"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Question for Racers who Train on DA Cassette

I train on a Dura Ace 12/25 cassette. I am averaging about 5k miles before shifting gets choppy. I replace my chain every 1,500 - 2k miles. Does that sound about right based on what others are getting out of their DA cassette / chain? BTW, I race Cat 3 and train a hard 150 - 175 miles a week with a lot of intervals, so those are not easy miles with smooth shifts every time, but I do my best to keep things smooth as much as possible.

I'd say that's ball park for me. If you want to save money use Ultegra cassettes, cheaper, wear longer, and the wieght penalty is pretty small.

I haven't found the cassette to be the issue.

I'm going through:
chains
cables (getting chewed up in the shifter mech)
cable housing (sweat)

8-12 hours weekly, mostly interval training.

sounds roughly right depending on how much wet weather you do.

I haven't found the cassette to be the issue.

I'm going through:
chains
cables (getting chewed up in the shifter mech)
cable housing (sweat)

8-12 hours weekly, mostly interval training.

Good lord! What's in your water bottle H2S04?

I have schweaty pawls.

I've only ever ridden the D/A cassettes that came on my bikes. I've always replaced with SRAM (9-spd) or Ultegra (10-spd).

Why on earth would you train on a cassette that costs so much more, doesn't last any longer, and doesn't shift any better?
I'd train on a freakin' Sora cassette if it came in 10 speed.

why on earth would you train on a cassette that costs so much more, doesn't last any longer, and doesn't shift any better?
I'd train on a freakin' sora cassette if it came in 10 speed.

+1.

i had two, now have three dura-ace cassettes that are 4 or 5 years old. i train 8000 or more miles a year and still use the same cassettes. so each cassette has 15-20,000 miles or more and they're fine to me. i just change the chain ever 6 months or so.

105 cassettes... I think they are steal. Ultegra might be steal too.

Sometimes I race on my training wheels, so I like the weight savings and quality. I buy them new on eBay for about $120 which doesn't seem like a lot of $$ to me if I only change them once a year....that's race fees for two weekends. Thanks for everyone's answers and insight. Sounds about right.

i train and race on ultegra cassttes. nothing i've tried shifts better for the price.

so I suppose that for me, it is all about shift/price ratio !

Why on earth would you train on a cassette that costs so much more, doesn't last any longer, and doesn't shift any better?
I'd train on a freakin' Sora cassette if it came in 10 speed.

This makes little sense. A training cassette and a racing cassette? The only reason one should change cassettes for races is to get a better gear ratio for the character of the course.

What chain are you running? If its DA thats about right

I have a DA cassette on one of my bikes. That cassette was on the bike when I bought it used. I'm guessing it had a couple of thousand miles on it then. Since then I've put about 12K miles and four new chains on it since then and it still shifts great. I will ride this bike in the rain, but I do keep the drive train clean and lubed. And I'll take the cassette apart just about every month for a really good cleaning.

When it is time to retire the cassette I'll probably put an Ultegra on. The DA is a lot of $'s more for very little improvement.

This makes little sense. A training cassette and a racing cassette? The only reason one should change cassettes for races is to get a better gear ratio for the character of the course.

Or if you have race wheels, then you just leave a good cassette on them.

Save the expensive stuff for race day, and train on something cheaper. That way your race cassette(s) will last for a many seasons while you just continue to replace the training cassette that costs half as much. Much cheaper. Do you train on your race tires too?

Or if you have race wheels, then you just leave a good cassette on them.

Save the expensive stuff for race day, and train on something cheaper. That way your race cassette(s) will last for a many seasons while you just continue to replace the training cassette that costs half as much. Much cheaper. Do you train on your race tires too?

I have a set of training wheels and a set of racing wheels. Training wheels are clincher, low profile, aluminum, box section rims. Race wheels are deep carbon tubulars. So, no, I don't train on my "race tires". But tires make a big difference to performance, cassettes (of the same ratio but of different "levels") do not.

Now, I do use different cassettes for racing and training, but it has nothing to do with one being "better than" another. They are all DA cassettes. But my training cassette is 12-27 (its better to train at higher cadences), my racing cassettes are either 12-25 or 11-23, depending on the terrain. The 12-25 is my most common race ratio.