Got everything sorted on the above – but started getting useless changes again. Interestingly, for the second time in as many weeks the cassette feels loose on the free body.
I have whipped the wheel off – but the retaining ring is torqued up tight. But all the cogs move a bit back and forth. Is this normal?
It would seem like the free body itself is worn – I have just tried two other old cassettes on the same free body with the same effect.
1) do all cassettes have rotational play ( I think not)
2) is free body wear a good conclusion (just before I go off and buy an new one)
Thanks

1) No
2) Yes

Next – but linked question. I have a SRAM XD driver free hub body. Can I use a Shimano rear derailleur with a SRAM cassette (10-50) or will I die?
Just considering options …

As long as the speeds match you can use Shimano mech with SRAM cassette.

Last question. Hope do steel freebodies. I am kind of large . Is it worth the premium over the alloy one – or not really any benefit?
The alloy ones to wear and mark like buggery …

Steel is real. Alloy ones chew up and when you want to remove your cassette it pulls off the free wheel and deposits all the tiny ratchet bits all over the floor.

EVERY BLOODY TIME!

Zippy …
So not just me then !

Not sure a worn freehub would cause what you’re seeing. The lock ring should clamp the cassette firmly against the flange at the back of the freehub body and stop any play, so short of stripping the threads for the lockring, I’m not sure what could wear.

Only things I can thing of:

1. You’re missing a spacer so the lockring is bottoming out before it clamps. 11 speed MTB cassette on 11 speed road freehub?

2. The splines on the freehub are chewed up, and one of the smaller sprockets is catching on a burr as you do it up.

3. Lock ring not tight enough. 40nm is quite a lot – about 16kg on a 25cm tool.

What model Sunrace cassette?

Not sure what model SunRace – Mx 5? 11-50
The spacer is there
It was torqued up a much as I physically dared.
It was wobbling last week – did all the things you say- and it seemed . But now it wobbles.
Oddly the smallest cog is completely firm – the bigger cogs are on two separate spiders – these wobble, on the splines by maybe a Degree or so.
Will have another play tomorrow – but certainly splines and spider are not a tight fit. And it is not a tight fit on any of the three other cassettes I tried.
So odd ….

How thick is the spacer?

The smallest sprocket sits on the end of freehub, rather than sliding over it, so if your cassette is too narrow for the hub, you’ll get what you describe.

Apologies for asking, but is the smallest sprocket definitely lined up correctly when you put it on? i.e. with the big spline slotting into the big gap on the freehub? If you don’t do this, I’d expect to see exactly what you’re seeing.

Otherwise I’d try sticking another spacer on and seeing if that solves it (make sure you still get a good few turns of lockring thread engagement).

It sounds like you need another spacer, or perhaps a slightly thicker one than your current one.

It does sound like the lock ring has bottomed out on its mounting threads, or as noted above, the little gear isn’t quite located right.

The cassette should be clamped tight regardless of spline wwar/indents on the freehub.

So it’s a hope hub? If it’s a pro 4 or pro 2 Evo 40t these freehubs fit 11s road cassettes. If you don’t have the extra space in place before the cassette then it will be loose. The fact 3 cassettes do the same thing points to this.

Quick fix ?

I lost my hope spacer whilst waiting for a wheel build and ended up using a couple of Thin BB spacers of different widths (came to 4mm-ish I think)
That was about 9mnths ago with no issues so far.

Pro4 + full xt drive train.

As an update to my report above that 3 rd gear was always a problem, my bike has just been to a local tech. He spent longer than I think most shops would have spent on the shifting issue – he’s a newly setup Bike tech, so he probably seeking to build a reputation. Anyway – he tried everything and couldn’t solve the issue. Last thing he tried was changing the mech itself. Voilà – issue solved.

I’ve been shifting for no reason at times on my last two rides. Just for the joy of it!

Édit: sorry if this is an irritating post for anyone who hasn’t get their shifting issues sorted yet.

As an update to my report above that 3 rd gear was always a problem, my bike has just been to a local tech. He spent longer than I think most shops would have spent on the shifting issue – he’s a newly setup Bike tech, so he probably seeking to build a reputation. Anyway – he tried everything and couldn’t solve the issue. Last thing he tried was changing the mech itself. Voilà – issue solved.

I’ve been shifting for no reason at times on my last two rides. Just for the joy of it!

Still a SLX or XT mech or changed to the 5100 mech?

It’s a replacement XT mech, just like the one before.

I’ve had a number of Shimano cassettes lately that moved slightly even with the lockring tight. My solution was to take the small silver washer from a spare lockring and put it on the new one so there’s two. Took up just enough space to hold it tight.

Changing the dérailleur stopped the cassette wobbling? Is unlikely…