UKC

Have an old bike that I use for commuting, changed the rear wheel over (last wheel disintegrated) to an old spare I had, it was only a 10 year old wheel, now find that gears are crunching etc.
Is it due to needing a new chain or perhaps due to the wheel cassette?

Don't want to spend too much on it, only use it for commuting

In reply to Pids:

not exactly sure what you mean by crunching but there are two options.

A) it's just not set up correctly.
B) The chain and cassette are unevenly worn.

You can try aligning everything and see where this takes you. If not, could you take the cassette off the old wheel and put it on the new wheel?

In reply to Pids:

It's likely to be that the chain and cassette had worn together. Get a new chain or use the chain that was with the spare wheel (if there is one). All this depends on how worn the cassette on your "new" wheel is, so you might have to replace that as well.

In reply to Pids:

Are the chain and sprocket matched pitches? i.e. 9 speed with 9 speed etc etc

In reply to Pids:

Could be one or all of several things:
As others point out, the chain and cassette should 'wear together' which means a new cassette deserves a new chain and vice versa.
Secondly, there is no guarantee that the cassettes on your old and new wheel will be in EXACT alignment - check limit screws and cable tension (shifting) with the new set up, otherwise you may get that clicking/rattling sound like its trying to change cog all the time.
A quick 'n dirty solution is to take the old cassette off the old wheel and put on the new (but may still need alignment).
HTH
N

In reply to cousin nick:

New wheel, new cassette and new chain - should see the bike good for another 10 years or so then, sorted