nuke_diver

On the steeper hills I struggle with my 12-25 at time and given that I have bad knees am wondering if changing cassettes might be an option (avoiding the steepest hills is another ). I've looked around but I cannot find the option that I think would be best so I wonder if it doesn't exist or if I am just missing it. I have a CAAD-10 with the ultegra groupset so the cassette is
12,13,14,15,16,17,19,21,23,25
Now I rarely use the 12 (only downhill where there is a long straight and on my rides there is really only 1 place that has that. What I think would be ideal is something like this
13,14,15,16,17,19,21,23,25,28
Essentially swapping the 12 for a 28 but I only see 11/28 which give the lower gear but also a higher one which doesn't seem to make sense since there will be more gaps between gears and all I want is the lower one. I wondered if a 11 speed could be fitted to my bike thinking that an 11 speed would just add one to the 10 but it seems that they didn't go that way either so it doesn't look like that would even be worth pursuing since it doesn't get me what I would really like

bikeman715

I found this one on ebay , 12-30 Cassette | eBay

shelbyfv

I like the 12-30 cassettes. Ribble has the Ultegra for $37 and Tiagra for $17. I have one of each and can't tell a difference on the bike. The Ultegra is lighter and prettier and less likely to be in stock.

achoo

Junior cassette maybe?

Shimano CS-6600 Wide 10 Speed Cassette

Just make sure the 13 doesn't cause problems and hit something.

Bandera

The mfgs insistence on a top cogs of 11 & 12T is absurd even with compact cranksets except for the strongest racers.
For the 10 cog set-up on my Vitus I bought a CS6600 "Junior" 13-25 and a 5700 12-27, by using the bottom 3 cogs from the 5700 I now have a very useful
13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-24-27 and a spare 12-25.

I raced on a 107GI top gear "back when" and don't need anything taller now.
Since the 11 cog systems are 11T top for any mid/wide range cassette they offer no advantage for me.

edit: Back when shops had a Cog Board to build custom FW or Cassette as required and replace worn single cogs at little expense, too old fashioned and labor intensive today.....

-Bandera

achoo

True, if you want to go to a 12-30. But if you thought an 11-28 would have gaps...

And once they've been on your bike for a while, neither one will be prettier than the other.

fietsbob

[TABLE="width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD]SIZE 1: [/TD]
[TD]13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-23-25
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]SIZE 2: [/TD]
[TD]14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-23-25
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]SIZE 3: [/TD]
[TD]15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-25
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]SIZE 4: [/TD]
[TD]16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-25-27 [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Interesting choices

shelbyfv

Yes, it's quite a spread but I'm not too particular about cadence, don't even have a readout for it. The 10 speed rear is probably 20% more than I need

davidad

Shimano 12-30t Tiagra CS4600 10 Speed Cassette Gears - Harris Cyclery bicycle shop - West Newton, Massachusetts

DiabloScott

Nah... it's all those middle gears that are a waste for some of us. This is my normal ride -




I can spin out 50x12 every time but I'd like to have
21-23-25-27-29 instead of
21-24-27 at the low end.

Bandera

Diablo,

Your normal ride is exceptional.....

-Bandera

Drew Eckhardt 

With no 16 cog which makes it completely unsuitable for road riding.

Campagnolo has a 13-29 (13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-26-29) although that doesn't help with Shimano splines and shifting.

The right fix here is a road triple with a 74mm BCD inner ring - 26 x 25 is like 39 x 38 or 34 x 33; 26 x 23 is like 39 x 35 or 34 x 30; although you keep tight spacing and shift to the big ring at a reasonable speed.

HillRider

That's my thinking exactly and I'm surprised how few cassette combinations have a 16T cog. It's the first cog sacrificed as the big cog gets larger due to the insistence on 11 and 12T small cogs. I agree that Campy's 13x29 is a wonderful choice but only fits Campy compatible wheels and shifters.

My favorite Shimano cassette is the 10-speed 12x27 (12,13,14,15,16,17,19,21,24,27) combined with a HTII 105 triple crank (50/39/30 or modified to 50/39/26). The 50-12 is more than high enough for me, the 30-27 or 26-27 provides a very low low gear and the 12-17 straight block provides the closest intermediate gears you can have.

nuke_diver

I figured that one would need to stick with Shimano if everything else was already Shimano which is why I didn't check other companies. Too bad as that Campy one would be the ticket I think

That 12-27 might work...I'll have to think about it. Why is giving up a 16 (for a 17) such a big deal??? Not that I necessarily think I need to go all the way to a 30. Right now there is only 1 or 2 hills that my 12-25 becomes painful on but I am hoping to do some longer rides this year and I'm not sure I could handle some of the century rides with the slopes at the end (which is cruel of the organizers)

HillRider

You aren't giving up the 16 for a 17 in most cases, you are giving up the 16 but keeping the 15 and 17. However, the gap between them is quite large and the 16 fills it in very usefully.

The 12x30 is basically the 12x27 but deletes the 16 and replaces it with the 30T cog. I wish they made it as a 13x30 which would allow restoring the 16T. If you've ever had a cassette with a 16T cog, you wouldn't ask why it's desirable.

bikeman715

"With no 16 cog which makes it completely unsuitable for road riding." I agree with you Drew , but I was just answering the OP question about does a cassette exist with a lower gear compare to the one he already has .

mr_bill

If all you want is a lower gear, and your existing cassette is not worn, and you want to stay Shimano, can't you take your 12-25 and add an 11-28, you can build up a:

12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-28?

12 (and spacer, if necessary) and 16 from the old cassette,
19 and the 21-24-28 spider from the new cassette,
and really doesn't much matter which for 13,14,15, and 17.

-mr. bill

magbike

Yeah I have the same wish. 11T and 12T are quite useless for me...I could even live without 13T.

can we mix cassettes from the mountain bike line? I know that Sheldon Brown says there is no difference, but would the Hyperglide grooves align appropriately?

Al1943

Yes, I've used XTR cogs mixed with Ultegra and Dura-Ace cogs on a 9-speed cassette. Works great even though the alignments aren't perfect, I can't tell any difference in shifting performance. I often ride a 9-speed 13-26.

magbike

9 speed is a lot more flexible than 10 speed, 10 speed has a lot more incompatibilities.
That said, I've never found a direct answer to whether or not cogs within the Shimano 10-speed family are inter changeable

ThermionicScott 

"Completely unsuitable" might be overstating the problem a wee bit , but I'm in total agreement that a tight cassette and triple is a nice way to go.

Now that I've scored a couple of relatively-rare 13-21T cassettes, I'm toying with the idea of converting my main Bianchi back to a triple.

Dfrost 

The shifting will probably be just fine even if those grooves don't align. We lived without them for quite a long time.

Drew Eckhardt 

50-40-30 x 13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21 was my favorite in the 8-speed era - a 7 cog straight block for plains east of Boulder, CO and low gear like 42x28 for the mountains west with no need to change cassettes.

I moved on to 13-23 9 speed because Campagnolo stopped making 13-21 8 cogs then 13-26 10 when I broke a discontinued shifter spring.

nuke_diver

Can SRAM and Shimano be mixed? Seems like the 12-27 that SRAM has might be a better choice for what I think I would like than anything else I can find

mr_bill

See this. With several of the cogs you have an option of which neighbor it pairs with. Follow the pairs and you should be ok.

-mr. bill