What is the difference between a freewheel and a cassette hub?
The main difference is that freewheel is a single-unit and pedaling tightens the freewheel to the hub. Whereas the cassette hub is a set of gears (cogs) that smoothly slides onto a cassette and held in place by a lock ring.
Do children’s bikes have freewheels or cassettes?
Most children’s bikes will have the freewheel fitted to help with the price of the bike. As a rule of thumb, you can accept that if you have a new bicycle, you will probably have the cassette. The cassette is far more functional and will give much more to work with for your bike.
What is a cassette on a bike?
In contrast, a cassette is a set of sprockets found on the bike’s rear hub, firmly held in place by a lockring. A typical bicycle cassette can have 5-13 sprockets, albeit modern bike drivetrains use 9-11. As I mentioned earlier, a cassette is an updated freewheel. So, expect the modern bikes to come with the cassette as opposed to a freewheel.
How many speeds does a freewheel have?
The freewheel commonly comes with 5-speed, 6-speed, or 7-speed capability. So, don’t expect to have a higher speed on this system. If you want a higher speed, consider cassettes. They are commonly available in 7-speed, 8-speed, and 9-speed options. There are a few bikes, however, that use 10-speed cassettes.
Why is a cassette better than a freewheel?
A cassette is the modern alternative and has quickly overtaken the freewheel. Cassettes have a series of straight splines that form the mechanical connection between the sprockets and the cassette-compatible hub, which is called a freehub and contains the ratcheting mechanism.
Can you replace a freewheel with a cassette?
Cassette hubs cannot accept freewheels; nor can freewheel hubs accept a cassette. The freehub body of a cassette hub is shaped specifically for a cassette. Meanwhile, freewheels and freewheel hubs operate with a threaded system. Thus, it's impossible to mount a freewheel on a cassette hub.
Which cassette is best for climbing hills?
For hill climbing and mountainous terrain, we recommend a road cassette such as the 11-32T SRAM Red 22 XG1190 11 Speed Cassette (A2), or the 11-34T Shimano Ultegra R8000 11 Speed Cassette.
Are bike cassettes worth upgrading?
The drivetrain components work in perfect harmony and a tiny small miss-configuration can break the proper functionality of the system. Upgrading to a better cassette can make your bike comfortable, fast and more pleasant to ride.
Why are some Freehubs loud?
Loudness in the freehub/freebody is usually due to the very light oil used to lubricate the inner parts. Thicker oil can be used to lessen the noise and even grease in some cases, but it's high viscosity is pointed at for not being so efficient.
Is freewheel and cassette the same?
Freewheel is screwed onto the rear hub, while cassette is just slid onto the hub splines, held in place with a special lockring. The very end of the (rear) hub differs for each type, so it is easy to identify the standard, even before removing sprockets.
What size cassette do pros use?
Pros often use a 55×11-tooth high gear for time trials. On flat or rolling stages they might have 53/39T chainrings with an 11-21T cassette. In moderate mountains they switch to a large cog of 23T or 25T. These days, they've joined the big-gear revolution like many recreational riders.
What gear is best for going uphill on a bike?
Low Gear = Easy = Good for Climbing: The “low” gear on your bike is the smallest chain ring in the front and the largest cog on your cassette (rear gears). In this position, the pedaling will be the easiest and you'll be able to pedal uphill with the smallest amount of resistance.
Will a new cassette make my bike faster?
The smallest cog available on a normal cluster / cassette has 11 teeth. If your smallest cog already has 11 teeth, then you will definitely not go faster with a new one. If it currently has 12 or more teeth then a new cluster can help you go faster. But the main way of going faster is simply to pedal faster.
What are the disadvantages of cassette?
Cassette players are more difficult to find than CD or MP3 players in most retail stores. Finding cassettes is also not as easy as buying CDs or downloading MP3 audio files because many stores no longer carry them or carry a limited selection.
What is the lifespan of a cassette?
30 yearsThat's right, the cassette tapes of your youth have been slowly degrading over the last several decades and there's nothing you can do to stop it – only prolong it. Because whether you like it or not, 30 years is the average life of a cassette tape.
Why are cassettes better?
Better quality cassettes can have a much better sound quality that almost equals CDs. In addition, a high quality cassette deck with noise-reduction circuits can improve the sound of a cassette.
Can you put a cassette on a freehub?
Modern Hyperglide freehub bodies will fit an 11-speed Shimano/SRAM-compatible cassette for road bike wheels. You can also use Shimano-standard cassettes with 8, 9 or 10 speeds, but will need to fit a 1.85mm spacer on the inboard side of the cassette to fit, plus an additional 1mm spacer for 10-speed cassettes.
Are freewheels interchangeable?
No, freewheels are completely different from the cassette / free hub system and are not interchangeable. A freewheel includes the ratchet mechanism that allows the sprockets to rotate backwards as well as the sprockets themselves, and threads into the hub.
How do I get rid of free hub?
If the freehub is very tight and difficult to loosen you can get more leverage by mounting the allen key in a vice clamp and sliding the wheel down onto it. Then you can loosen the freehub by turning the wheel counter-clockwise.
Can you put a fixed cog on a freewheel hub?
Condensed Answer: While it's technically possible to install a fixed cog on a freewheel hub, the cog will not be as secure as possible due to the absence of a reverse-threaded lockring. Consequently, the cog may untighten itself when the rider backpedals.
What is the difference between a freewheel and a cassette?
The main difference is that freewheel is a single-unit and pedaling tightens the freewheel to the hub. Whereas the cassette hub is a set of gears (cogs) that smoothly slides onto a cassette and held in place by a lock ring.
How to tell if a freewheel is a cassette?
The simplest way to know if it is either a freewheel or cassette is to look at the rotating action of the innermost tool fitting of the rear wheel
What is a cassette hub?
Newer models of bikes tend to have a hub type named “Cassette Hub”. These cassette hubs have a “Freehub” system which allows the clutch to be mounted to the body of the hub. The cylindrical mechanism of this system ratchets counter-clockwise for coasting and lock clockwise for driving while pedaling. The body of the freehub has a series of splines on the outer shell. The sprocket named “Cassette” slides over these splines which is what lock and hold them in place. A lockring threads into the freehub and holds the gears (cogs) in place. When the cogs are removed, the ratcheting freehub remains on the hub body. Most of the newest modern bike models have this type of freehub system.
What is a freewheel on a bike?
Freewheels usually have a large external thread machine into the hub. The ratcheting assembled body and gear (cogs) are called “freewheel” together which threads onto the hub.
What is the gear cluster on a bike?
The gears of a bike’s rear-wheel referred to as a cluster usually. It can be either one from two fully different types of systems
When did Shimano Freehub replace rear hub?
The Shimano Freehub replaced the conventional threaded rear hub around 1980. The interchangeability is lost that time which formerly existed. But these hubs were so good at that time which becomes the newer standard.
Do kids bikes have freewheels?
Mainly wheels of the bikes aren’t that common nowadays. Still many budget bikes, kid’s bikes feature freewheels. The reason behind it is to reduce the overall manufacturing costs. The chances if you have got a new bike, it’s most probably has a cassette. But there are more ways to be sure.
Bike Cassette vs Freewheel: What’s The difference?
Freewheels
Cassettes
Which One Do I have?
Which One Should You Choose When Buying A New bike?
Frequently Asked Questions
Wrap-Up
- Both the freewheel and cassette can be beneficial to your performance. The freewheel is the budget option and will ensure you get good value for your money. However, it could hamper you in terms of overall performance. We would recommend looking at the cassette as a good alternative for better performance.