I am trying to remove a cassette from my disc to put it on a different wheel for a sprint race tomorrow and can’t get the wrench to turn the lockring! Does it generally take a lot of force to remove it? I am not particularly strong when it comes to things like opening jars, etc
Are you using a chainwhip? It takes some force but should be manageable.
Get something that acts as a longer lever. Either a longer wrench or a steel tube that you put on the whip tool.
The answer to your question is yes, they can be very tight. There are torque specs for the ring, but most just put it on “tight”. 
AAARRGGG!!
Thanks all. This is frustrating. I don’t really need to change the cassette, I will just use the disc tomorrow but it would be nice to be able to do this myself and not have to go running to the LBS with 2 rear wheels before and after every race that I want to use different race wheels for!
I will have to see if my dad has a longer wrench or something to make the lever arm longer tomorrow. I just don’t have that kind of stuff laying around 
(and yes, I am using a chain whip)
PS: What do you rest the wheel on while you are trying to remove the cassette? I just have the wheel resting on a table while I am trying to turn the wrench.
Put the wheel between your legs, standing upright. You can get a lot more leverage pushing down on the wrench.
http://howtofixbikes.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-remove-bicycle-cassette-or.html
watch the video with - the last 3 minutes… shows you how…
Just make sure you are going counter-clockwise and crank the thing. Stand the wheel up and get the whip and the wrench 180 degrees from each other and push down.
This is what happens when triathletes avoid the weight room.
PS Why the heck wouldn’t you want to use the disc?
buy another cassette = not having to change it in the future
.
I’d still have to change it if I wanted to use different cassettes for different courses - I have an 11-23 and a 12-27. I’d like to get a 12-25 but I’m relatively poor and I have other things on my list first (see my thread on breaking bottle cages)
I definitely am not winning any upper body strength contests (I had spaghetti arms as a little girl but after lifting weights and rowing crew for a little while I actually got muscles. apparently not enough to wrench my own bike, yet, though).
fair enough - I hate taking my rear wheels off and getting my hands greasy from the chain. I got some used race wheels this summer that came with a 11/23 and I traded it in the classifieds for a 12/25. Cost me shipping and now I have 3 wheelset’s and 3 cassette’s. Now I only have to take the rear wheels off to fix the blasted flats I’ve had recently.
Hope you got it off!
You seriously can’t apply enough torque to unscrew the cassette lockring?!
Man, you really belong on SLOWtwitch!
Give the girl a break !
I hate to admit this, but I can’t leave you hangin’ there by yourself. I have this “friend” and she had a hard time changing her cassette too.
“there is no need to touch the chain to remove a rear wheel.”
In fact you shouldn’t need to touch the chain at all when changing a rear wheel.
Practice, practice, practice…
fair enough - I hate taking my rear wheels off and getting my hands greasy from the chain.
Before you take off the wheel, spin the wheel and change the rear all the way to the smallest cog. Open up the skewer and pull out the tire. Sometimes it takes some finesse.
When you put it back on, just aim it so the chain falls on the small cog before you put the wheel fully into place. Don’t force it, though. The derailleur will need to “roll” around the small cog a bit.
This would be so much easier with a video to explain…
dang - seriously - all this time I have been eff’n messing around with towels and such and I didn’t have to touch the chain? I have so much to learn - sooo small cog is the secret
hey!
OH WELL.
You seriously can’t apply enough torque to unscrew the cassette lockring?!
Man, you really belong on SLOWtwitch!
I doubt he is using campy, but that has a 50nm torque when tightened correctly, and shimano should be using 40nm. To break that easily you will need a wrench, or lever off the end of it that is at least a foot long.