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Only one rear Cog clicking.

1446 Views 26 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Barety, Jan 14, 2022

Barety

Discussion Starter · Jan 8, 2022

I was changing out a bent derailleur to a new one. Everything went well until I was fixing the limits and the indexing, which is when I noticed that no matter how much I messed around with the indexing or the limits, the first cog in the back (or the smallest in size) was the only cog out of the entire cassette making clicking noises. I'm not sure what it is, but when I removed the rear wheel, I noticed that the first cog was the only one out of the entire cassette that had play and was moving around. Is this a symptom of the cassette being a little loose and the cause for the clicking, or is it something else that I'm not getting that is making these clicking noises?

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

Sparticus

· #2 · Jan 8, 2022

SRAM cassette by chance?

Both my GF's bikes are SRAM-equipped (GX). Both had the tick-tick-tick thing going in one and only one mid-cassette cog.
Very annoying. Judicious & careful use of a Dremel tool seems to have solved the issue, but sleuthing the offending teeth was a PITA.
Maybe this isn't the same as your problem... I didn't read your post carefully. In any case, best of luck.
=sParty

Barety

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 8, 2022

Sparticus said:
SRAM cassette by chance?

Both my GF's bikes are SRAM-equipped (GX). Both had the tick-tick-tick thing going in one and only one mid-cassette cog.
Very annoying. Judicious & careful use of a Dremel tool seems to have solved the issue, but sleuthing the offending teeth was a PITA.
Maybe this isn't the same as your problem... I didn't read your post carefully. In any case, best of luck.
=sParty

The drivetrain on the bike is an entry-level 7 speed Shimano drivetrain. I don't think the brand has to do with the clicking sound. I'm not sure though.

BicyclesOnMain

· #4 · Jan 8, 2022

Barety said:
The drivetrain on the bike is an entry-level 7 speed Shimano drivetrain. I don't think the brand has to do with the clicking sound. I'm not sure though.

Sounds like your cassette is loose. The others are riveted together.

Reactions: 1

hoolie

· #5 · Jan 8, 2022

Post up some Porn. We love Bike Porn here on MTBR. My guesses would be the small cog not being indexEd properly onto freehub splines or the rest of cogs. Possible worn out chain vs new jockey wheels. Maybe set lower limit screw with shifter cable disconnected. The old “derailleur hanger alignment tool” is such a great tool.

Mountainfrog

· #6 · Jan 8, 2022 (Edited)

Does it have the spacer between the first cog and the cassette? The lock ring will seat the entire assembly if so. Sounds janky.

Barety

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 8, 2022

Mountainfrog said:
Does it have the spacer between the first cog and the first ring? The lock ring will seat the entire assembly if so. Sounds janky.

What do you mean by the "first ring"? Do you mean the lock ring when you say that?

TylerVernon

· #8 · Jan 8, 2022

Did you straighten the hanger?

Barety

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 8, 2022

TylerVernon said:
Did you straighten the hanger?

The hanger is fine, vertically and horizontally. I compared it to a new hanger of the same model and it was the same.

Reactions: 1

Cary

· #10 · Jan 8, 2022

Barety said:
The hanger is fine, vertically and horizontally. I compared it to a new hanger of the same model and it was the same.

Unless you have a derailleur alignment gauge, there is no way of eyeballing to confirm proper alignment. They are not expensive and worth every penny.

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Reactions: 2

Mountainfrog

· #11 · Jan 9, 2022 (Edited)

Barety said:
What do you mean by the "first ring"? Do you mean the lock ring when you say that?

My bad, edited "cassette". There will be a plastic spacer between the first cog which is separate from the cassette cluster. The lock ring will seat the entire assembly but without the plastic spacer then the first ring can float. Lock ring, first cog, spacer, cassette cluster in that order. Is that your cassette assembly, HG50? Unless yours is something different, that's when a photo helps us helping you.

dirtwolf

· #12 · Jan 9, 2022

Sparticus said:
Both my GF's bikes are SRAM-equippe

Are they cool with sharing or are u polygamists?

J.B. Weld

· #13 · Jan 9, 2022

BicyclesOnMain said:
Sounds like your cassette is loose. The others are riveted together.

It's 7-speed so it might be a freewheel.

Barety

Discussion Starter · #14 · Jan 9, 2022

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Barety

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 9, 2022

Mountainfrog said:
My bad, edited "cassette". There will be a plastic spacer between the first cog which is separate from the cassette cluster. The lock ring will seat the entire assembly but without the plastic spacer then the first ring can float. Lock ring, first cog, spacer, cassette cluster in that order. Is that your cassette assembly, HG50? Unless yours is something different, that's when a photo helps us helping you.

I'm not sure if there needs to be a spacer in between the lockring and the first cog. I've seen a few install videos of the cassette I have (Shimano HG20, 12-32, 7 speed) and none of them included a spacer.

J.B. Weld

· #16 · Jan 9, 2022

OK that's a cassette. If the lockring is tight and you can still move the small cog then you need a spacer behind the cassette. There should be zero play on any individual cog.

J.B. Weld

· #17 · Jan 9, 2022

Barety said:
I'm not sure if there needs to be a spacer in between the lockring and the first cog. I've seen a few install videos of the cassette I have (Shimano HG20, 12-32, 7 speed) and none of them included a spacer.

No, a spacer behind the entire cassette.

J.B. Weld

· #18 · Jan 9, 2022

J.B. Weld said:
OK that's a cassette. If the lockring is tight and you can still move the small cog then you need a spacer behind the cassette. There should be zero play on any individual cog.

Pay no attention to this post, that guy ^ is full of garbage 🙃

On second thought realized that if it needed a spacer and the lockring was tight the smallest cog would be tight and the rest of the would be loose. Are you sure the lockring is tight? (~40nm)

Barety

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jan 9, 2022

J.B. Weld said:
Pay no attention to this post, that guy ^ is full of garbage 🙃

On second thought realized that if it needed a spacer and the lockring was tight the smallest cog would be tight and the rest of the would be loose. Are you sure the lockring is tight? (~40nm)

The way this cassette is built is that the first cog is individual from the rest of the cogs that are riveted together. I ordered a cassette lockring tool so that I can check the tightness. But the bike that this wheel is on is pretty old, so I wouldn't be surprised if the lockring managed to get loose overtime.

slomtbr

· #20 · Jan 9, 2022

Barety said:
The hanger is fine, vertically and horizontally. I compared it to a new hanger of the same model and it was the same.

Straight ≠ aligned

1 - 20 of 27 Posts

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