lock ring too tight

[Adam]

Hi all,

Asking for thoughts on a silly mistake that I made last night.

I was in the process of replacing a cassette (had not tried this myself before) and I cranked way too hard on a fairly long wrench and over-tightened the lock ring. It dug into the cassette and produced some little shards. (I did grease the threads, and don't think it's cross-threaded, all was fine until the END)

The question: does it make better sense to try to fix this now (loosen and re-tighten), or should I just save this problem for an older, wiser me in a year or two when I change the cassette again?

I know I should get a torque wrench, but . . .

THANKS!

Adam

[Tony Lockhart]

Hi Adam, 

Sorry to hear about the complications. I’m curious to see close-up pictures of the damage.

Depending on how much risk you’re comfortable with I think you could take progressively longer rides to make sure everything is OK. In this situation I would remove the parts, inspect, reinstall, and torque to the proper spec…. Followed by a number of rides that increasing distance. This might be a good teachable moment for you, and I don’t think being cautious could hurt you.

Good luck!

Tony

[Ian A]

I'd be inclined to unscrew the lockring now, while the grease is fresh. I've always erred on the side of not tight enough with lockrings because if they do unscrew in use the only thing that has happened for me is the shifting has gone weird.  

When you unscrew it, just be careful the removal tool is firmly seated. If needed and just to get it broken loose, you could use a QR and a couple of washers to make sure it can't slip and strip the female splines on the lockring.

IanA

[Adam]

Thanks for the thoughts, here's a quick pic.

I don't have time to take the wheel off for a better image at the moment (running out the door), but here's a sense of the bite into the cassette. I'm wondering if I missed the thin washer that's supposed to be there.

Any other thoughts, I'm happy to hear. (esp if it means I can wait to deal with this!)

If anyone has advice on a low-budget torque wrench let me know.

THANKS

Adam

[Mr. Ray]

Looks like your lockring is "lightweight" aluminum.  The shards are likely aluminum as the cassette cog is steel.  You don't say what your freehub body is.  I would remove and inspect the lockring (replace or re-use) and re-tighten to correct torque.

[Joe Bernard]

Agreed with Ian, when it comes to reinstalling my procress is to give it a good extra tug after the clattering "it's tight" sounds start and call it a day. I've tried removing the way-too-tight ones and it ain't pretty! 

[Adam]

Thanks everyone,

I managed to make time to sort it out (can't stand not to have things riding shape) and the case is closed for now.

It came off with a bit of a struggle. There were a few bits of aluminum, which I cleaned off. Everything looks fine, so I re-greased, re-installed and took it a little easier on the tightening. All seems good to ride.

Thanks all!

Adam

[Luke Hendrickson]

Adam,

I just purchased the attached which can be had for about $40-50.

[Luke Hendrickson]

Also… we don’t use a torque wrench at my shop for cassettes and tighten by feel. A torque wrench isn’t a must for everything in my experience. 

[Joe Bernard]

I just installed one tonight by feel and noted the torque recommended is 40Nm, that seems crazy high. I hope I never have to remove one torqued to that number!

[David Hallerman]

40Nm doesn’t seem crazy high in practice. I regularly use a torque wrench to reach that cassette lockring value. And yet the ring is typically quite easy to take off, with greased threads of course.

While most of us have a good feel for the needed tightness of various bike threads, I often prefer a torque wrench since it gets me closer to exact than hand feel might. For me, the higher the required Nm value, like a lockring’s 40Nm, the more difficult it can be to get exact (or close to) without a torque wrench.

Dave, who sometimes gets the impression that some bike mechanics think working without a torque wrench is somehow more masculine 

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[Luke Hendrickson]

Dave -

I guess my comment might have led you to believe that I have a tough guy mechanic attitude which just isn’t the case. I have over-torqued lockrings, but it’s easy to back off and the issue of over-torquing isn’t dire like with over-torquing a threaded bb (I always use a torque wrench for that).

Be that as it may, most (not all) bike mechanics I’ve met are not tough guys looking to prove a point. My aim with my comment was to share my opinion that most hobbyists spend too much time faffing with tools and buying tools when that often isn’t needed/is overly expensive. 

Luke, a sensitive, approachable bike mechanic who wishes to lower the economic entry point for at-home mechanics as much as possible

[Joe Bernard]

Also my "seems crazy high" is an opinion. I didn't realize I needed to specify "seems to ME" but here we are. 

[David Hallerman]

Of course that was an opinion Joe. And because you also noted concern about having "to remove one torqued to that number," I thought it useful to introduce my direct experience with lockrings, measured torque values, and good old Phil grease. Heck, for some reason lately I've been installing and removing several. So I come from that.

Anyway, I'm not sure why my experience with these parts and tools made my comments seem unaware of your perspective. Sorry about that.

Dave, who finds that using a torque wrench more and more after 30 years of wrenching mainly without is like a .725 free throw shooter in the NBA working to make himself a .900 shooter on freebies since my hands are good enough now but they could be significantly better and in fact my hands better learn the various common torques even as I use the tool

P.S. Can you tell I have playoff basketball on my mind?

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[David Hallerman]

I think, Luke, part of my response was colored by years of reading some fellows -- whether here or other digital bike spaces -- disparage the use of torque wrenches. But even though I didn't mean tough guy by my use of "masculine," I failed when I put it in gender terms. I'm sorry.

But o'wise, sure, torque wrenches are another tool. And I can see how there's virtue in having fewer tools. But since torque wrenches help insure correct installation of parts, even with experienced hands, I would think many hobbyists who are often less experienced would benefit from that kind of accuracy.

Then again, I value accuracy.

Dave, who has carefully assembled over 100 bicycle frames over the years for myself my wife and friends and so that's where part of my perspective comes from

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[Steve]

Adam, let us know what you discover when (& if) you loosed the ring. To my eye your picture looks like the thin washer on the lock ring shredded (if there was one - usually is with Shimano in my experience)