Mashed cogset splines

[Slider]

I'm having a problem with the cassette splines that mate with the freehub. Over time, they start to get mashed down, so that bits of metal peel back and fold over backward. This happens well before the teeth have started to wear.

I keep filing off the part that gets peeled off, because that is the only way to get the cassette back on the hub after I pry it loose. And getting it off is no picnic, since al that metal is wedged together.

I'm thinking this is a "live with it" kind of problem. Has anyone else seen this?

[Tim]

What's peeling off, chunks of the cog or chunks of the freehub? What brand of freehub and cogset? I have heard of this happening with aluminum freehub bodies and loose steel cogs.

Tim

[Slider]

Pieces of the cogset body are getting mashed by the freehub body. Sometimes, but not always, I'll find the cassette locking ring loose upon inspection, after the fact.

The splines get mashed even when the locking ring is still tight, though. So I don't think it is loosening first, allowing movement that leads to mashing. I suspect the loosening is a by-product of the mashing.

All Shimano, both XT and XTR cassettes, and a Shimano freehub body.

[Slider]

You might be right about the cassette being loose before the damage occurs. I've checked it every ride since my first post, and made sure it never loosened. So far, I've seen no new spline damage.

Live and learn...