How do I remove a cassette without use of nuclear weapons?
 

I have this 7 speed cassette. I have a freewheel remover hexnut tool. I have a really big freaking wrench.

But it won't come off.

The bike it was on wasn't used for more than a year and didn't spend much time on the low gear so I wasn't expecting it to be as obscenely tight as this. Just to make sure I'm not messing this up, I was pulling counter-clockwise with the cassette facing me.

I don't have a vise to mount it onto and make this whole thing easier and 12" of wrench is all the leverage I have. Should I be able to do this without anything more specialized?

Any cool labor-saving tips would help too!

Here a link to a nice video
http://bicycletutor.com/replace-cassette-cluster/

If we are talking about a freewheel, and not a cassette (a freewheel screws on to the hub - while a cassette drops down on to the hub and is held in place by a lockring), You could try using a "cheater-bar" - a long length of pipe that fits over the handle of the wrench. This gives you more leverage to apply to the recalcitrant freewheel.

Some mechanics have been known to stand on the wrench to apply more force - but this can cause damage.

Good Luck!

If the 12" wrench isn't giving you enough leverage, get a bigger wrench or as suggesed, a pipe to fit on the end of you current wrench. Freewheels can be very tight. I have an 18" breaker bar that usually gets that duty.

If you are having trouble holding onto the wheel while applying all of that leverage, enlist a helper to steady the wheel for you. Mounting a tire on the wheel will also help as your helper will only need to push down on the wheel and let the tire's grip do the counterholding while you wrench on the freewheel.

If none of that works, find a vice and someone bigger than you to apply to force.

Since no one else has commented, counterclockwise is the correct direction to turn the freewheel.

That's the method I use when my 24 inch, ratchet torque wrench can't cut it. Most reluctant freewheels come off but I also add a tire with some air in the tube as was mentioned before.

Step away from the HALIBURTON CASE.

(LOL)

Regards,
J T

If it is a freehweel (not a cassette) then the most effective way is to mount the remover tool in a sturdy vise with the splines completely exposed above the jaws, fit the wheel onto the tool to engage the splines, and turn the wheel like a bus driver turning left.

Some areas of caution:
1. This won't work on a caseette.
2. If it is not a 'splined' tool (it is a two-prong or four prong) you have to hold the tool in place with the axle nut or quick release, and you have to be mighty careful not to strip out the tool or your hub - and that makes thing much more difficult
3. the vise must be very sturdily mounted or you will rip it off the workbench.

Hmm ok, I'll look into a suitable pipe.

I did find a cheap vise in the garage but trying to turn the wheel just made the removal tool cut into the wood and spin around. Then I tried reinforcing the two sides of the vise with metal but the pieces just flew off :(

These freewheel threads were definitely forged in the fires of hell.

I've never needed more than 12" wrench. Just aim the wheel into a wall so that the direction of loosening the freewheel will drive the wheel into the wall. Then hold one hand on the wheel to keep it vertical, place the other hand on the wall to steady yourself and just stand on the wrench. I may have to give a slight hop, but anyone over 150-lbs should be able to break the freewheel free with their weight.

Danno, I could kiss you. It took a few minutes and a few bruises, but it worked! Yay!!!!

Sounds like removing freewheels is becoming a lost art. I always used to do it the way danno said too. And always put the skewer through the remover because the darn things will slip out on you every time.

no one mentioned a chain-whip (did they?). Isn't that a necessary step? I've got a few old rear wheels to be junked. I want to take off the freewheels first, to add to my parts box.

Find a vise before you completely bugger up the tool and/or freewheel. This is the best way to do it right as you will get enough even leverage on two sides and have much more control. I use cassettes now but I was a wrench in HS and College and removed hundreds of the puppies.

Good luck

Chainwhips are only needed to hold the cogs steady while loosening the lockring on cassettes. Freewheels just need the removing-tool and that's it.

Hey Danno? You are being kissed! :lol:

Ok, that is cool

Somehow I've never thought about "rendering into plasma" as a synonym for disassembly before....:D

I can think of a slogan: "removes the problem and everything else within an x yards radius"...

Just fire it straight up. You'll find out if there really is a God.

Cool! Was that these things?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khyZI3RK2lE

Another freewheel removal technique I've read about here is the "bus driver". You need a freewheel tool and a vise. Flip the wheel over so that you can tighten the tool securely in the vise. Then, pretend you are a bus driver making a left turn.

Worked for me.

If the vice isn't bolted down into cement - you'll be doing a Bus Does 360's Off A Cliff.

Danno's method does work. I was just reluctant to fully suggest it in case the person busted the freewheel. Or their ankle.

Tally Ho! Take 'dat ya doity freewheel!

I busted a vise performing that maneuver.

I found something that makes freewheel removal really easy - one of these:
http://www.nashbar.com/webapp/wcs/st...1_11501__11501

plus a freewheel tool

plus a staircase.

I stand at the bottom of the stairs. The wrench holds the freewheel tool securely so I can put the wrench and tool together into the freewheel. I then put the handle of the wrench on the bottom step, facing down and to the left. The wheel is between me and the wrench. I then push down on the wheel. I have not found one yet that doesn't come off like butter. And no wrench handle bruises or leverage bars. just make sure the tire is mounted and reasonably inflated - and the previous suggestion about putting the QR or wheel bolt on (not too tightly) is essential!

Well I did use a chainwhip to get my cassette's lockring off. But it was a tool I bought in the 70s, before cassettes even existed. And for whatever reason, I bought two, so I must have thought it took two. That (the 70's) is way beyond my working memory, btw. I know I've used it on freewheels before.

Yes - you'd need two chain-whips for overhauling a freewheel. Something you obviously never did. Or you blocked the traumatic incident from your memory. You'd surely, otherwise, remember this accursed incident as your skin would crawl and you'd develop a migraine headache!

That is to say: Overhauling a freewheel is about the worst mechanical task in all of bicycle-mechanics. People would still be falling down in your shop area as there would be loose 1/8th inch ball-bearings everywhere. :eek: :D :eek: