Can we wash our bikes like pros?

[IvonaDestroi]

Also - this can't possibly be related, because the cassette I took off had only been installed once, with the new crush washer - but it was loose when I went to remove it. Not loose enough to rattle, but loose enough that it took very little effort to remove. I'd used my good Snap-On torque wrench to install it, as always, so it wasn't undertorqued. Why would it be loose? [/QUOTE]

is it the deformed one you're re-using? did you try hammering it flat? If it's loose then I'd be worried... sometimes people don't put things together properly the first time either, maybe the shop just grabbed the wrong washer in the first place when they built it? or maybe you put it on backwards? I always accidently put things on backwards, lol!

[OakLeaf]

The cassette I just took off was brand new when I put it on, and actually the crush washer was deformed in the package - not to the extent of the one in the picture, but it had some indentations on it. Again, brand new never been torqued. If someone at Shimano grabbed the wrong washer, they've done it three times now with the three new cassettes I've put on this bike.

Re-using it is what this conversation is about... I really don't think it's a good idea, but I can't find anywhere to get new ones, and both PedalWench and SK think it's fine. I haven't looked, but probably I could mail order them from the UK, like the parts to rebuild the brifters.

I didn't try hammering it flat, that's an idea for next time. It doesn't appear to have a front/back that I can tell, but I didn't remove it from the lockring when I installed the new cassette, so again, it went on in the orientation it was in the package. And I torqued it to spec with my good Snap-On torque wrench.

[dianne_1234]

I'd be surprised if re-using the crush washer "as-is" could be proven to cause any issues.

Think of all the cassettes in the world, ever taken off and put back on: they all re-use their crush washer. Including all of mine - and I've done hundreds (thousands?) of them if you count the ones I did when I worked in a shop.

Except the cassettes that don't come with a crush washer - then the lockring goes on directly against the last cog. Still no issues.

So, no need to flatten it (hammer or otherwise), just put it on and tighten it up. If in doubt tighten it with a torque wrench. The spec is printed on the lock ring and the number is pretty high, almost as tight as BB cups and cranks IIRC.

On the other hand, I don't know why your previous installation might have seemed loose. Speculation here: a bit of dirt or something was there, then fell out... nah, that doesn't seem likely. But at any rate, if you simply re-use your crush washer when you reinstall your cassette it should be fine.

[OakLeaf]

The spec is printed on the lock ring and the number is pretty high, almost as tight as BB cups and cranks IIRC.

Actually it's only 40 n-M (30 ft-lbs) which seemed to me awfully loose! Something of that physical size makes me want to put at least 40 ft-lbs. But I didn't, I torqued it to spec.

I don't know what the spec for the BB is, but I would sure hope it's 45-50 ft-lbs! Maybe I'm just too used to working on motorcycles, but I want my chassis and drivetrain parts solid.

[dianne_1234]

Actually it's only 40 n-M (30 ft-lbs) which seemed to me awfully loose! Something of that physical size makes me want to put at least 40 ft-lbs. But I didn't, I torqued it to spec.

I don't know what the spec for the BB is, but I would sure hope it's 45-50 ft-lbs! Maybe I'm just too used to working on motorcycles, but I want my chassis and drivetrain parts solid.

Thanks for the number Oakleaf.
Posting them made me look up a typical BB cup. Shimano asks for 35 ~ 50 Nm. Cite here:
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830667739.pdf

So it's nice to know my memory isn't that bad!

Bottom line the lock ring should be *tight*.