Originally Posted by
Benwildflower
Hey all,
I recently bought a bicycle that I took to be higher end for an Indian brand. I use it for daily commuting 20km round trip and for riding around just for fun. In the 3 weeks I've owned it I've done about 550km total, on a mix of paved and dirt roads.
The smallest cog on the shimano 8 speed cassette is already visibly damaged. It goes ca-clunk when I pedal really hard/accelerate/stand on the pedals in the highest gear. I generally ride in a high gear. I don't want to just replace the cassette if I don't have an explanation for why this one wore out so fast. I've owned other bicycles in other countries, have always ridden almost exclusively in the highest gear and never run into this problem before.
Any ideas?
If you only care to ride in one gear, why not get a single-speed bike and make it official? With no extra slack chain for the derailleur, you won't have to worry about skipping anymore.
The smallest cog of most cassettes these days is an 11 or 12. That forces the chain to bend at a tight angle around it, and that wears out the chain (and that cog) faster than if you spread out the wear among the other cogs.