Hello -

It sounds like there are a lot of folks on this thread with the expertise I am looking for so I hope you don't mind if I jump in with a similar question. I am an older Pennsylvania tandem touring rider looking for a custom 9-speed Shimano hyperglide cassette with much closer spacing in the range I ride in mostly. My "dream" cassette is a 15-17-19-21-23-25-27-30-34.

We ride heavily, but I never use anything above the 15 tooth ring, and if I did, my wife would be screaming to slow down so I may as well put the gears where I can use them. Also, on a tandem I can't hear anything way back there anyway, so a little clicking does not bother me at all as long as the shifting performance has a reasonably smooth feel.

I have the following questions:

(1) Any mechanical problem with a 15 tooth top end on a Shimano 9-speed cassette?

(2) If I get the parts, is this something anyone with reasonable mechanical skills (me) can put together without too much trouble?

(3) Are there multiple versions of some sprockets designed with different ramps for transition from different gears (17 to 19 vs, 17 to 20 for example) or are all hyperglide 20 tooth 9-speed sprockets the same?



Thank you all so much!

Don