[Mighty Drop Off]

I noticed a lot of noise from my drivertrain and some weird pinging noises today whenever I hit a bump. I stopped and checked the bike once, didn't notice anything strange. Got annoyed and stopped again later to find that my cassette was loose as hell. Didn't have a lockring tool with me (who carries one of those on a ride) but got it tightened pretty well with my fingers. Sure seemed like a rare and strange problem to have out on the trail.

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

I wouldn't carry one (cassette tool) on the trail generally, but there are ways to compensate if you really need to on the trail. Better yet, know that everything on your bike is in proper adjustment and torqued down to spec and this kind of thing rarely comes up....

 

[@dam]

My first "good" MTB (1993 IBOC Team) had a chronically loose headset I couldn't afford to replace. On long rides, I'd have a foot long headset wrench taped to the downtube!

You may want to carry the casette tool for a few rides until you're sure you have it sorted out. Or, put the lockring back on with locktite.

 

[Some Guy]

Had this happen to a friends crappy bike when we were out riding. Don't really need a tool to tighten the cassette though (when on the road anyway), doing it up with your hands tends to fix it pretty good.

 

[teamdicky]

I carry one

I found a cassette tool that is flat. You can get it between the frame and cassette and use the chain as a whip. I had to use it in Moab when my friends chain got stuck behind the cassette and lodged in the spokes. I run a SS now, but I still carry it as a guest tool.
It would have been a long walk back to the car on Slickrock.
I had to cut it down so it would fit nicely in my Camelbak.

 

[jrm]

The washer on the backside of the lockrings

I noticed a lot of noise from my drivertrain and some weird pinging noises today whenever I hit a bump. I stopped and checked the bike once, didn't notice anything strange. Got annoyed and stopped again later to find that my cassette was loose as hell. Didn't have a lockring tool with me (who carries one of those on a ride) but got it tightened pretty well with my fingers. Sure seemed like a rare and strange problem to have out on the trail.

do loose their resilence after a while. Ive found cleaning the RD cage pullies really helps shifting.