my 9 speed 12-30T.... and convinced myself that Campag was the way to go for the N+1

Or ... Miche do a 9 speed Shimano compatible 13-28. Here if that's close enough for you.