How to replace my rear wheel?

[dgk]

My new Shimano wheel arrived today, double rim, nice spokes. The
instructions assume that I know what I'm doing but I don't. I do have
a decent tool kit including a chain whip and hopefully a workable Lock
Ring tool, but not the specified TL-LR15 lockring tool.

The wheel is for 8-10 speeds, mine is 7 but I got a spacer, hopefully
the correct one.

So I need to move my 7 speed cassette onto the freewheel body (the
black plastic thing sticking out of the axle). First question. Does
the freewheel body fit my cassette or do I have to remove the FB that
came with the wheel and install the one from my existing wheel? The
instruction seem to imply that I'm going to use a CN-5600 cassette,
but I'm not.

Most of the instructions are in a section titled "Installation of the
HG sprockets". I guess mine will be similar. There are two diagrams,
one for 11T-23T, and the other for both 12T-25T and 12T-27T. Different
gear ratios I guess, but both diagrams show a spacer going on the
freewheel body first. I'm confused because I thought a spacer is only
needed for a 7 speed cassette. Maybe these are different size spacers?
Maybe I use the one I got in addition to whatever my cassette already
has on the current wheel? Or, will my existing cassette already have
the correct sized spacers and the one I got is unneeded? That seems
more likely.

Thanks for any help. I'm looking forward to learning more about bike
maintenance. There's no better way to learn than having to do it.

[Brian Huntley]

dgk wrote:
> So I need to move my 7 speed cassette onto the freewheel body (the
> black plastic thing sticking out of the axle).

I can't help with your main question (and am in fact very interested in
the answers you might get) but am wondering about the word "plastic" in
the sentence above. Are you sure it's plastic? Those black fluted
things your cassette normally slides onto are usually metal - anodized
aluminum or something, I think.

[Mike Jacoubowsky]

> My new Shimano wheel arrived today, double rim, nice spokes. The
> instructions assume that I know what I'm doing but I don't. I do have
> a decent tool kit including a chain whip and hopefully a workable Lock
> Ring tool, but not the specified TL-LR15 lockring tool.

What type of lockring tool is it? Chances are it will work fine, as there
aren't a whole lot of options (Campy or Shimano). And it won't take long to
figure out if it fits... just remove the quick release and see if it slides
in. By the way, what's a "double" rim?

> The wheel is for 8-10 speeds, mine is 7 but I got a spacer, hopefully
> the correct one.

Current wheels will take a 7-speed cassette, providing you have the right
thickness spacer. Some of the newer wheels include a spacer that's required
with a 10-speed cassette; that spacer will be pretty thin, while the
appropriate one to allow a 7-speed cassette to work will be about the same
thickness as the gap between each gear.

Of possibly greater importance is that a bike that originally came with a
7-speed cassette might have a narrower axle width than that used for 8-10
speed wheels. The original standard for 7-speed wheels was 126mm, while the
8-10-speed wheels generally run 130mm, with 135mm in use for hybrids &
touring bikes.

> So I need to move my 7 speed cassette onto the freewheel body (the
> black plastic thing sticking out of the axle). First question. Does
> the freewheel body fit my cassette or do I have to remove the FB that
> came with the wheel and install the one from my existing wheel? The
> instruction seem to imply that I'm going to use a CN-5600 cassette,
> but I'm not.

The only thing you're removing from your old wheel (and installing on the
new one) is the gear set, which might include some spacers between each
gear. You won't be removing the mechanism that has the ratchet assembly
built into it. One you remove the cassette (gears), this will be obvious.

> Most of the instructions are in a section titled "Installation of the
> HG sprockets". I guess mine will be similar. There are two diagrams,
> one for 11T-23T, and the other for both 12T-25T and 12T-27T. Different
> gear ratios I guess, but both diagrams show a spacer going on the
> freewheel body first. I'm confused because I thought a spacer is only
> needed for a 7 speed cassette. Maybe these are different size spacers?
> Maybe I use the one I got in addition to whatever my cassette already
> has on the current wheel? Or, will my existing cassette already have
> the correct sized spacers and the one I got is unneeded? That seems
> more likely.

Since your instructions are for a 10-speed gear set, that spacer you've got
is most-likely the thinner one, made for the 10-speed gear set. You're going
to need a thicker one in order to use your 7-speed gear set.

> Thanks for any help. I'm looking forward to learning more about bike
> maintenance. There's no better way to learn than having to do it.

This is true, and hopefully it will all work out fine, but sometimes you can
save a lot of hassle if you bring the bike into a shop and make sure the
right thing gets ordered, especially when you're talking about older
equipment, which can have a few issues here & there.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

[dgk]

On 13 Dec 2006 20:46:12 -0800, "Brian Huntley"
> wrote:

>
>dgk wrote:
>> So I need to move my 7 speed cassette onto the freewheel body (the
>> black plastic thing sticking out of the axle).
>
>I can't help with your main question (and am in fact very interested in
>the answers you might get) but am wondering about the word "plastic" in
>the sentence above. Are you sure it's plastic? Those black fluted
>things your cassette normally slides onto are usually metal - anodized
>aluminum or something, I think.

Oh, yes, probably aluminum. It just looked like plastic.

[dgk]

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 06:28:07 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
> wrote:

>> My new Shimano wheel arrived today, double rim, nice spokes. The
>> instructions assume that I know what I'm doing but I don't. I do have
>> a decent tool kit including a chain whip and hopefully a workable Lock
>> Ring tool, but not the specified TL-LR15 lockring tool.
>
>What type of lockring tool is it? Chances are it will work fine, as there
>aren't a whole lot of options (Campy or Shimano). And it won't take long to
>figure out if it fits... just remove the quick release and see if it slides
>in. By the way, what's a "double" rim?

The tool came in a kit from Nashbar and looks basically like the one
on the instruction sheet so hopefully it will work. And I guess
"double" rim isn't the correct terminology. All my current wheels have
the rim tape right over the ends of the spokes. On this wheel, a
second band of metal raises the rim tape away from the spoke heads.

>> The wheel is for 8-10 speeds, mine is 7 but I got a spacer, hopefully
>> the correct one.
>
>Current wheels will take a 7-speed cassette, providing you have the right
>thickness spacer. Some of the newer wheels include a spacer that's required
>with a 10-speed cassette; that spacer will be pretty thin, while the
>appropriate one to allow a 7-speed cassette to work will be about the same
>thickness as the gap between each gear.


>Of possibly greater importance is that a bike that originally came with a
>7-speed cassette might have a narrower axle width than that used for 8-10
>speed wheels. The original standard for 7-speed wheels was 126mm, while the
>8-10-speed wheels generally run 130mm, with 135mm in use for hybrids &
>touring bikes.
>
I'll find out I guess. The Sheldon Brown site says that going from 126
to 130 doesn't require a new axle. He's talking about going from 6-7
speed to 8-9, which I'm not doing but perhaps it's the same idea.

>> So I need to move my 7 speed cassette onto the freewheel body (the
>> black plastic thing sticking out of the axle). First question. Does
>> the freewheel body fit my cassette or do I have to remove the FB that
>> came with the wheel and install the one from my existing wheel? The
>> instruction seem to imply that I'm going to use a CN-5600 cassette,
>> but I'm not.
>
>The only thing you're removing from your old wheel (and installing on the
>new one) is the gear set, which might include some spacers between each
>gear. You won't be removing the mechanism that has the ratchet assembly
>built into it. One you remove the cassette (gears), this will be obvious.
>
I was concerned because SheldonBrown.Com points out that the old screw
on type gears were universal, but that the freehub cassette model is
not, so I'm concerned that my cassette may not fit the new freehub
splines.

>> Most of the instructions are in a section titled "Installation of the
>> HG sprockets". I guess mine will be similar. There are two diagrams,
>> one for 11T-23T, and the other for both 12T-25T and 12T-27T. Different
>> gear ratios I guess, but both diagrams show a spacer going on the
>> freewheel body first. I'm confused because I thought a spacer is only
>> needed for a 7 speed cassette. Maybe these are different size spacers?
>> Maybe I use the one I got in addition to whatever my cassette already
>> has on the current wheel? Or, will my existing cassette already have
>> the correct sized spacers and the one I got is unneeded? That seems
>> more likely.
>
>Since your instructions are for a 10-speed gear set, that spacer you've got
>is most-likely the thinner one, made for the 10-speed gear set. You're going
>to need a thicker one in order to use your 7-speed gear set.
>

It didn't come with the wheel, I ordered the spacer that was supposed
to be required to fit a 7 gear cassette; it is about the thickness of
the gap between the gears.

Thanks. The operation is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.