Removing rear cassette off rim

M

meowy84

Member
Looking for some rear wheel gurus for this one. :) Need some info on how to remove the rear cassette off a standard 26" mountain bike rim since I've never done it before so I can grease the axle bearings. I know they screw on/screw off and my local bike shop offered to remove the cassette and put it back on when I'm done for $5 but I like doing things myself of course so if there's a tool for this I'd rather buy so I don't have to run to the bike shop every time I want to dab some grease on the bearings.
 
The Axel bearings should be reachable even with the cassette on simply by removing the axel itself. The cassette can be removed using a special tool set which will cost you a bit more than $5. It doesn't need to be greased very often so I'd just have the bike shop do it if I were you.
 
AslansMonkey said:
The Axel bearings should be reachable even with the cassette on simply by removing the axel itself. The cassette can be removed using a special tool set which will cost you a bit more than $5. It doesn't need to be greased very often so I'd just have the bike shop do it if I were you.
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Not on mine. I already tried. If you remove the axle the bearings and bearing cup don't have enough clearance because of the cassette to actually come out so you can't grease them. You can only grease the bearings on the other side opposite the cassette. I know on a couple of the newer rear wheel designs that I looked at the bearings are accessible from both sides with the cassette on but the wheel I'm using is from an early 90's mountain bike. Also I feel that if the tool is not too expensive (let's say $10-20 range) it will pay for itself 'cause I can use it for my future builds as well.
 
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Ok, I know the type of cassette you're working with then and yeah, it will probably be easier to pull it off to grease the bearings. Check out Sheldon Brown's link on cassette removal tools for freewheel hubs to get an idea on what tool you will need.

It helps to have a vice and a chain whip to tighten and/or loosen the cassette. You can use an old bicycle chain held in a vice grip as a chain whip but I don't think they're that expensive to buy. I bought a $33 bike tool set off e-bay which includes a chain whip and many tools needed for working on bicycles the same time I bought a Park Tool PCS-10 bike stand. The bike stand isn't really useful for working on motorbikes (I bought a 6' folding table which works much better for this) but I have a few motorized bikes I fiddle with too.

Amazon has many chain whips in the $15 range including one that also works as a peddle removal tool.
 
AslansMonkey said:
Ok, I know the type of cassette you're working with then and yeah, it will probably be easier to pull it off to grease the bearings. Check out Sheldon Brown's link on cassette removal tools for freewheel hubs to get an idea on what tool you will need.

It helps to have a vice and a chain whip to tighten and/or loosen the cassette. You can use an old bicycle chain held in a vice grip as a chain whip but I don't think they're that expensive to buy. I bought a $33 bike tool set off e-bay which includes a chain whip and many tools needed for working on bicycles the same time I bought a Park Tool PCS-10 bike stand. The bike stand isn't really useful for working on motorbikes (I bought a 6' folding table which works much better for this) but I have a few motorized bikes I fiddle with too.

Amazon has many chain whips in the $15 range including one that also works as a peddle removal tool.
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Thanks for the link. I'm gonna try reading it after I finish the post since I'm unclear on how the cassette goes on and off. I figure it's threaded on which makes sense so using the chain whip I can unscrew it I'm sure but then I don't see how it would screw back on since the darn thing freewheels. Hopefully after I do some research/reading it will become clear and will also give me a clue as to which tool will work on my cassette.

I'm also considering drilling and tapping the center of the hub for a grease fitting so for future greasings I can just use my grease gun to pump grease in until it starts coming out past the bearing cups. I just don't think I have a drill skinny enough to fit inbetween the spokes.
 
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The chain whip is for holding the cassette in place while turning the nut holding it in. I just don't remember off hand if you do this while taking it off or putting it on. Whichever it is, for the other you just put the freewheel removal tool in a vice and spin the tire.
 
All I know is that it's a 6 gear set up. It could definitely be a threaded freewheel as I'm not 100% up on bike nomenclature yet. I just thought the gear assembly on the rear rim was generically called a cassette. My bad. I'll try to post a pic.
 
Here's the pic of my rear. Sorry for the graininess of the pic but my batteries were dying so I had to hurry taking the pic.
 

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chainmaker said:
Cant tell much from that picture.
Cheers
Chainmaker
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I know, sorry 'bout that. I was able to take only the one pic before the batteries died and by the time I resized it as well to get it to post it lost most of its quality.

Anyhow, I'll go through the links you guys provided and I'm sure I'll figure out which tool I need and how to remove the freewheel.

Thanks again guys.
 
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