CrimsonEclipse

I've bent 3 different cassettes in the past year.
2 were ultra low quality 11-50T no name brand and one was 11-42T Microshift
The damage was usually one or two of the lowest 3 gears

Is this due to the lower quality cassettes or am I going "meat head" power while shifting?

delbiker1 

No picture, no description of the "damage". Not sue what is meant by "bent". You are asking for nothing but guesswork. I have used numerous Microshift cassettes, there is nothing wrong with them, per se, but they are not the best quality. There is a reason they sell for less dollars. Have you done anything with the chain along with all the cassette replacements? If the chain is worn, new cassettes are likely going to make the shifting worse, and wear on the cassette speeded up. Cassettes often have a slight wobble that is more noticeable at the smaller cogs.

shelbyfv

The only way to sleuth this out is by trying a normal Shimano or SRAM cassette. If you can damage one of those, something is waaay wrong with your usage.

Maelochs

Not sure how one "bends" a cassette through any kind of normal riding.

13ollocks

I imagine if you've bent sprockets through rough shifting, your chain must be in on its last legs - inspect it.

CrimsonEclipse

Checked for "stretch". Still within limits.

No pics, already fixed
The 42T was bent 45 degrees towards the smaller rings.
Put it in a vice and bent it back.

chaadster

Dude, what?!?! That's crazy! I've never heard of such a thing! Cassette made in Nepal out of tin or something...??

veganbikes

Things and stuff, why did that happen?

If you are bending cassette cogs there is something at play here. Microshift cassettes aren't the greatest in the world but they shouldn't bend, the owner of the shop I worked at used Microshift cassettes on his e-bike for years and didn't bend a single one and he did use and abuse his bikes pretty hard. I have to imagine something is up or you really got some super duper cheap cassettes that aren't even MS. However it should be noted many cassettes use lighter aluminum sprockets in the largest gears for weight reduction but even still if you have bent three of them that is a weird one. It could be some really poor shifting or some abuse to the bike of some sort.

A worn chain could damage things but I don't know about bending. I have a feeling something else is up that we are not privy to yet. Generally I recommend when posting about an issue you post as much info as possible to get the best help. Being vague really doesn't help your problem. I know for some technical lingo is not always there and that is fine but leaving out most of the details makes it really tough?

CrimsonEclipse

Steel.

Yeah it threw me too.

The more I think of it, it's likely a combo of a bad shift and less than optimal material.

eh, it's time to upgrade anyway.

chaadster

The quality would have to be uniquely and extremely poor for that to happen...to such an extent I wonder if you didn't bend it by hitting something? However, 3 cassette bending incidents?? That raises a whole lot of suspicion; it just can't be coincidental that you've done something three times which 99.99% of cyclists never do.

Do you have any enemies who'd be looking to sabotage your riding?

terrymorse 

Microsoft cassettes -- don't give that company any ideas. The Zune of bike components?

delbiker1 

Oops, fixed it

13ollocks

I wasn't thinking about chain wear - more chain damage- if you're trashing the sprockets, you're possibly damaging chain side plates at the same time - inspect the chain to ear that it's not damaged an in danger of failing

Maelochs

Who stole my babby bolts??

mpetry912 

ever driven a car with a stick shift ? 3 pedals ?

to drive a manual shift car "well" there's a technique that involves lifting off the gas for a moment as you shift

and of course on downshift, match RPMs as the clutch is released.

there's something similar when you ride a bike. For just a moment you relax the pedal pressure.

when you can pedal a Hewland FG-200 you'll know you have the technique down

"smooth is fast"

/markp

CrimsonEclipse

Achievement!

Different chains different bikes.
Chains are fine upon visual inspection.

No way I could have hit the cassette without severing the derailleur.

Troul 

Grind em' 'til ya find em'!

chaadster

Sure you could have; there’s space between the derailleur cage and the biggest cog. I can imagine dropping…er, slamming… the wheel into a slot where there’s interference with the big cog. I cannot imagine how you could do it— even deliberately— with enough force to bend a cog on the cassette…unless it was a cassette made from tin from the poorest country in Asia.

The “bad shifting technique” storyline makes no sense…nor does any other storyline.

I’m calling BS on the bent cassette. 45°?? No way at all…

Pics or it didn’t happen.

KCT1986

Could there be something really unusual about the set-up or gear combination that is causing the chain to run at a severe angle, outboard at the crank with inboard at the cassette (crosschaining)?

Does the bike have a really short chainstay?
Is the front chainline really diffferent from the rear?
Is the cassette one of those that has the inner sprockets offset severely towards the spokes?
Does the frame have suspension that may affect the angle & force on the chain?

Camilo

Photos please

cyclezen

Rock or Log Strike...
42 is not a usual road cog
common on gravel setup though (std on mtb), and if you ride your gravel bike on the same terrain as I, a rock strike or hooking a log end is quite possible.
the 42 tends to stand out on a typical gravel cassette.

Ride On
Yuri

chaadster

Right…but for the OP to have no idea how it happened other than them going “meathead” while shifting? It seems like nonsense; that would take quite an impact…you’d think the rider would know about it, wouldn’t they?

rsbob 

Got to cut down on that 1000 Watts before you shift. You are just too strong.

Leisesturm

I kid you not, I took a look at a bike for an acquaintance that asked me to when he found out I was a 'bike guy'. The cassette (freewheel?) looked like an Artichoke! Of course the bike was some kind of BSO, but ... an Artichoke. Lo these many years later I can't unsee the sight of that thing. Shifting under load clearly has a price. Not being awful, but if the o.p. even has to wonder if they might be the cause ... ...

CrimsonEclipse

"then I kicked it up to 300 watts...."

I don't remember calling it a road bike....

Just an older MTB. Not a particularly short chainstay.
I just finished a trail, nothing too interesting.
Started a climb on an adjacent paved MUP and noise started.