Bicycle Mechanics - How tight do I tighten the lock ring?

I'm putting a new cassette on my wheels but I'm not sure how tight to tighten the lock ring. It is a 9 speed Shimano Ultegra cassette. I'm afraid to over tighten it. Advice appreciated. Thanks.

If you have the correct tool to tighten it, I wouldn't worry. Tighten it until it's tight and then snug it a bit. But you shouldn't be overly muscling it in. Standard is 22 ft.-lbs of torque, I think, but there's a fair bit of leeway as to what will work here.
To remove the lockring, you'll need the lockring tool plus a chain whip, which you can pick up at a lot of places.

[QUOTE=timcupery] ...Standard is 22 ft.-lbs of torque... [QUOTE]

Timcupery is correct. The Shimano spec is 30-50 Nm, which converts to approximately 22-36 ft.lbs.

There are tons of technical documents (in pdf form) on Shimano's website. They can be accessed by clicking on the "Technical" tab near the top, and then selecting "Technical Documents" from the menu.
http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/global/techdocs/browse.jsp?ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181419&bmUID=1133397482475

Park tools also has an article on torque specs and concepts, complete with a table of bicycle torque specs.
http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=88

Can over-tightening it cause the wheel to not spin as well? The reason I ask is because I've got everything set up on my new wheels and the back wheel does not spin that well at all. It's almost as if the breaks are rubbing, but they aren't.

Can over-tightening it cause the wheel to not spin as well? The reason I ask is because I've got everything set up on my new wheels and the back wheel does not spin that well at all. It's almost as if the breaks are rubbing, but they aren't.
No, over-tightening the cassette lockring won't cause your rear wheel to gum up. The lockring screws into the outer part of the freehub body, and to my knowledge shouldn't affect the wheel bearings or the freehub bearings.

Have you tried to isolate where the wheel isn't turning well? As in, it is the rear axle that's tight in the hub? Or are the bearings in the freehub body bad/tight (so when you spin the cogs backwards, you get resistance)? Or is the wheel out of true and rubbing against your frame? Etc. This would be helpful info for us as well as you.

I've never used a torque wrench, and I've never had a problem with a cassette lockring. I'd not worry. Maybe if it was a carbon cassette :rolleyes:

To the guy whose wheel wont spin: adjust your hub!

No, over-tightening the cassette lockring won't cause your rear wheel to gum up. The lockring screws into the outer part of the freehub body, and to my knowledge shouldn't affect the wheel bearings or the freehub bearings.

Have you tried to isolate where the wheel isn't turning well? As in, it is the rear axle that's tight in the hub? Or are the bearings in the freehub body bad/tight (so when you spin the cogs backwards, you get resistance)? Or is the wheel out of true and rubbing against your frame? Etc. This would be helpful info for us as well as you.

It is a brand new wheel. The resistance is in the hub somewhere but I'm not sure how to determine where.

I took the wheel off the bike for closer inspection. While spinning the wheel by hand it turns just fine until I hold the cassette still. It appears the freewheel hub is encountering resistance from rubbing against the wheel hub.

Is this something caused by the cassette or is it part of the wheel build?

Is it something I can fix?

So, basically, the cassette doesn't like to spin backwards, right? Does it have this problem both when the lockring is tightened and when they're not?
Freehub bodies have their own bearings, and it's possible that those are gummed up. I've never had to service one and recently I had a rear rim crack, so I bought a new wheel and overhauled the hub (the "regular" wheel bearings); I'm giong to use it to build a new wheel eventually. The freehub bearings are still perfect.
If you only have the problem when the lockring is tight, it may be that the cogs are interfering with the wheel. Your cassette hub isn't 7-speed, it it? Those were narrower, but I've never tried to put an 8/9/10 speed cassette on a 7-speed freehub, so I don't know
(a) if it's possible
(b) if it would cause this problem if it were possible
But it's an idea.

yeah, he has a 9-spd ultegra cassette.

nash, you don't have a "freewheel hub". that's old terminology for an older style of hub, and you don't have that. you have a "freehub".

your freehub may be SOL. take off the cassette and play with it, see if it turns easily. take it to your bike shop and tell them there's a problem with the freehub.

as for the tightness of the cassette, you only need to put it on so it's snug. no need for tightness; these things tighten themselves.

sd

edit: ehre's sheldon brown's: http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

Wheels are 8-9 speed compatible.....Korso wheels. I'll take off the cassette tonight and see how it spins without it on there.

Question is.....if the freehub is gummed up is this something that I can fix? Is it something that is just due to the fact that its a new wheel and it will work itself loose?

Thanks for the feedback Shaq-d and Timcupery. I'll go to the LBS if necessary, but I'd like to fix this myself and learn something new, while at the same time, not ruin my wheels.

Wheels are 8-9 speed compatible.....Korso wheels. I'll take off the cassette tonight and see how it spins without it on there.

Question is.....if the freehub is gummed up is this something that I can fix? Is it something that is just due to the fact that its a new wheel and it will work itself loose?

Thanks for the feedback Shaq-d and Timcupery. I'll go to the LBS if necessary, but I'd like to fix this myself and learn something new, while at the same time, not ruin my wheels.

New wheels can be like that. Even the expensive hubs can take some time to "break in". Ride it 1000 miles, then decide if you have a problem.

Al

Yeah, sometimes it's just that new bearings, including those in freehubs, are packed with very thick grease. Durable stuff, and it'll smooth out over time as Al1943 said. Question is, when you turn the freehub, is the resistance constant? Then it's probably just thick grease that will break in with time. But if spinning the freehub encounters inconsistent resistance (feels "bumpy" to turn), then you've likely got some problems.

If it turns out that the freehub body is bad, you can replace just the freehub body without messing with anything else on the wheel (except you'll need to overhaul the hub - axle needs to be out for you to get a big allen wrench in to unscrew the freehub from the main hub body).

I think it is probably just a case of new grease. The resistance is consistant throughout the rotation. Thanks for all the help.

Now if I can just get the new rear tire on without pinching another tube. :mad: