# Severley stuck cassette lockring



## Jooooon (Nov 4, 2007)

Hello,

I am in the process of trying to change my old worn out cassette for a new one. The problem I now have is removing the lockring that holds the cogs to the hub. The current cassette has been on the bike quite a while and seems to be basically siezed on. I tried to remove it using a wrench and chain whip but all that happens is that it becomes impossible to hold the chainwhip because the lockring isn't moving. I took it to a couple of local bike shops , tried it with a bigger wrench , a vice, and doing it using two people. It still doesn't budge and has now destroyed 2 chain whips!

I wonder if there's any drastic solution that could be used? The only thing I can think is replacing the entire wheel unless I can figure a way to get it off 

Any help appreciated


----------



## Zanetti (Sep 18, 2005)

Are you sure it's a cassette and not a freewheel? 

A last ditch effort would be to remove the axle, then remove the freehub body and cassette together, and then replace both. It would save you from replacing the entire wheel.


----------



## davep (Mar 11, 2005)

Something does not make sense here.....chain whips are seriously beefy tools (at least a shop quality one). The small splines in the lock ring would surely round/strup long before you could do any damage to a quality chain whip.....


----------



## will8250 (Aug 25, 2003)

Here's a trick I used when I was working at the shop for really stuck lockrings. Maybe you've already tried it but might as well throw it out there:

Put the lockring remover face up in a vice and clamp it in the vice. Slide the wheel on there and grab the tire/rim of the wheel and twist counterclockwise. Seems to give me much better results.

EDIT: I just realized I might be thinking about a freewheel. If that's the case, add in the chain whip and have someone hold that steady. Another thing that might help is putting the chain whip on a small cog and overlapping it a bit so the links "bite" into each other. 

Good luck.


----------



## hugh088 (Feb 1, 2004)

Break out the dremel tool and use a grind wheel to cut off most of the flange of the lockring. Try an leave the spline undamaged. Once the flange is removed the amount of friction on the lockring is greatly reduced and you can probably get the threaded part out. Work slowly and get as close to the spline as you can. If you do it right the cassette will come off with the spline still in place but doesn't really do you much good. If that fails bring it to a mechanic shop put the cassette back on and put it in a vise (it's junk anyway) and have them use an impact wrench on the lockring tool if it has a 1/2" or 3/8" drive socket. At this point somethings got to give.


----------



## Jooooon (Nov 4, 2007)

Thanks for the advice, 
I'm pretty sure its a cassette , it's a circa 2004 Deore anyway.
I managed to break both my chain whip (which admittedly was a cheap and nasty one) but managed to rip some links of the bike shop guys workshop one as well!!

I think removing the axle and freehub body might be a good idea, I don't suppose a replacement freehub should be very expensive compared to a wheel.

The only other option I can think is taking my old chain, wrapping it right round the cogs , bracing it against something seriously strong and applying as much brute force as I can muster.

I'm wondering how it managed to get this seriously stuck on in the first place, from now on I'm gonna put some grease in there every so often.


----------



## Wombat (Jan 25, 2004)

This provides good advice, even if it is talking about removing a Rohloff gear:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=250041

Tim


----------

