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I've put pretty much all my weight though the locking tool and chain whip and it just won't budge. Any tips to get it off?
Make sure your tool fully engaged before giving it too many pies. Cassettes have been damaged in such situations previously.
Grease it thoroughly before fitting.
Possibly late for this advice now.
😀
I had to take my mtb to a shop in New Zealand after the bearings in the rear hope hub failed. I specifically told the spanner bloke to apply copper grease to the thread when putting the cassette back on to the new freehub. Got back home to England and tried to replace the cassette. It was so tight no cranking would remove it even whilst in a vice. I knew then and there no grease had been applied.
In the end I popped off the largest aluminium ring which is pretty easy to do. The rest of the machined cogs are then free to slide off the hub. I then used a dremel tool to cut (not too deep or I'd have cut into the freehub) the remaining section of freehub (the screw on bit) to create a 1cm long but shallow slit into which I inserted a screw driver, twisted it which then forced the remaining part of the cassette to loosen it's grip and easily screw off by hand. Desperate measures but it worked without damage to the freehub. If you do it this way it's not overly detrimental to the freehub if you do cut into it a little bit but obviously you want to avoid this so you'll need a very steady hand and good eye.
Prior to this I'd tried heat, freezing and loads of Plus Gas all to no avail.
If you have a loose cassette tool, i.e. without a handle; I use a wheel QR skewer to hold it in place. This ensures the tool doesn't slip. You need to loosen of the QR as you undo the cassette.
Also, remove the axle adapter/spacer if it's a Hope hub.
Its a spank hub. Bike shop calls I think. 14 stone of pure muscle cant get this thing to budge. Starting to wander if its a write off!
In summary, it's a pretty shit design!
Mine came out very nicely after almost 2 years, a little bit of copper grease at the right moment means a lot.
I'll take this over chewed 'normal' cassettes any time.
It' sounds like the threads are backed up, so a little extra tightening will unbind the threads. Seems counter intuitive but often works.. +1 for a q/r to tighten the tool into the socket.