Originally Posted by
CoachDirty
Looking at the link that Mr. Beanz provided, it appears that my rear cassette is a SRAM. Would it be smart/easy to just use that brand again, or does that really matter (hope I'm not opening up a bag of worms with that question) Or maybe it would just be easier to use the brand my LBS prefers?
SRAM and Shimano cassettes are compatible. There are a number of other companies that sell cassettes that you also could use. For your purposes, you'll be fine if you get whatever costs less.
You can keep the old cassette in a plastic bag since there could be some circumstance in the future when you'd want it again.