How to loosen super tight rear cassette lock ring?
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How to loosen super tight rear cassette lock ring?
The lock ring on my Shimano 11speed rear cassette is stuck. And by stuck I mean I can't undo/open the lock ring with the chain whip/cassette tool. That sucker is on there TIGHT!
Anyone have any suggestions on how I can loosen the lock ring?
Thank you.
Anyone have any suggestions on how I can loosen the lock ring?
Thank you.
#2
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Cassette tool held on with QR skewer, LARGE adjustable wrench on cassette tool, apply LARGE mallet to wrench while holding the chain whip steady with your off hand.
#3
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Clamp the lock ring tool on a vise. Set the wheel on top to insert it. Use the wheel as your leverage to unscrew it....the same way you’d do with a freewheel.
Dan
Dan
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@_ForceD_ good suggestion. If only I had a vise.
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Good tips. I wonder if the through axel (it's not a QR) will hold the cassette tool. And yeah, this might be a good time to invest in a large adjustable wrench. Right now I'm using a set of vice grips.
@_ForceD_ good suggestion. If only I had a vise.
@_ForceD_ good suggestion. If only I had a vise.
#7
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Good tips. I wonder if the through axel (it's not a QR) will hold the cassette tool. And yeah, this might be a good time to invest in a large adjustable wrench. Right now I'm using a set of vice grips.
@_ForceD_ good suggestion. If only I had a vise.
@_ForceD_ good suggestion. If only I had a vise.
If you have a QR skewer available, and it's long enough, I think it would be more secure to use that along with a regular cassette tool (i.e. the kind with a hole in the middle, like the Park FR-5.2) and clamp it in place with the skewer, maybe with a fender washer on the NDS to hold the nut in place. It should be pretty secure if you center everything and snug it down. Never tried it though, so I don't know if a typical 135mm QR is long enough to reach the ends of a 142mm TA hub, plus the added width of the cassette tool and any washers. Maybe some 3/8" all-thread rod with nuts and washers would work better.
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W/O a vise, look around for something else immovable that will hold at least two sides of the lock ring tool. Even 2X4s temporarily tacked down to a deck.
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I would hit it with a hammer or mallet only as a last resort.
A proper socket with a breaker bar is what I would use. Pipe on the breaker bar to increase leveage.
Credit where due, the cassette tool with pin recommended by @Metaluna is a great tool.
-Tim-
A proper socket with a breaker bar is what I would use. Pipe on the breaker bar to increase leveage.
Credit where due, the cassette tool with pin recommended by @Metaluna is a great tool.
-Tim-
Last edited by TimothyH; 08-13-19 at 02:55 PM.
#11
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Dan
#12
mechanically sound
Forgive me if I’m mistaken, but wouldn’t the wheel just “coast” or freewheel if you used it as the “lever?”
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Nope, doesn't work. If you clamp the lockring tool in a vise and set the wheel on it, you still can't remove the lockring by turning the wheel rim. The freehub freewheels in that direction. The vise will stabilize the wheel but you need a chainwhip around one of the cogs to unthread the lockring.
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I think the idea was to gain stability and leverage. No reason to not use the chainwhip.
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Well I ended up going to the LBS and having them crack the sucker for me. They had the proper tools and were able to pop it off. I did/do feel somewhat satisfied though in that the first tool/chain whip selected didn't work and he had to reach for something else/another tool.
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No, I don't think that's what he was proposing. What he was describing (putting the puller in a vise and using the wheel itself to unscrew the freewheel) does indeed work for a freewheel. It doesn't work to remove a freehub lockring.
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Thanks @jadocs. I think I'll have to pick that up the next time I'm at the LBS.
@August West you should have heard the 'pop' noise it made when the mechanic finally loosened it off. There was no way I was going to be able to do that.
@August West you should have heard the 'pop' noise it made when the mechanic finally loosened it off. There was no way I was going to be able to do that.
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Won’t work - since the cassette spins the same direction as the lock ring unscrews - hence the use of a chin whip to hold the cassette
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I had that same problem with a bike I bought. The problem was keeping the whip in place.
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Good tips. I wonder if the through axel (it's not a QR) will hold the cassette tool. And yeah, this might be a good time to invest in a large adjustable wrench. Right now I'm using a set of vice grips.
@_ForceD_ good suggestion. If only I had a vise.
@_ForceD_ good suggestion. If only I had a vise.