I was just given a set of Mavic Aksiums by a friend. I have installed my cassette (105 9 speed) and after tightening down the lock ring as far as it will go, there is still play in the individual gears. The cassette that my friend was using is the same model 9 speed cassette that I'm trying to install. The cassette fit fine on the wheels I took it off of. Is there supposed to be a shim or something that takes up the slack?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

nope.

9 speed is the same spacing as 10 spd. Reseat and try again.

check your cog alignments.

There is a shim that goes on before the cassette on Mavic wheels. It comes with the wheels, did you get one with the wheels?

There is a shim that goes on before the cassette on Mavic wheels. It comes with the wheels, did you get one with the wheels?

No, I didn't, but I called the guy and asked him and he told me he forgot to give it to me. That explains it.

Thanks!

nope.

9 speed is the same spacing as 10 spd. Reseat and try again.

check your cog alignments.

You're wrong. There is a spacer that Mavic Wheelsets require when using a 9 speed cassette. Take it down to your LBS. They can help you get it right. :thumbsup:

Here's my understanding, having looked into this recently in relation to Aksiums and Shimano 9 and 10 speed cassettes.

With a 9 speed cassette, you require a single spacer that should come with the wheel.

A 10 speed cassette is actually narrower than a 9 speed, so it requires the spacer already mentioned, PLUS an additional 1mm spacer that comes with the cassette.

will fit without shims (so I'm told.) Otherwise, why build it so it requires 2 mm of shims for 9 sp and 3 mm of shims for 10 sp? Makes me wonder how many new wheelsets are bought for 8 sp applications....

8 speed is the same width as 9 speed. 10 speed is like 1mm narrower than 8/9 speed.
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8/9 requires the standard Mavic Spacer.
10 requires the Mavic Spacer + the Shimano spacer (1mm-ish)
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NO spacer is required for Mavic's M-10 cassette which is campy spaced....but nobody really uses those.