?Best to stick with like & like for chain/cassette?



Bigbananabike

Active Member
Dec 29, 2004
967
30
18
I had a BBB cassette fitted to my 9 speed training bike.
The bike mechanic thought it was fine (new of course) with my little used Shimano 9 speed chain.
Its OK....
The chain doesn't slip but its noisy and doesn't seem to mesh quite right in the middle sprockets.
Anyone else found this with BBB?
Should I bite the bullet and go for a new Shimano chain and cassette and just stick to that brand?
 
Bigbananabike said:
I had a BBB cassette fitted to my 9 speed training bike.
The bike mechanic thought it was fine (new of course) with my little used Shimano 9 speed chain.
Its OK....
The chain doesn't slip but its noisy and doesn't seem to mesh quite right in the middle sprockets.
Anyone else found this with BBB?
Should I bite the bullet and go for a new Shimano chain and cassette and just stick to that brand?

What cog was the RD on when cable tension was adjusted? If the RD is on one of the middle cogs, the shifting should adjust to be better across all cogs. If the RD was on one of the extreme ends, shifting quality will be biased to that side and get a bit worse as you more toward the opposite side. On my Campy Record, cable tension is adjusted with the RD on the 5th cog.

It could also be that the BBB cassette is as useless as a poopie flavored lollipop. Some aftermarket cassettes aren't really optimized to shift well, i.e. they don't have a lot or any shift ramps; teeth aren't profiled; they rely on twisted teeth; spacings are off. The latter can be the case if the cassette is made toward the end of the tool life during manufacture.
 
Cheers for your reply:)

The bike mechanic adjusted it from the smallest cog.
Thankfully it works best on the larger cogs - which I use most.

Probably your pooie flavoured lollipop idea is the good oil.

Its a bit strange though as the bike mechanic knows me and sure he knows I'm not made of $ but he knows I'd rather have something that works well.

Do you think I need to go all Shimano on this?




alienator said:
What cog was the RD on when cable tension was adjusted? If the RD is on one of the middle cogs, the shifting should adjust to be better across all cogs. If the RD was on one of the extreme ends, shifting quality will be biased to that side and get a bit worse as you more toward the opposite side. On my Campy Record, cable tension is adjusted with the RD on the 5th cog.

It could also be that the BBB cassette is as useless as a poopie flavored lollipop. Some aftermarket cassettes aren't really optimized to shift well, i.e. they don't have a lot or any shift ramps; teeth aren't profiled; they rely on twisted teeth; spacings are off. The latter can be the case if the cassette is made toward the end of the tool life during manufacture.
 
Bigbananabike said:
Cheers for your reply:)

The bike mechanic adjusted it from the smallest cog.
Thankfully it works best on the larger cogs - which I use most.

Probably your pooie flavoured lollipop idea is the good oil.

Its a bit strange though as the bike mechanic knows me and sure he knows I'm not made of $ but he knows I'd rather have something that works well.

Do you think I need to go all Shimano on this?

You'll get the best shifting with a Shimano cassette, no matter what chain you use.
 
:confused: Yep, it seems like I need to bite the bullet and buy a new cassette (and now chain too) to start afresh.
 

Similar threads