The Pro Cassette Wrench is a simple yet highly effective tool to use when you’re removing a cassette. It’s compatible with most modern drivetrains, and I found that it made light work of even the most stubborn cassette.
Pro can’t claim to have invented the design, as several other brands offer similar systems that perform the same role, replacing the traditional chain whip by holding the cassette firmly while you use a lockring tool to remove it.
The cassette wrench is dual-sided, with three pins on each side designed to engage with the smallest cog of the cassette. One side fits 10-tooth cogs, the other 11T, covering most modern drivetrains.
This excludes Campagnolo Ekar users and others running cassettes with a 9-tooth smallest cog, as well as anyone still using older setups with a 12T smallest cog.
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It’s exceptionally easy to use. While Pro would no doubt recommend pairing it with one of its own lockring tools, it worked flawlessly with the Park Tool FR-5.2GT, which features a 12mm guide pin. I also tested it on older wheels using a quick-release and standard lockring, and there was still plenty of space to attach a wrench or ratchet. It’s equally compatible with other lockring tools, including those with built-in handles.
The PRO Cassette Wrench proved especially effective on one SRAM cassette that had previously refused to budge, locked on an XD-body, making removal effortless. The grip it provides is excellent, with the long handle offering plenty of leverage and it’s also comfortable to hold.
Value
There are similar tools with broader compatibility, such as the B’Twin Chainwhip that Dave reviewed some years ago. It’s now £18, which is still cheaper than the Pro, but it can’t handle 10-tooth cogs.
Another well-regarded alternative we’ve tested is the Pedros Vise Whip, now updated to the V2 model.
This works with 9-23T cogs but costs considerably more at £75. The Park Tool Cassette Pliers CP-1.2 are a popular shop choice, but that is also more expensive at £65.
Conclusion
While I won’t be retiring my old chain whips just yet (one of my bikes runs Ekar), the Pro Cassette Wrench has impressed me with its simplicity and effectiveness. It’s durable, unlikely to wear, and while a typical chain whip is unlikely to wear either, using one on a worn cassette can be problematic, so if your cassette’s smallest cog is 10 or 11-tooth, this could easily be the only removal tool you’ll ever need.
Verdict
Simple and impressive tool to help remove even the most stubborn cassettes
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road.cc test report
Make and model: Pro Cassette Wrench
Size tested: 10T and 11T compatible
Tell us what the product is for and who it’s aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Pro says:
“Designed to provide you with a better sports’ bicycle experience the PRO Cassette Wrench provides an alternative to chain whips. Developed to be used with the Pro Team Lockring Tool it holds the cassette firmly in place, by latching to the teeth of the smallest sprocket while you loosen the cassette’s lockring. It features a long shaft to produce leverage and an ergonomic handle to further enhance ease of use. The Pro Cassette Wrench is compatible with 10T or 11T, smallest sprocket, cassettes.”
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Pro lists:
Designed as an alternative to a chain whip
Developed to be used with the Pro Team Lockring Tool
Long shaft for increased leverage
Ergonomic grip
Available for 10T or 11T sprocket compatibility
Solid steel construction with a long, grippy handle that makes it easy to hold firm when applying pressure.
Excellent. It makes light work of even the most stubborn, hard-to-remove cassettes.
With no chain to wear and a tough construction, I see no reason why this shouldn’t last you a very long time.
Wide handle and enough grip. Perhaps the material could be a little softer, if I were being very picky.
While there are cheaper chain whip tools and alternatives, this is a quality option and priced fairly against other top-quality tool options.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Flawless. Simple, works on all modern cassettes, and it is so simple to use.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
How simple and effective it was at removing a stubborn cassette.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Nothing.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
I’d happily get rid of every other type of chain whip or wrench I have if I only had 10 and 11-tooth cassettes.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes – I already have.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Definitely.
Use this box to explain your overall score
It performed flawlessly on every cassette I used it on, and with every lockring tool I have used alongside it.
About the tester
Age: 39 Height: 168 Weight: 61
I usually ride: My best bike is: Cannondale SystemSix
I’ve been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, cyclo cross, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Lots of gravel style riding
11 thoughts on “Pro Cassette Wrench”
Sprockets, not cogs.
Sprockets, not cogs.
Wing Mirrors
Up ya Wing Mirror – pedant.
It would be great to see some
It would be great to see some idea of how it works as £30 is a chunk more than a chipwhip.
Can you use it for wiggling sprockets that have bitten into the freehub body?
You place it over the
You place it over the cassette so that the pins fit the smallest sprocket. You can use either side depending on the numner of teeth. Then you use your other tool to remove the lockring with this tool providing the resistance.
I should have thought it will wiggle sprockets provided you can hold the main body firmly.
Decathlon version is 12.99
Literally dont bother. You
Literally dont bother. You can get the Decathlon version of it for 12.99 and it does 12, 11 and 10. Its a newer version with a moveable pin, I have the old version which is identical to the above but not an absolute con of a price.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/chain-whip/_/R-p-366226
The excellent Decathlon
The excellent Decathlon version will cost you £12.99…
Just like in Spinal Tap the
Just like in Spinal Tap the Decathlon tool goes up to eleven.
However, if you’ve got a 9T or 10T smallest sprocket you’ll need to use something else.
jaymack wrote:
That’s true and I have the Decathlon version, but in this use case, it doesn’t go “down to 10” – it’s one less. One of my bikes is a 1985 and the Decathlon tool “goes up to 14” – it’s “4 more”
I was thinking the same thing
I was thinking the same thing! And it has a 14t for junior limited ratios.
it lacks 10t so the chain whip with the plier style is still the best for those scenarios.
I bought one in January; it
I bought one in January; it does 10,11,12,13,14 teeth sprockets.
This appears to be a V2
This appears to be a V2 product