Cassette | Evolving Consumer

Changing a rear wheel on a bicycle isn’t exactly rocket science, but it is far from the easiest thing too. It is almost impossible to do so without getting your hands dirty, and it is harder to get the wheel back on than it is to take off.

Leonard Ashman of California created a system where the hub comes off but the drivetrain – gears and chain – stay nicely attached to the bike. His HubDock utilizes a thru-axle that can be pulled out of the hub on the non-drive side, but remains please on the drivetrain. This can be reinstalled just as quickly (as the video below shows).

This system allows the cassette and freehub to say attached to the bike frame, while the wheel can pull straight down. This means no greasy hand grabbing the chain, no trying to wrestle with the chain to get it to line up with the cassette. Just pull down and out. Ashman is currently looking to take this from concept to reality via a Kickstarter campaign. Continue reading Wheel Dock

For almost twenty-five years, cycling has been a major part of my life. From building bikes to breaking bones; being that kid hanging out at the bike shop to managing one in college; and racing to the top of a mountain or riding to work, bikes are a part of who I am. As long as I can remember, there has always been issues when assembling bikes from parts… especially when it comes to mixing drive train parts.

Usually, Campy shifters would not be mixed with Shimano derailleurs or vice versa, but it was fairly common to try to use Shimano compatible wheels with Campy shifting as there is just a much wider and usually better selection of wheels. Companies such as Wheels Manufacturing of Colorado do an excellent job reworking Shimano cassettes to work with Campy shifting, but the system of combined parts is still a little finicky. Enter the picture, Kirk Pacenti and his proposal for a universal, ’open source’ cassette body. We are starting to see more standards in the cycling world when it comes to parts, so this is not an unachievable goal. Continue reading A New Cassette Standard? Hopefully…