Home > Bike Gear

How to remove your cassette

It's a bit more complicated than changing your tire, but it still is a basic maintenance skill for cyclists. Removing your cassette is also pretty important for triathletes. Whether you pay someone at your local bike shop to do it or do it yourself, it is a useful skill to learn.

It’s a bit more complicated than changing your tire, but it still is a basic maintenance skill for cyclists. Removing your cassette is also pretty important for triathletes. Whether you pay someone at your local bike shop to do it or do it yourself, it is a useful skill to learn.

Why is it important? It’s important when you are looking to get a good clean of your cassette, getting rid of all that excess grease. By cleaning your cassette, your cassette will go from black to sliver, good as new. It’ll also improve your gear changing. Also, by removing your cassette, you will be able to play with your gear ratios for your next race.

Related: Replacing a cassette and chainrings

What will you need?

  • Lockring tool
  • Sprocket chain whip tool
  • Large adjustable wrench

Here are the nine simple steps to removing your cassette. Also, watch a video by clicking here.

  1. Remove the rear wheel from your bike.
  2. Remove the quick release skewer from your rear wheel. Make sure to keep springs on skewer after.
  3. Select the write lockring tool for your cassette (Campagnolo is different).
  4. Engage the lockring tool into splines/notches.
  5. Put back on the quick release.
  6. Make sure the skewer nut is snug against the remover. The skewer is acting as a holding device for lockring tool.
  7. Taking the sprocket chain whip tool, hold the cogs in a clockwise direction.
  8. Turn the lockring tool counterclockwise, using an adjustable wrench. Expect to hear a loud clicking sound as the teeth separate.
  9. Using the wrench, hold the lockring removal tool tightly with wheel held flat. Use sprocket chain whip tool to turn sprockets counter-clockwise.

As you remove your cassette, put your cogs and spacers on a string. This way you will be able to remember the order of cogs and spacers. This is the time now to clean your cassette and then put back on, or put on a new cassette.