what makes a cassette better than a freewheel?
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,116
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 21 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 13 Times
in
10 Posts
what makes a cassette better than a freewheel?
I'm not in a situation of money to do an upgrade without selling some of my vintage goods. I have no issues of spacing my vintage frame to 130mm...
I'm just wondering what the main advantage of a cassette is. Right now it seems higher quality vintage freewheels are starting to reach the price of new modern cassettes.
what is the mechanical advantage of a cassette to a freewheel? How about weight...?
The reason I ask is because in order to finance a modern set of cassette wheels I will have to sell a pair of NOS campy freewheel hubs. I'm not so attached to them but they were a nice gift.
I'm just wondering what the main advantage of a cassette is. Right now it seems higher quality vintage freewheels are starting to reach the price of new modern cassettes.
what is the mechanical advantage of a cassette to a freewheel? How about weight...?
The reason I ask is because in order to finance a modern set of cassette wheels I will have to sell a pair of NOS campy freewheel hubs. I'm not so attached to them but they were a nice gift.
#2
Low car diet
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Corvallis, OR, USA
Posts: 2,407
Bikes: 2006 Windsor Dover w/105, 2007 GT Avalanche w/XT, 1995 Trek 820 setup for touring, 201? Yeah single-speed folder, 199? Huffy tandem.
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
The main advantage is that the drive side bearing can be spaced further from the non-drive side, which puts less stress on the axle and lessens the chance of breakage. Edit: This is not as big of a concern on older road bikes, partly because the axles are shorter on 120 or 126mm spaced frames and the freewheel stack is smaller.
https://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#advantages
https://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html#advantages
#5
Healthy and active
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Caldwell, Idaho USA
Posts: 887
Bikes: mid-60's Dunelt 10-speed, Specialized Allez Sport Tripple, Trek 7.2 FX
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
With the removal of a simple retaining ring, the entire cassette slides off of its splines and can be cleaned in a solvent in just a few minutes. All of this is possible without any worries about the solvent getting into the bearings or dribbling onto the rubber tire or the finish of the spokes and the wheel.
#6
Senior Member
With the removal of a simple retaining ring, the entire cassette slides off of its splines and can be cleaned in a solvent in just a few minutes. All of this is possible without any worries about the solvent getting into the bearings or dribbling onto the rubber tire or the finish of the spokes and the wheel.
And you have to have a chain whip to remove the "simple retaining ring", right?
- Mark
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Hemet,California
Posts: 621
Bikes: Giant OCR2, Motobecane Fantom Trail, Specialized Hard Rock, Giant Nutra
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Yes, removal is the best way to clean a cassette. Chain whip and cassette removal tool. Really an easy job.
#8
Healthy and active
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Caldwell, Idaho USA
Posts: 887
Bikes: mid-60's Dunelt 10-speed, Specialized Allez Sport Tripple, Trek 7.2 FX
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
If you have ever tried to clean grit and gunk out of a freewheel while it is mounted on the wheel, sliding the cassette off of the splines and putting it into a bucket of solvent is s-o e-a-sy by comparison.
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: St Peters, Missouri
Posts: 30,225
Bikes: Catrike 559 I own some others but they don't get ridden very much.
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1572 Post(s)
Liked 643 Times
in
364 Posts
Not to worry, Mark, it won't let you misalign the cogs when you put them on the cassette body. They'll only go on the right way.
#11
Really Old Senior Member
#12
Healthy and active
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Caldwell, Idaho USA
Posts: 887
Bikes: mid-60's Dunelt 10-speed, Specialized Allez Sport Tripple, Trek 7.2 FX
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
My Shimano 9-speed cassette has most of the sprockets and spacers rivetted together so they cannot come apart. I did work on my wife's X-mart bike and its sprockets and spacers were loose.
#13
Senior Member
I've found some nasty old unmaintained bikes in the last 3-4 years, and have yet to find a seized freewheel? Guess I'm lucky, eh? Some are tighter than others, of course. That's a given.,,,,BD
__________________
So many bikes, so little dime.
So many bikes, so little dime.
#15
Senior Member
Well, if it was that common I would've found at least one by now? Right? Would you have gotten this upset if I hadn't quoted your post? Just my experience, that's all. Grow some skin, it was not a personal attack just because I quoted your post.,,,,,BD
__________________
So many bikes, so little dime.
So many bikes, so little dime.
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Beaufort, South Carolina, USA and surrounding islands.
Posts: 8,521
Bikes: Cannondale R500, Motobecane Messenger
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
Bikedued, you live in Texas. Y'all don't put salt down on the roads in the winter for snow and ice. operator lives in Toronto, Ontario, which is in Canada. Canada is an Inuit word for "10 month winter". They routinely apply salt to the roads to deal with ice. Ice forms when water freezes, and Houston doesn't get prolonged periods of sub freezing tempatures. Neither does the Sea Islands here in South Carolina where I live.
If I have a seized freewheel, the bike probably came from up North and belongs to a retiree or a snowbird. I can also pull a freewheel off a rusted old Schwinn with ease that belongs to a local bum that has always lived, in poverty, here. Why? We don't salt roads at all.
If I have a seized freewheel, the bike probably came from up North and belongs to a retiree or a snowbird. I can also pull a freewheel off a rusted old Schwinn with ease that belongs to a local bum that has always lived, in poverty, here. Why? We don't salt roads at all.
#17
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 33,656
Bikes: '96 Litespeed Catalyst, '05 Litespeed Firenze, '06 Litespeed Tuscany, '20 Surly Midnight Special, All are 3x10. It is hilly around here!
Mentioned: 39 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2026 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,096 Times
in
742 Posts
Not to throw any more gasoline on this fire but I've run into cassette lockrings that were frozen on so tight the chain whip broke without removing them. The same conditions as those that seize freewheel threads, salt and winter roads, were responsible.
Back to the original question, the chief advantage of cassette hubs over freewheel hubs is the fact that the drive side bearings can be placed much closer to the dropout which greatly reduces the length of unsupported axle. They made 8/9 and 10-speed hubs reliable.
BTW, Campy freehubs do not have the drive side bearings that far outboard (Shimano patent IIRC) but their freehub body has a larger hole through it than a freewheel which allows Campy to use a much larger diameter and stronger axle.
Back to the original question, the chief advantage of cassette hubs over freewheel hubs is the fact that the drive side bearings can be placed much closer to the dropout which greatly reduces the length of unsupported axle. They made 8/9 and 10-speed hubs reliable.
BTW, Campy freehubs do not have the drive side bearings that far outboard (Shimano patent IIRC) but their freehub body has a larger hole through it than a freewheel which allows Campy to use a much larger diameter and stronger axle.
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: St Peters, Missouri
Posts: 30,225
Bikes: Catrike 559 I own some others but they don't get ridden very much.
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1572 Post(s)
Liked 643 Times
in
364 Posts
It depends on how much they've been ridden. Every time that you ride a freewheel bike up a hill it tightens the freewheel a tiny bit more. Sometimes getting one off can be an adventure.
#20
Senior Member
Yes, I live in Texas. I'm also abought 50-60 miles from the ocean. Bare metal begins to rust in a few hours
on a dry day. Not as much as road salt, but there's still salt in the air when a strong South wind is coming off the gulf.,,,,BD
It's pretty flat here though, so that would account for some of the looseness as well.
on a dry day. Not as much as road salt, but there's still salt in the air when a strong South wind is coming off the gulf.,,,,BD
It's pretty flat here though, so that would account for some of the looseness as well.
__________________
So many bikes, so little dime.
So many bikes, so little dime.
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Pinole, CA, USA
Posts: 17,392
Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 443 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 27 Times
in
25 Posts
I've never encountered a freewheel that I couldn't remove fairly easily, but I've only been working on bikes since the '60s.
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: St Peters, Missouri
Posts: 30,225
Bikes: Catrike 559 I own some others but they don't get ridden very much.
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1572 Post(s)
Liked 643 Times
in
364 Posts
I can remember chucking a freewheel remover into a vice and it taking two guys working pretty hard to bust it loose. Either the people in your part of the country are lots stronger than us midwesteners or you're all wimps not to be able to pedal the freewheel on so tightly.
#23
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Pinole, CA, USA
Posts: 17,392
Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 443 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 27 Times
in
25 Posts
I can remember chucking a freewheel remover into a vice and it taking two guys working pretty hard to bust it loose. Either the people in your part of the country are lots stronger than us midwesteners or you're all wimps not to be able to pedal the freewheel on so tightly.