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As the title:
How do you 'confirm' that your cassette requires replacment?
I have a selection of bikes & a selection of wheels that all get mixed around depending on course type / weather conditions and as a result I don't have the 2 chain / 1 cassette routine well organised to get the max out of their potential life.
I have experienced some chain jump on the most used sprockets but visually the cassette doesn't look like it should be scrapped just yet...
If you put a new chain on it and you're getting skipping or jumping and you're [i]sure [/i]the gears are set up right, it's time for a new cassette.
Measure the chain. it's that's stretched and it's been on the bike for a while, then the cassette is likely to be worn to the point where a new chain will just skip. And no, they never really look like it.
Sram [I think] make a tool to check them but - as above - I tend to accept the wear has gone too far when a new chain skips & jumps
But if the old chain is working fine and you're getting no chainsuck... can you just keep the old chain and cassette going?
but if you mix an old chain on a new cassette you risk jump - equally if you mix a new chain with a new cassette you risk jump.
An old chain with an old cassette is ok, as is new with new....
I can measure a chain (with a chain gauge) to confirm if it's worn out but would like something 'quantifiable' before I sling out not so old XTR & 990 cassettes. Whilst they seem to jump with a new chain I expect (from visual inspection) they would be useable if I had a chain with the 'correct' level of wear.
Does that make sense? 😀
when you are going up hill and the chain slips and your "old man" gets a tattering !!
Here you go then
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Rohloff-Rohloff-HG-IG-Check--Sprocket-Wear-Indicator-16439.htm
that looks nothing like my "old man"
Take a look at the sprocket with the chain going over it. With a new chain, the teeth will be touching the chain rollers all the way round. With a very worn chain, only the first one or two will touch. When you start to see a gap after about four or five teeth, it's time to change the chain. This will ensure your cassettes will last 12-18 months or so.
The point of changing your chain early is to preserve cassettes. If the chain jumps then you're already too late.
However, since new chains are not £6 any more, it's debatable whether or not it's worth changing them early, it might be cheaper to just run both into the ground. But if you do change early you can run expensive cassettes and it'll also be lovely and smooth all the time too. I do this on my race bike that a) does few miles and b) has a ti XTR cassette.
However, you can't tell if an old cassette will work with a new chain or not since a new chain will be touching teeth all the way round (the spacing on cassettes doesn't change of course like it does on a chain). The XTR cassette I used to have that had done 18 months looked knackered but still worked fine with new chains. Never worked out exactly what it was that makes them jump.