A cassette recommendation?

As can clearly be seen in this photo:

http://picasaweb.google.com/j.michae...59497885260002

there's no way that the Shimano "Mega Range" freewheel that I bought
online will fit onto Mrs Squirrel's rear hub. I done ordered the wrong part.

Some of you guys always seem to have the inside track on the good online
deals. Who's got an 8-speed cassette with a honking great 34-tooth
bail-out cog?

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon

"Mike Rocket J Squirrel" wrote in message
...
As can clearly be seen in this photo:

http://picasaweb.google.com/j.michae...59497885260002

there's no way that the Shimano "Mega Range" freewheel that I bought
online will fit onto Mrs Squirrel's rear hub. I done ordered the wrong
part.

Oops. Probably won't even succumb to pressing really hard :-)

Some of you guys always seem to have the inside track on the good online
deals. Who's got an 8-speed cassette with a honking great 34-tooth
bail-out cog?

One of the reasons I went 9sp is for the 34. But SRAM do a 11-32 (actually
more than one - 3 different models) which has got to be close enough?

cheers,
clive

On Oct 27, 3:18*pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:
As can clearly be seen in this photo:

http://picasaweb.google.com/j.michae...59497885260002

there's no way that the Shimano "Mega Range" freewheel that I bought
online will fit onto Mrs Squirrel's rear hub. I done ordered the wrong part.

On Oct 28, 2:23*pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:
On 10/28/2008 12:06 PM landotter wrote:





Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
As can clearly be seen in this photo:

http://picasaweb.google.com/j.michae...59497885260002

there's no way that the Shimano "Mega Range" freewheel that I bought
online will fit onto Mrs Squirrel's rear hub. I done ordered the wrong part.

Some of you guys always seem to have the inside track on the good online
deals. Who's got an 8-speed cassette with a honking great 34-tooth
bail-out cog?

Shimano HG40 cassette

It's also a MEGARANGE! Woohoo! I got me one. Cheap and does the job
well.

The one that doesn't work (see the picture in my OP) is an HG40.

It's a 7-speed and doesn't fit the hub. Dollars to bagels I blindly
ordered the first megarange I came across online and should have ordered
an 8-speed cassette version and not a 7-speed freewheel version.

That's me, being hasty again.

Maybe more happiness would result from this one instead?

http://www.modernbike.com/itemgroup....175588&TID=367


That's the one. That there cassette's one of the great reasons to run
8spd. $18 clams a pop! Shifts fine, lasts a good long while.

On 10/28/2008 1:50 PM landotter wrote:

On Oct 28, 2:23 pm, Mike Rocket J Squirrel
wrote:
On 10/28/2008 12:06 PM landotter wrote:





Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
As can clearly be seen in this photo:
http://picasaweb.google.com/j.michae...59497885260002
there's no way that the Shimano "Mega Range" freewheel that I bought
online will fit onto Mrs Squirrel's rear hub. I done ordered the wrong part.
Some of you guys always seem to have the inside track on the good online
deals. Who's got an 8-speed cassette with a honking great 34-tooth
bail-out cog?
Shimano HG40 cassette
It's also a MEGARANGE! Woohoo! I got me one. Cheap and does the job
well.
The one that doesn't work (see the picture in my OP) is an HG40.

It's a 7-speed and doesn't fit the hub. Dollars to bagels I blindly
ordered the first megarange I came across online and should have ordered
an 8-speed cassette version and not a 7-speed freewheel version.

That's me, being hasty again.

Maybe more happiness would result from this one instead?

http://www.modernbike.com/itemgroup....175588&TID=367


That's the one. That there cassette's one of the great reasons to run
8spd. $18 clams a pop! Shifts fine, lasts a good long while.

Why then, that's the one I'll get! Many thanks!

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon

Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
[Megarange]

Why then, that's the one I'll get! Many thanks!

Wait a second! If you were running a "normal" cassette before, you might
not be able to install a "Megarange" one. Your rear derailleur might not
fit.

The point is, with "normal" derailleurs the upper pulley follows an arc
which should match the arc defined by connecting the circumference of
the cogs. In some cases it will hit the "megarange" cog when set up
right for all other gears. When you set it up for the "megarange" thing
you might get poor shifting performance on some of the other gears.

Check out something else: You have three (?) gears in front and eight in
the back. Count the teeth on all cogs and use the gear calculator on
Sheldon Brown's website to compare a Megarange setup with a "normal"
11-32 cassette. Mark the gears that are not close doubles of the other
gears and count the number of "useful" gears you have left.

In my oppinion, the Megarange casette does not have a good distribution
of gears: the small cogs are spaced rather closely and the last one is a
huge step. A more evenly spaced 11-32 cassette gives you better spacing
of the gears and the "mountain" gear is still 32 teeth (instead of 34)
which is quite close.

Of course, the "Megarange" thingy is flashy, but the practical value?
I'd rather exchange the 32 teeth cog for a 34 teeth one and leave the
rest ;-) Or sacrifice the 11 teeth cog and add a 34 teeth one at the
other end ;-)

Have fun anyway...

On 10/29/2008 2:33 AM Bernhard Agthe wrote:

Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
[Megarange]

Why then, that's the one I'll get! Many thanks!

Wait a second! If you were running a "normal" cassette before, you might
not be able to install a "Megarange" one. Your rear derailleur might not
fit.

The point is, with "normal" derailleurs the upper pulley follows an arc
which should match the arc defined by connecting the circumference of
the cogs. In some cases it will hit the "megarange" cog when set up
right for all other gears. When you set it up for the "megarange" thing
you might get poor shifting performance on some of the other gears.

Check out something else: You have three (?) gears in front and eight in
the back. Count the teeth on all cogs and use the gear calculator on
Sheldon Brown's website to compare a Megarange setup with a "normal"
11-32 cassette. Mark the gears that are not close doubles of the other
gears and count the number of "useful" gears you have left.

In my oppinion, the Megarange casette does not have a good distribution
of gears: the small cogs are spaced rather closely and the last one is a
huge step. A more evenly spaced 11-32 cassette gives you better spacing
of the gears and the "mountain" gear is still 32 teeth (instead of 34)
which is quite close.

Of course, the "Megarange" thingy is flashy, but the practical value?
I'd rather exchange the 32 teeth cog for a 34 teeth one and leave the
rest ;-) Or sacrifice the 11 teeth cog and add a 34 teeth one at the
other end ;-)

Have fun anyway...

Thanks, all good points. The redundancy in ratios is not much of an issue
in this case as Mrs Squirrel tends to use her middle ring 90% of the time,
and then downshifts madly when she gets to hills. The 7 closely-spaced
cogs will give her nice ranges for for the mild grades hereabouts, and the
large cog + her inner ring will give her the bailout gearing she needs
when the few steeper hills are encountered. I think her bottom cog right
now is a 28 toother.

As for the derailler, I'm putting on a Alivio which should take up the
extra chain and clear the big cog. If it shifts poorly because it doesn't
follow the profile of the cluster, then I'll try something else. This
arrangement is surely just a step in the path, not necessarily the optimal
solution. My posting history shows clearly that I slug through these
things step by step.

Besides, even if it shifts poorly, one can take comfort in the fact that
this is a Megarange cassette. Mega. Range. It has the word "Mega" in it.
It is therefore the most epicest cassette ever.

--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"
Bend, Oregon