Just realized my Park Tool chain whip was wearing out my cassette lockring faster

I was swapping cassettes last week and noticed the lockring was getting chewed up after just 3 changes. Turns out my chain whip had a tight link that was binding and putting all the force on the lockring instead of the cassette. I swapped to a simple homemade chain whip with an old chain and it's been way smoother. Has anyone else had a tool mess with their lockring threads like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_hill2714d ago

Hmm, I gotta gently push back on that tight link theory. In my experience, a chain whip's main job is to hold the cassette still while you turn the lockring tool. If the lockring is getting chewed up, it's usually from the lockring tool itself slipping or not being fully seated, not the chain whip. A stiff chain link might make the whip less efficient, but it shouldn't transfer force to the lockring threads since the lockring is what you're turning with the other tool. Your mileage may vary, but I've seen more issues from using a cheap lockring tool that doesn't fit the splines right. That homemade whip with an old chain is a solid idea though, it's definitely smoother than some factory ones I've used.

harris.aaron14d ago

Wait, @jana_hill27, isn't the main point of a stiff link more about how it messes with the whole cassette when you're torquing down? If you have a bind in the whip, it can shift the cassette sideways or make it bind up, which then puts extra stress on the lockring tool and can cause it to cam out. I've seen that happen more often than a lockring tool just being bad, since the splines need the cassette to be dead straight to engage right.