Nashbar cassettes ... who makes them?

[Doctor Morbius]

I was wondering who makes the Nashbar 12/23 9 speed road cassette? I've looked up 3 different manufacturer's web sites (Shimano, SRAM, SunRace) and Shimano and SRAM both make a 12/23 so I'm thinking it's most likely one of those two - probably along the grade of an HG-50 or PG-950 or something.

If there are any Nashbar employees out there who can drop me a reply, your help is certainly appreciated.

Normally, I would not post this kind of question on a forum but it's the weekend and their technical people aren't there. I sent them an email yesterday morning but they didn't respond. Customer Service is also out until Monday. I called the sales person and they said that their cassettes are a name brand but due to a contract they aren't allowed to give out that name.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

... hours later...

Well after a little searching on the web, a few beers and some pizza, I've found that the SRAM road cassettes have the following cogs courtesy of PricePoint.com (Oddly enough, SRAM's web site doesn't list the number of teeth on each cog for their cassettes).

11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21 Road
11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23 Road
12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23 Road
12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-26 Road
11-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32 MTB
11-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-34 MTB

And Shimano's cassettes are

(12-23T) 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23 Road
(12-25T) 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 Road
(13-23T) 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23 Road
(13-25T) 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 Road
(11-32T) 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 28, 32 MTB
(11-34T) 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 24, 28, 34 MTB


So whether Nashbar's cassettes are Shimano's or SRAM's it's not going to matter as they have the same gearing and I will still have the 15t, 16t & 17t cogs.

Are there any cassette manufacturers that I've left out that make Shimano compatible road cassettes other than Shimano, SRAM and SunRace? Would Nashbar rebrand Miche Primato, or American Classic?

 

[ThrillBilly]

FWIW-

supergo (AKA perf and nashbar) has the sram pg-970 cass on sale for $35
with
some common sizes listed as being in-stock

also- if you go with nash,

be sure to use the 20% off >$80 coupon i listed earlier

good luck

 

[dhk]

Why couldn't it be any Asian manufacturer? Unless Shimano has exclusive rights on their spline design, anyone in the world can make a shimano-compatible cassette without paying them royalties.

FYIW, I like SRAM chains and wouldn't hesitate to buy a SRAM cassette even if it costs a few bucks more.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

Why couldn't it be any Asian manufacturer? Unless Shimano has exclusive rights on their spline design, anyone in the world can make a shimano-compatible cassette without paying them royalties.

FYIW, I like SRAM chains and wouldn't hesitate to buy a SRAM cassette even if it costs a few bucks more.

I called the sales staff yesterday and what they said is their cassettes were made by a well known manufacturer. I also did some searching on the web to find more companies that made cassettes but had little luck. Other than Shimano, SRAM and SunRace the only ones I could find were Wheels Manufacturing (who uses Shimano parts and retrofits), Token (who makes titanium cassettes that are Camy & Shimano compatible), Miche and American Classic. None of these have any low end low priced offerings. That leads me to assume it's either Shimano or SRAM.

I've decided not to get any at this time. I was going to get a few shorts while they had them on sale and grab some cassettes and use the 20% coupon that ThrillBilly mentioned.

During Christmas they usually have some big sales. I can wait until then. They actually have 105 cassettes for $24 after the coupon, which ain't too shabby. I'm going to hold out until Christmas I guess.

For what it's worth, I like the SRAM PC-59 & KMC Z-9000 chains better than the Shimano chains anyway. Firstly, I like the link. Secondly, they seem a little quieter. AND they're not Shimano! I've never tried a DA or Wippermann chain. Don't think I need that much quality.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

FWIW-

supergo (AKA perf and nashbar) has the sram pg-970 cass on sale for $35
with
some common sizes listed as being in-stock

also- if you go with nash,

be sure to use the 20% off >$80 coupon i listed earlier

good luck

I've tried using a price match from SuperGo or Performance and stacking a coupon on top of it and the sales staff at Nashbar told me they wouldn't do it. I'd swear they've done it in the past but they wouldn't do it for me last time.

I'm blacklisted from SuperGo and Performance so I can't buy anything through them. It's strange though because I place an order through Nashbar about once a month and they've never said anything.

I've decided against getting the Nashbar cassette at this time. A few posters on another board trashed them pretty badly. One guy said his chain wouldn't even go over the smaller cogs! Talk about "B" stock!

 

[ThrillBilly]

blacklisted? sounds like a badge of honor!

one more thing: custom cogged "S" cassettes from sheldon brown / harris cyclery.

they aint cheap, but work wonders for some applications.

if you didnt know, but i bet you did-

sheldon "cap't bike" has a WEALTH of info @ here

even boudreaux approves of sheldon!

 

[capwater]

They'll match, but you can't add in the coupon. The worst was when I ordered some brakes with a coupon from Supergo, but they ended up being back ordered for several weeks. I called them up and asked if they could cross ship them from either Nashbar or Performance since they had them in stock. No luck.

 

[capwater]

I've tried using a price match from SuperGo or Performance and stacking a coupon on top of it and the sales staff at Nashbar told me they wouldn't do it. I'd swear they've done it in the past but they wouldn't do it for me last time.

They'll match, but you can't add in the coupon. The worst was when I ordered some brakes with a coupon from Supergo, but they ended up being back ordered for several weeks. I called them up and asked if they could cross ship them from either Nashbar or Performance since they had them in stock. No luck.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

blacklisted? sounds like a badge of honor!

one more thing: custom cogged "S" cassettes from sheldon brown / harris cyclery.

they aint cheap, but work wonders for some applications.

if you didnt know, but i bet you did-

sheldon "cap't bike" has a WEALTH of info @ here

even boudreaux approves of sheldon!

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Sheldon "Off The Wall" Brown. Big fan of Bordeaux too for that matter. Sheldon often posts in the bicycle mecahinics frorum at BikeForums.net.

How I got blacklisted is I ordered a wheelset from SuperSchmo when they had free shipping on everything. Put wheelset in cart - no charge showed up. Clicked the final button - no charge showed up. On my charge card statement there were two charges from SG. One was for the wheels and one was for the stealth shipping charges. I called the charge card company and disputed the charges and got them reversed. Now I can't order anything from SG or Performance. Big deal. I can have my sister order it if it's that important. I like Nashbar better anyway, even though they fall under the Emperial umbrella of the Dark Side.

 

[capwater]

Here's another game those three companies play: order something that is on backorder (I waited nearly 2 months). They will charge your CC shipping at the time of the order. I finally didn't want to wait anymore so I cancelled my back order and had to get a refund on the shipping already charged. How can a company charge shipping for something that hasn't shipped??!! All in all, they have the best prices around.

 

[jasong]

I've had decent luck with their cassettes. This past (1 week ago) "Nashbar branded" sale put 7/8/9 speed cassettes at $10. With the 20% off coupon, they were $8. It's perfect for all of your bikes except the nice one.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

I've had decent luck with their cassettes. This past (1 week ago) "Nashbar branded" sale put 7/8/9 speed cassettes at $10. With the 20% off coupon, they were $8. It's perfect for all of your bikes except the nice one.

What nice one? Mine are all low end bikes!

Thanks for the input. If they have another 20% coupon soon and are still $10 I'll probably get one just to test one out for myself. Yours is the only real positive response I've had on them and I posted the question in 2 different cycling equipment forums.

 

[jasong]

I have an 8 speed one I've put on a "rain bike" coupled with a pair of those Ritchey 2x9's (work on 8 speed spacing) they had for sale for $10 for a long time. They shift reasonably well, but nothing like an ultegra or similar drivetrain. My goal was more function than form.

Before that, I had a 9 speed cassette from Performance, but surely the same thing that Nashbar's selling. Was fine, too. Not sure how their weights compare to the same gearing from another big company.

For $8, it's hard to go wrong.

What nice one? Mine are all low end bikes!
equipment forums.