Road Cycling - Casette preferences

I'm on a sora 8 speed system with a triple up front (not sure on the exact cogs) and have an 11-28 in the back and am thinking of switching to a 12-23 next time I have to change it. What casette do you guys have and what are your preferences?

I have a 12-27 on my bike with 9-speed components. It really works well, and I like having that 27t cog on there, I have actually used more then I'd like to admit. :D

I have a 12-25, 9 speed on my triple K2. I'm going to switch it to a 14-25 soon just because I know I'll never use the 12 on there now, plus I gain an 18 tooth sprocket that I'll most likely use.

Zack

I spotted a 12-23 Tiagra at a store in Montreal. Can you usually pick and choose the spockets that are inside or is it standard sets?

8 speed road cassettes have loose sprockets (sometimes screwed together but they can be undone). I have a 12-15-16-17-19-21-23-26. Duraace-HG50 mix.

13-26/30-42-52 Campy 9-speed for me.

I was all too happy to use the 26x30 on the second of two climbs totaling 2,800 ft. in 9.5 miles that they snuck in between miles 78 and 90 on last Sunday's century. I made it up the first one of about 800 ft. but had promised myself that I would gear down for the final push of 2,000 ft from mile 84 to mile 91. Since I rode to the ride, I guess it was between miles 94 - 101.

my cogset is 11 x 21 (11,12,14,15,16,17,18, 19 and 21 shimano Dura ace

It is better to have an extra gear at the low end that you rarely use, than to need to down shift and have no lower gear. So, unless you never use the 28 then you should have one. This really depends on the hills that you confront.

The case on the small end is different. The choice here is between lots of small steps on your flat-land gears, or top speed down the hill.

My favourite 8 speed cassette is the 13-26, on a double, my wife runs a 12-21 on her 9 speed triple. but she will convert to 12-25 for hilly rides.

I am using DA 12-23 and like it. 11 teeth was just to small for me but the 12 teeth I do use on downhills or if I get a chance to really wind it up. The 23 on the top end is more than enough to get me up any hills I have in the area I live in. I used to have a 52-42 front ring set up but the new 53-39 gives me even more advantage for climbing than before. I have done some hills over 25% grade and worked my ass off but a 25 or 27 would not have made that much difference. On something like that you just have to work, work, work.

the 12-27 i've got has been treating me alright.

i have

12/13/14/15/17/19/21/23 cogs (Shimano 105)

my chainrings are 52/42

Right now I'm running a 12-23, but when I get a new one, I'm going to spring for the 11 so I can really wind it up for the sprints.

-Matt-

Before my old steel Fuji Team got destroyed by an Oldsmobile, I had an 11-28T 8-speed XT cassette with a 39-53 up front (I used a mid-cage XTR rear derailleur). And that was on a sub-19-pound road bike (about 18 with the Zipp 440 tubulars). As you can imagine, climbing was a breeze :) and full-throttle descents on the 53 x 11 were fun too. Dang, I miss that bike... :(

Nowdays I have an 11-28 7-speed cassette with a 26-36-46 on my hotrodded old Cannondale full-touring bike. The 112-gear-inch high gear is adequate for commuting, I guess, but not exceptional. When I'm trying to get from 0 to 25mph in a hurry, the large gear jumps of the 7sp 11-28 cassette are actually handy, and I still end up popping two at a time if I'm hitting my tempo well. Everyone's different... :)

If/when I do ever get enough money to build my Paramount frameset, it will probably get that nice 9sp 12-27, or else 12-25.

I like the 45 minute ones because the 90's break to easy. Oh, bike cassette, 11/23 or 12/25

I use a 12-27 9sp. cassette because I didn't want to go to a triple up front. I'm running 39/53 chainrings. The one gear combo I really seem to be missing is a 53x16. I keep hunting between the 15 and 17 on the flats.

Campy Record 8-speed cassette:
12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21
Almost as tight as a straight block.
52/39 rings

For hilly terrain:
12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23

Sora 8 speed here too, with 13-14-15-17-19-21-23-26 cassette and 52/39 chainrings. This gets me up everything I have found here in Oxfordshire, but its not exactly the Alps. Still, there are some short steep climbs of 10% gradient.

Cheers,

Ed

Originally posted by mechBgon
Before my old steel Fuji Team got destroyed by an Oldsmobile, I had an 11-28T 8-speed XT cassette with a 39-53 up front (I used a mid-cage XTR rear derailleur). And that was on a sub-19-pound road bike (about 18 with the Zipp 440 tubulars). As you can imagine, climbing was a breeze :) and full-throttle descents on the 53 x 11 were fun too. Dang, I miss that bike... :(

Nowdays I have an 11-28 7-speed cassette with a 26-36-46 on my hotrodded old Cannondale full-touring bike. The 112-gear-inch high gear is adequate for commuting, I guess, but not exceptional. When I'm trying to get from 0 to 25mph in a hurry, the large gear jumps of the 7sp 11-28 cassette are actually handy, and I still end up popping two at a time if I'm hitting my tempo well. Everyone's different... :)

If/when I do ever get enough money to build my Paramount frameset, it will probably get that nice 9sp 12-27, or else 12-25.
Maybe I am not a skilled rider, but I like meaningful jumps between my gears also, especially when downshifting. I have almost the same setup as the cannondale on my schwinn Le Tour, but I am focused more on getting down to the right gear as the terrain rises, rather than the other way 'round. I don't find myself wishing for a gear between two of the others. Bear in mind that I am 48 and overweight, and started out on Schwinn Varsity ten speeds in the '60s, so if you are very athletic and have a taste for corn cob gearing you may not be so fond of a wide range. On the other hand, I seem to notice that gravity affects the vast majority of my peers a lot more now than it did twenty years ago. I would not, if I were you, buy a cassette in the hope of geting into good enough shape to use it. Buy a wider range, and if you ride enough to need a narrower range you will have ridden enough to wear it out.

The new Fuji I just bought came with a 30-42-52 triple up front and a 12-23 cog set. I was concerned that it might not be geared low enough--the hybrid I've been riding is geared 28-38-48 up front and has an 11-34 cog set. So far I've had plenty of low gears.

What gears are you using when you ride I use a 11-23 for around the local area and a 13-29 for the mountains. I want to get a 12-25 as a generic cassette for when I do not know what type of terrain is coming up.

I use a 39/52 double on the front. To get a very go selection of closely spaced gears, plus gears low enough for long, sustained mountain climbs, I use a custom 9 speed cassette, 13x27.

This is made from a standard shimano 12x27 by replacing the 12t outer cog with a 13t with built in spacer and adding a 16t. (You discard the original 12t and 13t.

This yeilds: 13,14,15,16,17,19,21,24,27. Since most never use the 12t except for racing, you give up nothing and gain that ever so usable 16t.

Dave

I run a 12-25 9 speed here in the hills and mesas of Northern Arizona. If I try a mountain pass or two in southern Colorado next fall, I'll go to something with at least a 27 on it. When I'm back in Oklahoma for a few weeks this summer, I'll run a 12-23. The 12-25 has a hop between two of the cogs that my legs don't like at all. I go from my usually relatively high cadence to mashing, and it's annoying. The 23 fills that gap, but hurts more on the longer climbs I see here.

I have a 48/34 up front and a 14-25 or 28 or 34 in back. I use a 14-25 (14-15-16-17-18-19-21-23-25) straight up for most of my riding. For trips to the hills I pull the 23, move the 25 down and add either a 28 or 34 depending on what I think I need. If I go the 34 I put on an XT rear der. I like having nice close ratios with the 48 for most of my riding.

I would pick the small cog size to get a high gear inch value of between 99.5 to 103.5 gear inches. This depends on teh teeth on the large chainring.

I would select the rear cogs based on the gear inches of each. This is very easy to do in Excel.

John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ

I have an 11- 23 (9 speed) cassette, I think, on my Colnago.
I have a 14 - 25 (6 speed) cassette, on my Concorde.

12-21 around here with moderate hills, 12-25 when pulling the child trailer, 12-27 in serious mountains. All on 39/53 chainrings.

I like the 12-21 best due to the slight cadence changes when shifting. I hate for my pedal rpm's to jump a lot when shifting. It goes 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 21. On flats and slight hills I seem to stay in the 53- 15 thru 18 most.

I'm currently running a 9 sp Ultegra 12 - 25 in the rear. I'm also running double (53,39) in front, so I'd be very hesitant to run 11/12 - 23 in the rear. However, if I had triple in the front, I wouldn't be as concerned about going low in the rear.

I switch around between 3 (Shimano, 53-39 up front), 12-23, 12-25, 12-27. I like the 12-25 for most riding, but use the 12-27 for hilly rides.

I run a 12-27 in the spring and then switch to an 11-23 when my fitness improves.

However, the 11t is worthless, and my next cassettte will be a 12-23. You sacrifice the 11t for a much more useful 16t.