Cassettes > Campagnolo Cassettes > 8 Speed

Advantages: Cheapish
Disadvantages: Heavy, Poor durability

OK, let's start by clearing up one thing here which I bet at least 90% of the people reading this review will be asking: What's a cassette? Well, a cassette is one of those incredibly boring things on a bike that doesn't look posh, and which your average bike owner would probably never even think about buying. So, take a look at the back wheel of any geared mountain bike or road bike. See that set of between five and nine cogs? That's a sprocket ...
...a thing? Simple. A bike in regular use gradually deteriorates, and the drivetrain (front and rear cogs and chain) is no exception. The chain stretches, and this causes the teeth on the cassette to wear down. This eventually leads to the chain jumping under load, and until I could manage to get the money together to buy a new cassette, I was stuck with having to get off to go up hills due to the horrendous banging and slipping coming from behind me. ... Read review