Hello all, curiosity hit me today when playing with my 3 new SRAM red 11 - 23 cassettes, the thing is built out of one block right (except the smallest two cogs)? So that makes it an incredibly stiff bit of kit for your wheels, now obviously its not the lightest cogset on the planet (rekons kcncs blah blah) but what is top stop me doing the following:

1) Remove the inner case thingy that can move around inside the thing. It has two faces at each end for the cassette to lie on, and the splined one at the base (hub end) to stop slipping. so why cant that entire inner case bit be taken out, has anyone thought this before? I have an old 11 - 27 i can cut it out of since its done some ridiculous kms (15000+) and see what happens to it.

2) Drill 2.0 - 2.5 mm holes in the face of the cog block (smallest cog)?

3) Drill holes in the hub end as well?

I dont see a reason why it would decrease performance at all? the thing is so stiff already and when your trying to go under 5kg on alloy clinchers the potential 10gms i think i can take off one is HUGE. But what does everyone think? I got the cassettes on special throught the wholesalers so its not a massive write off, but i would test it on my old worn cassette first. What do you all think?

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Its not worth it for 10grms , Buy a recon .there less than a £100 pounds new on ebay and you will drop at least 70grms. It will not last as long but thats the penalty for the weight loss, unless you go titanium, but more expensive.

See the back of those KCNC fireblade chainrings......that's what would work on these......do the plate thing (the one on the spoke-side). I think it'd be more than 10g.

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Used to race....got too wrinkly and old Updated: Racing again! Thought this was unlikely! Eventually, I may even have a decent race!

How much weight loss?
Easy: take a 11-27 2012 RED cassette and weigh it after removing the 'silencers' between the cogs. That will be the best approximation of the weight you will hit when you take your older RED cassette to the dremel.

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Exp001

if by "inner case thingy" you mean the thin tube between the 12t cog and the back plate, that thing keeps the back plate from caving in when tightening the lockring. i wouldnt do it. drill holes in it but dont remove it entirely.

Just buy a 2012 11-23 Red cassette. 135 grams on the nose! I'm not sure what the prior Red cassette weighs in 11-23 but my prior Red model 11-26 weighs 166 grams so the 2012 is probably 20 grams lighter.

hmmm valid point about the caving in, reckon i can get around it with two tiny carbon pins though. Yes i think the sleeve is completely un neccessary really. Might give it a crack on the older red cassette i have and see if i can get some valuable savings. Obviously the rekon is the way to go, but why not try what i have for now, and when i get more anal about going well under 5kg ill buy one.

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Stripped the inner one out of my 11 - 27, saved 5.35gm. put it on the ground and stood on it and it didnt flex or break? Next is to remove material outta the back plate. 11- 23 weighed in at 154.41. roughly thinking i can get it to 135gm... we shall see... Nice wee weight saving that costs me nothing and puts me close to sub 5kg (on alloy clinchers). Yay

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Standing on it on the floor is really nowhere near the same thing as tightening it down on a freehub, as the floor supports the whole back plate. Try mounting it on a freehub instead, and see if it still won't "cave in". I'm really thinking it won't hold if you tighten it as hard as one should. Remember that it's pretty much the lock ring that keeps the sprockets together, without that pressure the whole thing will fall apart when riding it.

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i put it small cog down and stood on the red back plate (big cog) ill try mounting it, ill measure the rate or compression vs torque and see how it moves.

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I've thought about this too. However, I've decided I'll only remove steel. The inner tube is already very light. I was going to cut slits or holes in it but I worry that this will allow it to bow when the lock ring is tightened. The back plate is much thinner than I expected. Some weight could be safely lost here, but VERY little. Once the back plate is removed (soak the cassette in acetone for a couple days) it should be easy to drill out the main body of the cassette like the 2012, though I'm not sure if the steel is hardened. If so, a mechanical drill won't work, not easily anyway. I have an EDM drill so that isn't a problem.

Ummm... great and all, but SRAM pretty much made these changes for everyone already with the new 2012 cassette, dropping it in weight about 25 grams.

Why risk ruining a cassette and wasting time and energy to save a few grams, when it's already done for you?

hmmm thanks veganeric for the tips... how did you get the back plate off? Press?

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as for removing hardened steel, tungsten bits on a dremel should work. also simply their reinforced cutoff wheels...

wait what? they glue the back cog on?

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