SHIMANO HG51 8-Speed Cassette

When I say “better gearing for hills”, this is what I’m trying to convey… A comparable SRAM cassette jumps all the way from a low gear with 32 teeth to second gear with 26 teeth. That’s a jump of 6 teeth from 1st to 2nd gears! The Shimano cassette goes from 32 teeth to 28 teeth in second. THIRD gear on the Shimano cassette is 24 teeth compared to 23 on the SRAM. In plain English…if you’re climbing a fairly steep hill & second gear becomes too difficult with a SRAM cassette, first gear might also be too easy. With the Shimano HG51 8-Speed Cassette, you have a beefier (or lower) second gear for hill climbing. Here’s the comparison…SRAM – 11, 13, 15, 17, 20, 23, 26, 32Shimano – 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 24, 28, 32

Shifting with this cassette seems much better than with the aftermarket cassettes I've sampled on the same bike. I marked it five star because it works great, and is a good value. In the category of "easy to install" I gave it a 4-star, because it would be impossible to call it 5-star easy given the fact that swapping cassettes requires two bike-specific tools (a cassette chain whip wrench, and a cassette socket), plus a torque wrench. If you work on bikes enough to have those tools (as I do), then yeah, it's 5-star easy. For everyone else, it's not until you go pick up those necessary tools.I marked it 3-stars for light weight, because it's not. It's exactly the weight that you would expect of a mid-tier Shimano cassette. Dura-ace would be 5-star light. Ultegra and 105 would be 4 star light weight. This one is 3-star light. And low end cassettes would be 2-star light. Sure, it's pretty light, but it's not "wow, I'm giving this 5 stars!" light.The shifting is good, the chain runs well over all the cogs without skipping, it's just what it should be if you need a replacement 8-speed cassette. I also like the gearing range; 11-32. That goes well with my hybrid bike that has a 28/38/48 chainset in front. It would be even better if I had a 9, 10, or 11 speed drivetrain, but we pick cassettes to match our shifters, derailleurs, chains, and chainsets. And 8-speed is what I've got. In that category, this is about as good as you can get.

Shifting isn't particularly fast, but that's due to the jumps between the larger cogs - an inherent limitation with 8 speed. But the finish quality is good and the weight is reasonable.Options for 8 speed replacement cassettes in the 11 x 28/30/32 tooth range will continue to dwindle. I'm pretty sure Shimano has replaced this cassette with the HG-41-8, which has a lower quality finish on the smaller cogs. Shimano's CS-HG31 (for low-end application) has the black mystery finish which is prone to early rust. SRAM's PG-850 is lighter, but the greater tooth difference between the larger cogs results in slower downshifts. The SunRace CS-R86 is made in China and prone to quality control issues.So of the remaining Shimano-compatible 8 speed cassettes, this CS-HG51 would seem to be the best option in terms of durability and shift quality. Until they run out of stock, that is.

Quick Notes:- Great quality cassette that’s light in weight.(I didn’t put it on a scale but just holding it I could tell it weighs less than 1lb.)- Easy to install you just need a chain whip or an old chain and some gloves (is what I use) and a Shimano freewheel remover to take off your old cassette and just the freewheel tool to install the new cassette.- Can take a lot of force being applied to it without any chain slippage.- Up shifting (high toothed gears) is as smooth as butter and has the smoothest down shifting (lower toothed gears) that I’ve experienced out of any cassette I’ve used.- Becomes super shinny again when cleaned with simple degreaser.- I would recommend this cassette to anyone looking to replace or just upgrade their current cassette.Full Review:I’ve used this cassette every day for 3 weeks now and have put a few hundred miles on if so far and I’m very pleased with its performance. I installed this cassette in less than ten minutes including setup. To replace a cassette you will need a chain whip and a Shimano Freewheel remover. It’s worth noting that if your cheap like I am you can just use an old chain and hold it with some gloves to prevent the old cassette from moving when removing it. The chain isn’t needed when installing the new cassette just the freewheel tool. If you are unsure of how to change a cassette look it up on YouTube or take it to your local bike shop or if I get 5+ comments asking about installation I’ll make a video of how to replace a cassette but there already tones on YouTube if you are unsure of what you are doing. Now about the performance of the cassette up shifting on this cassette is like most others its butter smooth but much to my surprise this cassette dramatically improved the ease of my down shifts it almost never slams into any gear the only gear slam I notice is going from 28T down to 24T and I assume the 32T to 28T is probably the same but I’ve haven’t had to go into 32T yet in a real world ride. Every other down shift though is very smooth it is important to note that in order to get smooth shifts it’s not just the cassette that matters but your derailleur and shifters as well. My personal set up is a Shimano Acera M360 derailleur and Shimano Acera SL-M310 Shifters. The next cassette I order though will probably be a 11-30T simply because I’ve climbed some pretty steep hills any only ever felt the need to go to 28T but if you are new to mountain biking you will probably want to get a 11-32 just to make sure you can climb any hill. You can also really crank out the power on this cassette and not have to worry about chain slippage, which is great if you like doing burst power workout rides like me or if you are on the heavier side and looking for a quality cassette to go with a bike that you can use for some basic exercise. But the best part of this Cassette is by far its durability with scratch resistance. When you clean your bike after a long off road venture that gets everything covered in mud just spray some degreaser on your cassette and spray it off with a hose and it will look brand new again. I have no problem recommending this cassette so anyone its fairly inexpensive and the performance is miles ahead of any of the cheaper cassettes that really makes this cassette worth spending the extra 10 bucks on.--*If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will try and respond as soon as I can, but I have a job and things to do so please don't expect a response immediately.*

Excellent, smooth shifting gears. I exchanged my entire drivetrain for the latest Claris groupset and flats to drops. My bike came with a very strange combo in the OEM drivetrain. I chose the 11-28t cassette and it's perfect for my riding segments. For the price of components I can play with different cassettes with my 34,50t crankset before deciding on/building a midrange road bike next year.Update: The roads I use are dotted with hills 4% up to 10%. I've recently changed to the 11-32 to combat them. Shifting is as smooth and the 11-28 looks like new. I only use the 32 for emergencies. Great budget gears.

Shimano gear cassette always quality at the right price. I've used these cassettes for a good while and they have never failed. Outstanding delivery service from Amazon UK once again during covid 19.Respect to each and everyone of you who are working at this very difficult time. Stay safe

Delivered in time, good seller. After two weeks using with new wheel (Shimano R501) I can say this cassette is quiet good for the price. Maybe I should think in less teeth for the last gear as this is too big and don't need in London where almost everywhere is flat. Good quality/price. Easy to install. The sprockets are fixed (except two first..).

Exellant for money went right on my carbon racer enjoying the higher ratio on hills so not just for Mtb, smooth changers great happy

Really nice product, seems very sturdy and makes a smoother ride. Easy to install.

Bought to fix a slipping chain on my old GT Timberline which had a 11-30 cassette and IG chain. Works perfectly and the bike is good for another 23 years!