Quoted message said:I'm a retro old codger who's being dragged kicking and screaming from
using an old threaded cluster to using a cassette instead. I notice
that the cassette cogs appear to be simply stamped from sheet steel,
whereas the old screw-on cogs had to be stamped, formed and threaded.
I was wondering, does this mean that cassette cogs are available really
cheap or anything? Any places you'd recommend ordering them from?
Its not really cost effective to order individual cogs. Cogsets are
designed to match up with the other cogs next to it in a cassette.
While it is physiclaly possible to take a 17 cog from a 13-23 and put
it into a 13-28 cassette, its ramps and grooves may not be in the
optimal place. So you may notice a lack of shifting precision when
going from and to a cog that is from a different cassette. The best
place to use individual cogs is on the very last spot where you make a
large tooth jump from the next to last cog to get a very low bailout
gear. Make a 13-23 into a 13-26 by replacing the 23 on the 13-23 with
a 26 cog. 21-26 jump at the end is nicer than 21-23.
As mentioned, Shimano cheaper cassettes in both road and mountain bike
names are loose cogs and spacers. 105, Tiagra, Sora, HG70, HG50, etc.
Ultegra and up are riveted together on an aluminum carrier and the
bigger cogs are not individual. Smaller cogs are individual and can be
mixed around. For the lower end cassettes its always easier to find
whole new cassettes for $15-30. Much cheaper than paying $10-20 for
one cog. With Shimano 7, 8, 9 speed cogs are all about the same width
so can probably be intermixed without too much concern. Easiest to
just get all cassettes of the right number, 7, 8 or 9, depending on
what you are running. They all can be found equally cheap.
With Campagnolo Mirage and Veloce are all loose cogs. Centaur has the
first 7-8 or so cogs loose. Chorus and Record have the first 4-5 or so
cogs loose. On Centaur, Chorus, Record the larger cogs are riveted
together on carriers and cannot be replaced individually. For
Campagnolo 9 and 10 speed loose cogs are the same width and can be
intermixed. Just use the spacers from the right 9 or 10 speed
cassette. And the first cog is unique to both 9 and 10 speed because
the spacer is built into the cog. And the last cog on 10 speed is
unique because it is offset towards the spokes. The middle 8 on 10
speed can be intermixed with the last 8 on 9 speed. Shifting may
suffer where jumping between cogs with ramps that do not line up. In
Europe Mirage and Veloce cassettes are pretty cheap. In the US
Campagnolo cassettes are not cheap.
