Cassette Question
 

I have a set of Ksyrium Elite wheels that I really like. They have a 10 spd cassette on them and I would rather have less sprockets back there (its not a race bike and I would like to simplify a bit). Any help with these questions would be appreciated...

-I know the ksyrium elite wheels are shimano 9/10 compatable, how about shimano 8 (i've seen yes and no on this when looking around)... if so, do i need any kind of spacers?

-I'd really like to bring it down to 5 or 6 in the back... Is there a way to disassemble my 10spd cassette and remove about half of the sprockets? I believe its an ultegra cassette. I assume I would need spacers of some kind if this is an option. Is there a generic "shimano cassette" spacer, or different for 8spd v. 9/10spd?

-If the idea above about spacing my current cassette doesnt work... Is there any way to get less than 9 (or possibly 8) speed on the back?

thanks again for any help

You should be able to slide a 9-speed cassette onto the hub. You'll need one of these gadgets though as I'm assuming you have 10-speed shifters, and they won't "just work" with a 9-speed cassette.

I don't know what you could do to get to even fewer gears on your cassette. You're going to find that most of the cassette cogs are riveted together, so they don't come apart all that easily. I think you'd have to dismantle a 9-speed cassette, keep the spacing the same, and use spacers to fill in the extra space behind the cassette. Fiddle with the limit adjustment screws and it might work. You're going to wind up with some good-sized tooth jumps between gears; I'm not sure how well modern derailleurs will handle that, as the little pins and ramps that help the shift occur won't be in the expected positions. You'll still have a lot of unused clicks on your shifters.

You can look on www.bikeparts.com for all kinds of spacers -- if it exists, they have it.

Why do you want to do this? It seems like a lot of trouble.

Thanks for all the info...

The problem is that I don't have 10spd shifters so they currently wont work with all the gears. I bought the wheels knowing this, but got a great deal on them so there seemed to be no comparison between paying the same price for these with a 10 spd cassette already attached or getting much cheaper wheels that work with smaller cassettes.

They work fine with my current shifters but wont get the chain onto the biggest rear sprocket. I can always just ride them, not worry about shifting to the biggest sprocket and use it as a 9spd cassette, which is probably the easiest way to go about it. I was just wondering if there was an easy way to modify them so that I didnt have the extra sprocket that I cant use.

Yes, an 8-speed cassette will probably fit the hub but the spacing of the cogs needs to match your shifters if indexed. What kind of shifters do you have, how many speeds, indexed or friction?

Al

friction shifters so i'm not worried about the spacing matching up. i just took apart my cassette and i think i have it figured out. thanks for the help!