XTR cassette skippage

CoyoteBoy said:

I bought an XTR cassette many moons ago (6 years?) and fitted it with
a new chain, it skipped like a kangaroo after 150 miles so i removed
it with much sadness and replaced it with an XT which has worked
perfectly since. Whats the best way of testing the block for wear
without the oficial tools. It doesnt have shark-tooth appearance but
im not sure how stretched the valleys are. I cant see how they would
be stretched without being shark shaped as the wear would only occur
on one side?

There is no good test for a cassette other than actually trying it for real.

If it works with your chain, it should continue working with it until the
chain is very badly worn. But to maximise the life of your cassette (and
chainrings), replace the chain long before that -- before it is much worn:
before it has elongated by more than 1/16" per 12".

Remember that sprocket wear is caused by chain wear (elongation) - the two
things go together. So completely forget worrying about how worn your
sprockets are and just concentrate on the chain - which is relatively easy
to measure. You'll know when the sprockets are worn when a chain doesn't
work with them, and that's the only time you need to replace them (the
cassette).

Judging sprockets by appearance or any measuring is too tricky and might
mislead you to replacing them earlier than necessary.

~PB