Sram 11 speed cassette removal disaster, can anyone help?

On attempting to remove the aforementioned device, a mishap has occurred. A nasty crunching sound and a garage floor covered in busted teeth.
The small teeth on the cassette that the removal tool engages with have snapped off, there are only four left.
Has anyone else suffered such a misfortune? Is there another way to remove the cassette? I really don’t think the remaining teeth are strong enough.

Yes. It’s happened to me.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/sram-xd-cassettesfreehubs-heads-up

In a word, you’re buggered. The cassette at least is scrap

You’ll need a new cassette and most probably a new freehub body* as you can’t get the two apart. This has been caused by lack of lubrication on the threads and/or over tightening when fitting.

Plenty of grease and tighten with a torque wrench to 30Nm next time!

* You’ll have to cut the cassette off the freehub body. I set one back to SRAM and they couldn’t get the last big cog off…..

must be worth filing a couple of flats on the lockring; see if a big adjustable will undo it. It’ll only take five minutes

No locking on sram cassette xd free hub set up

sram quality still awfull then!

No locking on sram cassette xd free hub set up

Oh eck; that sounds like a poor design.

Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for that PP.

Sounds like you used the wrong tool. Not all tools go in deep enough. It needs to go in about 10 to 15mm so it fully engaged.

Get the right tool and you still might get it off

C

or maybe pull / remove hub end caps to give you better/deeper engagement if possible

Alt green, where in the UK are you? Will help if I can

C

Is it a Hope Hub??
On them i find you have to remove the axle adaptor 1st, Or it only engages by a few mm

Was it greased? (that’s not an accusatory tone; early ones came ungreased and no doubt loads are fitted that way)

I think SRAM should probably get a bit more info about the tools out… My lifeline is perfect but it seems a lot of them can cause trouble.

I have many cassette tools but for xd cassettes I only use a thin walled one with deep grooves

Sounds like you used the wrong tool.

Not necessarily. See my thread in the link above. I certainly used the right tool.
It’s over tightening if and lack of anti seize that’s the main issue.
The one I did went with a bang, it was way too tight, we think fitted by someone who shall remain nameless who was a bit of an oaf with a spanner…..

Yes it is a Hope hub, I fitted it, it was well greased but I needed to do it up tight to get it to seat correctly on the driver, didn’t seem excessive force tho.
I tried to remove the spacer but it seemed to be held in place by the cassette itself.
Very kind offer Chris, but I am near London.
I will try again tomorrow, using a threaded rod and some nuts to hold it place, might at least be able to save the driver.

Sounds like you used the wrong tool.

Or have the wrong end cap fitted (if Hope) – the 142×12 one had to be redesigned for XX1 otherwise the cassette tool can bottom out on the end cap (which can’t be removed before the cassette) before it is fully in.

I got the right one but subsequently mixed them up, so I too have and XX1 ornament..

@ChrisE,
Where did you find such a tool?

Had another look at it, and am a little cheesed off. I had the wheel in a 135mm drop out with a 10mm through axle. Once the cassette is screwed on it is not possible to remove the spacer. Nor is it possible to get the removal tool more than a few mm’s engaged with the splines.
Thanks for the advice chaps, I will see if I can get a better spacer/tool combo for the future, but for now, over £200 down the drain.
Any advice on spacers and where to get that long splined removal tool gratefully received.

frogstomp – Member

Or have the wrong end cap fitted (if Hope) – the 142×12 one had to be redesigned for XX1 otherwise the cassette tool can bottom out on the end cap (which can’t be removed before the cassette) before it is fully in.

Cassette won’t go on properly in that case – it leaves a 3-4mm gap behind the cassette which is very obvious

So – can anyone recommend a particular cassette tool with decent teeth and engagement that suits XD cassettes (and Hope hubs, mainly)?

My old BBB one has done the job for me up to now, but it’s a cheap tool, and I’d be happy to shell out for a decent one

Park FR-5GT if you have 12mm rear axle

blairc70 – Member
Park FR-5GT if you have 12mm rear axle

I have a mixture of different axles.

The Lezyne one looks good in the pics, anyone used it?

I had a Hope Pro2 Evo (Shimano) Freehub come off with the cassette still attached just by trying to get the End Cap off without undoing the lockring (I eye balled that it would come through ok but I was WRONG!).

I managed to get the lockring off in the end but couldn’t fit the freehub back on the hub without buying the £10 Hope tool to seat the rubber seal back in properly.

If the xD freehub works in the same way a solid pull on the cassette should bring it off in one lump. Pulling the endcap like I did may work too?

You may then be able to cut the cassette off more easily or at worst you’ll have to get a new freehub.

Surely an angle grinder will groove the lockring enough that a sharp tap with a cold chisel will snap it through?

THERE IS NO JEFFING LOCKRING!!!! 🙂

it’s basically a tube that threads onto the FH body in the middle of the cassette. (See my thread for pics) and once you shear the splines of you can’t access that tube to turn it. And you can’t get the cassette off without destroying it. If you’re lucky you’ll save the freehub body. If you’re REALLY lucky there’s enough spline left to try a different tool sonyounwont have to cut it off, but the cassette is still scrap.

gravesendgrunt – Member

or maybe pull / remove hub end caps to give you better/deeper engagement if possible

this man has it, remove the end caps (especially if hope hubs) makes engagement alot deeper, i can see how youve done it, but also it shouldnt be that tight that it wont come off, ie the force shouldnt snap the splines at all, i expect its never had grease on or been left for donkeys through winter without taken off and just seized on more so

Have you tried removing the lockring

SRAM warrantied mine because it had been fitted, from the factory, onto my ROAM 40 wheel without the inner spacer which meant it was possible to overtighten it and in fact the factory/shop did so to stop it wobbling!

I feel very lucky they did waranty it because I’ve heard this is a very common problem.

it’s basically a tube that threads onto the FH body in the middle of the cassette. (See my thread for pics) and once you shear the splines of you can’t access that tube to turn it. And you can’t get the cassette off without destroying it. If you’re lucky you’ll save the freehub body. If you’re REALLY lucky there’s enough spline left to try a different tool sonyounwont have to cut it off, but the cassette is still scrap.

I don’t have one, so this conjecture based purely on looking at the pictures, but if you got the freehub off could you-
-snap/dremel off the remaining splines on the ‘locktube’
-pop the main cassette body off the 42t at the back and slide it off over the no-longer-there splines
-now having access to the lock tube, undo it using a vice, strap or similar
-remove 42t

That should leave you with the freehub and the two bits of the cassette intact no? Given that the locktube surely must be pressed in to the cassette from behind, see if you can get hold of a new one (this may be the problem!), install it and then refit the 42t.

Does that sound possible/reasonable?

I won’t have time to look at it for a while, but I should be able to pull the whole assembly off the freehub and get it on a bench. I don’t think removing the splines will help at all. The splines are used to screw the body of the cassette onto the threaded driver. They just rotate the “tube”. The body of the cassette is tightly screwed on. Also, the sprockets are riveted together, I don’t think it would be possible to separate them. Even if you could it won’t help in removing the main body.
The problem is not with the quality or design of the cassette or driver. It is in the design of the hope spacer. It doesn’t allow for the tool to engage with the splines. It is not possible to remove the spacer without unscrewing the cassette. So once screwed on, it is very difficult, if not impossible to undo it.

When did the hope end cap get modified? I must be lucky – mine comes off okay with the cassette in place, although I didn’t realise I needed to do this at first and nearly did what op did. My wheels are a bit over 2 years old

Also, the sprockets are riveted together, I don’t think it would be possible to separate them. Even if you could it won’t help in removing the main body.

Ah, OK, if they’re all riveted then it won’t work. On the high end ones the 42t comes off like this. I thought if the splines on the lock tube weren’t present anymore you’d be able to slide the rest of the cassette away (the splines hold the tube captive on the cassette, but also the other way round) but alas, not to be.

After reading all this I was dreading swapping Abigales cassette over from her DT Swiss Rovals to the Hope Pro2 Evo on her Sixth Elements tonight. We have a Parks Tool cassette tool and it fitted the Roval witn no problems and came off easy. Plenty of grease on the Hope and with the adapter removed it went straight on. Think I prefer the old type freehubs as they look alot more robust. Thanks for all the tips.

Anyone fancy doing a quick idiots guide to fitting/removing a SRAM xd cassette to a hope hub, just picked up some new wheels and don’t want to chuff it up

Nearly buggered mine the other day removing it in a hurry. From now on I’ll be using a spare axle or qr to lock the tool down on to the splines before trying to loosen.