Hi

I noticed that my SRAM PG950 9-speed cassette is a smidgen loose on my Mavic 317 wheel. I mean barely loose.
Is this normal?


Thanks

You could put a thin spacer behind the cassette to firm it up. I wouldn't want any play. You did tighten to spec I assume...

Could be the freehub, unless you know the problem follow the cassette not the wheel.

I should have added I have another Mavic 117 wheelset with a Shimano HG080 SLX cassette and have the exact amount of play. This setup came with the bike from the LBS and I haven't touched the cassette.

Are you sure the play is in the cassette, i.e. it slides a bit on the freehub body?

The play is more noticeable when angling it side to side, meaning pushing on one side and pulling on the other.

Just to be sure, you could check if the locknut of the cassette says SRAM, etc.
I've got some disassembled Shimano and SRAM cassettes around and when I mix up the locknuts the results are less than stellar. Could it be an LBS mix-up maybe?

Good idea. I checked and all Shimano is Shimano and all SRAM is SRAM.

Can you rock the freehub body without the cassette? Or is it just cassette able to move a bit on the freehub body?

It's just the cassette able to move a bit on the freehub body.

Slight play in the freehub's bearings is normal, unlike the other bearings on a bike they're usually adjusted with internal shims. Play in the cassette itself is not.

I checked the freehub and it's pretty tight.

How much torque is needed for installing a cassette?

According to Park the SRAM recommendation is between 310-350 in lbs.

I'll see if I can tighten it some more...

I think i heard somewhere that Mavic wheels require a spacer before you slide the cassette on. This was the case with my mavic cosmos.

The definitive test for whether there's any play in the cassette/body fit vs the freehub body/hub is to gently pry two sprockets apart with a tire lever, spoon or screwdriver. There shouldn't be any play at all, and the sprockets should be tightly packed under decent compression. Otherwise they'll move a bit under load and beat up the freehub body pretty badly.

It's analogous to a threadless headset, the cassette should extend slightly beyond the freehub body so the lockring compresses it rather than bottoming out against the freehub. If necessary add a spacer behind the cassette to correct the fit. This is commonly required on Mavic hubs.

Many Mavic hubs require a 2 mm Mavic spacer behind the cassette because Mavic cassettes are 2mm wider than Shimano or Sram cassettes.
All cassettes need to be tightened to specs. Loose cogs can damage the freehub splines.

Thanks everyone for your input.