I know my bike's rear cassette needs replacing, but before I do that, is it feasible to dismantle the 8 sprockets to reverse their spin? Can you increase the lifespan of a cassette by letting the cogs wear and tear the other way?
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1After you solve your problem, don't forget to replace the chain when it's time, otherwise you will ruin other cassettes.– heltonbikerCommented Aug 15, 2012 at 13:34
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3seems like way more work than its worth. A cheap cassette is like $35.– Matt AdamsCommented Aug 15, 2012 at 14:18
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2tooth/teeth - the projections that fit into a chain. Cog - the round thing with all the teeth. Cassette - a group of cogs. ;-)– JohnPCommented Aug 15, 2012 at 15:21
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If you know you need to replace the cassette then you'll probably need to replace your chain too. They tend to wear down as a unit. If it was possible to do what you want, flip all the cogs, then you'd have a nice new tooth on each cog that probably will have issue working with your old chain. In short, swap out the cassette for new and see how your chain works under load on the smallest cogs. If you have no slippage then great - go on with your life. If you do have slippage get a new chain too.– Chef FlambeCommented Aug 20, 2012 at 19:18
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4 Answers
Assuming you have Shimano-compatiple Hyperglide cogs: No, you can't. The cassette body is not symmetric, the cassette fits in only one position. You could resort to adapt the cogs with a file, though. But shifting will be problematic at least, the cogs have certain indents to make shifting smoother.
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3I have had success with disassembling the cogs and reshaping their worn teeth profile with a file. A lot of work, though, I only recommend it if you like to tinker and think this could be an interesting challenge. In case you succeed, this really works, and you can use the cassette with no restrictions. Commented Aug 15, 2012 at 13:33
The problem is that any rear cluster designed for indexed shifting has directional cogs. There are ramps embossed on the sides of the cogs to catch the chain pins and lever the chain up to the next larger cog when the chain is shifted. If you somehow reverse the cogs these ramps will be on the wrong side of the cogs and will be running the wrong direction.
answered Aug 15, 2012 at 16:38
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The other problem would be that the sprockets wouldn't fit onto the freehub the other way around.– HollowayCommented Sep 19, 2014 at 15:25
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Yes you can, at least with some old cassettes.
I have done this myself on a old racing bike from the 80s and it worked like a charm. Disassembling the cassette was a pain though... and I accidentally broke one of the plastic spacers so I replaced that with some copper ring I had lying around.
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1Yeah, this is dependent on old cassettes. 1980s bikes had non-indexed gears, which didn't have the ramps and asymmetries that modern indexed cassettes have. Welcome to the site! Do have a look at the tour to see how the place works. Hope to see you again soon. :-) Commented Jan 23, 2017 at 22:44
Yes, this is possible,I have done this on a modern 9-speed cassette. You do have to knock the pins out of the cassette which hold it together and file down the small index slot on each Cog to reverse the Cog on the cassette and it will work. This takes me about 1 hour. I do this to my new cassettes so I am ready to flip the cogs when needed.You will need a new chain to match the new surface of the teeth on the reverse cogs. The shifting ramps do not matter, I do not even notice the difference. Since you are knocking the pins out of the cassette which hold it together the torque from pedaling goes on a single cog. It is a good idea to have a steel hub body and really tightened down the tightening ring on the cassette. In doing this I have no wear marks on my Hub body. I am able to sufficiently tighten and loosen the cassette with my little touring travel tool. No need to carry a chain wrench and cassette removal tool. It is also possible to reverse the chain Rings up front too. Go with all Steel chainrings. Get rings which are not recessed on one side for the screws that hold them together, then when you flip them the spacing between the chain Rings will not change . You can get steel chainrings from China for $4 each,the quality of the steel is good.I have found I can get roughly 6,000 to 6500 miles on a drivetrain before the chain starts slipping. By using two chains and swapping them in and out every Thousand Miles I can get two thousand more miles out of the drivetrain thus bringing the drivetrain up to 8000, 8500 miles. By using three chains I can bring the drivetrain up to around 10,000 miles.Then flip all the cogs and chain rings and start over. Another strategy is to take a cassette apart and get rid of the spacers then only carry the cogs. You do not even need all of them since you typically just wear out three or four. This is my drivetrain strategy for touring.
