Need advice - Fitting alternate gear cassette

[nethfel]

Hi all,

I have a trainer coming today that has a 10 spd cassette on it. There is also already a spacer in place (from what I've read) due to the unit being compatible with 11 spd cassettes. My bike has a 7 spd shifter, so I want to swap out the 10 cassette for a 7 cassette; the cassette and trainer should be here today or tomorrow at the latest. I also ordered a set of generic spacers. My question is really do I need to do something special to put this cassette on? How do I determine the quantity of spacers to use?

If I thought I could get away with the 10 cassette with my shifter I would, but from what I understand (which when it comes to this aspect I am sorely uneducated) the movement from the shifter would not be compatible with the 10spd cassette.

 

[Sharky]

Hi,

What do you mean by "trainer"?

Is your gear lever an indexed one or a friction one? If the latter, it might be ok with the 10 speed cassette, but you will probably need a narrower chain.

Might also run into problems if the cassettes are different manufacturers. The splines are not always the same.

Cheers Keith

 

[nethfel]

@Sharky : Indoor trainer - in my case I'm using a KICKR. I *think* it's an indexed shifter : Shimano Altus EF51 - This is one of those things I'm very uneducated about, but based on what I imagine an indexed shifter to be that's what I have.... I purchased another rear cassette that was compatible with what was already on my bike as I assumed the 10spd cassette wouldn't work.

 

[Sharky]

Just googled the kickr. That's a nice bit of kit.

Good luck with the trainer. Does your winter keep you indoors a lot?

Cheers keith

 

[nethfel]

@Sharky : that's a loaded question the winters here - although not a sloshy or snowy as the northern part of the US, the general humidity in the air makes the cold feel very cold. I'm from Illinois and spent a lot of winters in IL and Wisconsin and when I came down here I couldn't believe how cold it would feel compared to the temp - I'm not big on exercising in the cold . A big thing for me also is that I want to start getting some riding done in the morning prior to going to work. Right now I have to get up at about 5:30 to have 30 minutes to exercise and some cooldown time prior to getting ready to head out - it's kinda pitch black outside this time of the year this early and to be honest, the drivers here are kinda crazy so I just don't feel safe on the roads riding in the dark even with illumination.

I figure the trainer will solve many problems for me:
* give me a convenient way to train/exercise/ride during poor weather or when I feel it's just too cold to ride
* give me a way to ride during the dark hours where riding on my road might as well provide an entry for the local cemetery
* give me a way to ride on other (simulated) roads.
* My wife also rides with a bike that uses the same rear cassette, so this would allow her to use her bike for those things as well which is good as we each have very different fits for our bikes (hers really hurts me to ride and mine - well, it's kinda hard for her to maintain full pedal contact through an entire rotation...)

It was more than I wanted to spend initially, but I figure with its flexibility and the fact that I won't ruin tires and that it's fairly quiet as far as a trainer goes, it should pay for itself in the long run.

 

[nethfel]

Update post: I currently have 2 spacers on the KICKR, the one that came with it to allow a 10 spd cassette on an 11 spd capable shaft and a secondary one that pretty much allows me to put on the 7 speed cassette I bought. The spacing is off by maybe a millimeter, possibly less. I may some day take the cassette off and bring the spacers to the drafting department in the school I work for to see if they can sketch up a single spacer that would be a hair shorter than the two put together. Luckily enough, there is a machine tool department there that could probably fabricate it for me if I pay for the metal (it's nice sometimes working for a technical college )