Shimano MTB/Road/General Cassette compatibilty ?

I have just bought a new rear MTB wheel without a cassette and wish to
put a 7 speed cassette on it the problem is identifying the part I require.

Are all Shimano Cassettes compatible with each other ?

For example, if I find a 7 speed cassette in any groupset family i.e.
alivio, xtr et al. can I buy in the knowledge that it will just work or
is it a black art known to the few ?

The Hub on the new wheel is the FH-M475

The previous cassette (on the old wheel) was a 7 speed but i've a
feeling this new hub is an 8/9 speed only - will an 8 speed cassette
work with my existing 7 speed deraileur ?

Just to add to the problem My intention has always been to put a Road
Cassette on to the MTB so if I have to upgrade the derailer can I just
get road set e.g. 105 series cassette, chain, derailer ?

Assuming I am not asking the impossible can I also assume that I need to
shorten the 105 chain.

Many Many thanks!

TJ

in message , TJ
') wrote:

I have just bought a new rear MTB wheel without a cassette and wish to
put a 7 speed cassette on it the problem is identifying the part I
require.

Are all Shimano Cassettes compatible with each other ?

For example, if I find a 7 speed cassette in any groupset family i.e.
alivio, xtr et al. can I buy in the knowledge that it will just work or
is it a black art known to the few ?

Within reason, it's not a black art. There are two issues - the amount
the cage travels laterally for each indexing step, and the capacity of
the cage to take up slack in the chain. Obviously, the amount the cage
travels laterally per click must be the same as the spacing between the
cogs (although good modern derailleurs can cope with a surprising amount
of misalignment). As far as I know, for all makes, and certainly for
SRAM and Shimano, all 7 speed cassettes have the same spacing.

The Hub on the new wheel is the FH-M475

The previous cassette (on the old wheel) was a 7 speed but i've a
feeling this new hub is an 8/9 speed only - will an 8 speed cassette
work with my existing 7 speed deraileur ?

Just to add to the problem My intention has always been to put a Road
Cassette on to the MTB so if I have to upgrade the derailer can I just
get road set e.g. 105 series cassette, chain, derailer ?

Yes. You should not need a new derailleur unless your present one is
knackered. Many people (including me) think that SRAM chains are
considerably better than Shimano ones. You can't replace a Shimano
deraileur with a SRAM one unless you also replace the shifter as the
pull ratios are different.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Windows 95:
You, you, you! You make a grown man cry...
M. Jagger/K. Richards

TJ wrote:
I have just bought a new rear MTB wheel without a cassette and wish to
put a 7 speed cassette on it the problem is identifying the part I
require.

Are all Shimano Cassettes compatible with each other ?

For example, if I find a 7 speed cassette in any groupset family i.e.
alivio, xtr et al. can I buy in the knowledge that it will just work or
is it a black art known to the few ?

The Hub on the new wheel is the FH-M475

The previous cassette (on the old wheel) was a 7 speed but i've a
feeling this new hub is an 8/9 speed only - will an 8 speed cassette
work with my existing 7 speed deraileur ?

Just to add to the problem My intention has always been to put a Road
Cassette on to the MTB so if I have to upgrade the derailer can I just
get road set e.g. 105 series cassette, chain, derailer ?

Assuming I am not asking the impossible can I also assume that I need to
shorten the 105 chain.


Everything you need to know is covered at http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon