Review on BOLANY 9 Speed Cassette Review: The Perfect Fit for Mountain Bikes and Road Bicycles, Ultra-Lightweight Design by Robert Staten

Ah 90's. Well, back in the late '90s, when Shimano became obsessed with the idea of increasing the number of gears that would fit on a rear wheel. "9?!" they shouted. Well, that was also the time when riders thought the big 25-tooth cog was a "pie plate" (if only I could go back in time with an Eagle cassette). I've always had a Shimano 6500 Ultegra groupset in my heart, it was the nicest yet, very easy to set up and use and durable. It's not as "fussy" as my 11 speed bikes (not a 12 speed yet). Now that I'm half a century old and still riding in the mountains of Colorado, I have a bike with an older 9 speed groupset and I'm having a hard time finding proper cassettes to keep my cadence above 12 rev/ min to hold when going uphill. These cassettes are pretty simple riveted gears with a nice finish. No additional aluminum spiders or anything like that. I like the "matte" gray color compared to the shiny chrome finish. Description "super light". In fact the weight is pretty average and on par with the original Shimano cassettes (I don't remember but I think mine was in the 270-280g range for 11-28). The performance is quite acceptable for a cheap cassette. The finish is a little rougher than the big brand and a little louder in my opinion. The shifting performance is more than acceptable and I would say it would be difficult to quantify the difference to the original cassette. After driving it a few miles it seems to settle down a bit. I only took off one star because of the "super light" mantra in the title description. This is not an ultra light cartridge. I would guess they are sold under different brands in the same factory and yet they are forged steel gears. I suspect that most of them will be of good to excellent quality, but there will be a higher percentage of defective units. If you happen to get one I would just trade it in as you have a high chance of getting a good device for it. I hope this review is helpful and I wish you a good trip!