Patapsco Rides, 29r issues, Scape back to MTB, REI

I started riding Patapsco again in February.   Been doing short ~1 hour runs whenever I have a chance to get out.  I started riding the 29r until the cassette on my rear wheel was wobbling so bad that I was having shifting issues.  Since I have not been doing much road riding and I was having shifting issues with my front derailleur on the Scape road conversion, I swapped all the mountain components I took off back on.  I also bought a new set of Mavic wheels which allowed for both disc and rim brakes.  I had a couple of mechanical disc calipers, that originally came on my 29r, that I placed on the Scape.  I didn't realize that the Mavic wheelset needed a spacer for the cassette since my old wheelset did not need one.  So after noticing the shifting issue after the first ride, I took a look at the pamphlet that came with the wheels and it stated that the Shimano freehub requires a spacer for the cassette.  It would have helped if I had read it first.  I also noticed that I was not as tired after climbing as I was on my 29r.  Today I took it out again with the spacer fix and I was able to go much further than with my 29r.  I noticed that I almost doubled my average speed and that was with a 10 minute talk with someone I haven't seen in a couple of years!  I think the 29r will be placed on the back burner for a while.

I did replace my 29r rear wheel with the original one and placed the cassette on there.  Everything worked fine.  I tried to look at the wheel I was having an issue with and was able to take apart the hub/axle but not the freehub.  Apparently you need a special two notched tool to take it off so I went to REI in Columbia.  The guys there are really awesome.  Much better than any other shop I've gone (Race Pace & Performance). They looked over the wheel and said there was really nothing they could see wrong and asked me to bring in the entire bike so they can check the wheel when mounted.  No charge whatsoever!  Can't beat that.  I also noticed that REI's prices are at least 1/2 that of the other places I've gone.  I think this will be my store of choice whenever I have something done that I can't do myself.