Shift_GO!

Finally got around to replacing my cassette. It was getting so bad that it was skipping almost every time I mashed it or went up a roller. At first I attributed the skip to the massive amount of power my legs were putting out, then I woke up.
I was surprised by the amount of wear on the cassette. Okay, maybe not considering where I ride. Going through Lanikai cannot be the best thing for your drive train.
I do clean and oil my chain about every fifty miles though, knowing that it tends to pick up dirt, dust and sand. I guess it didn't really help.
Here's the cassette:



You can see how the teeth on the two gears in the middle of the cassette have worn. Some of them have started to "hook" a bit and there is a difference in size compared to the other teeth.
I use the 17 and 19 almost all the time. Even when climbing hills, I usually only drop the front seeing as how I have a mountain triple. Evil Hoku says that makes me lazy, since I don't push all the gears when I ride.
Here's a closer look at the teeth:



As I said, I was surprised by the amount of wear and its effect when pedaling. By my count there is only about 2700 miles on the cassette; all those stories of getting five thousand plus out of one are kind of suspect. Then again, I got Lanikai.
I am going to switch over to a different lube also. I am going to give T9 Boeshield a try. I used it on some of my power tools and I wasn't aware it was used on bike chains. It's a dry wax lube so it may be more suited to the kind of conditions I subject my bike to.
My old cassette was a SRAM 12-26 and I am now on a SRAM 12-23. I decided on it mostly for the 16 tooth gear. Most cassettes skip the 16 and drop from the 17 to a 15. I also figured that if I couldn't climb any of the hills around here with a 22/23 combo, you might as well take my bike away. My new found gearing allows me to crush the souls of old people and young children with ease.
Which reminds me of the time I was riding my warm up stretch early one morning on the display bike when I came upon an elderly gentleman apparently on his morning ride. Coming up from behind him, I paced him for bit before deciding he was going a bit too slow for me. So I passed him with a "on your right" and lead him to the next intersection. I slowed to make the left turn, he came up from behind me, gave me "the look," cut me off on the turn, and proceeded to lead me on the next stretch. Now this sort of bothered me as he resumed his pace and I did not want to overtake him again. After a half mile I decided enough was enough and passed him on an slight uphill, into the wind stretch and did not see him again.
I'll remember "the look" old man, and next time, when you see my gleaming new cassette, you'll think twice about messing with me.
I got the new gear just for you.