Sincitycycler

Be pretty cool for the flats at least ..no gaps!

Probably real smooth shifting.

Anybody here strong enough to use this config?

the beef

I wish.
Wayy too many hills around here. The whole Pacific Northwest is just hills, hills, hills. I run a 13-26- that's what my Bianchi Veloce came with. I'd really prefer a 12-27 or something, but it's hard finding Campy cassettes that match what you want, and they're pretty pricey as well. I miss having a 12 on the bottom, it's hard to bomb down those hills.

0-20 in 5 Sec

why that over 11-21?

Smoothie104

I use a 12 21 exclusively, but then again, we have no hills here on the coast

spunky

I'm using 11-23 which is fine for most of the hills I have to deal with. I do wish it had an 18 cog though. Sometimes, shifting from my 53/19 up to 53/17 is a bigger jump than I want. That means I have to go into my 39/13. But I do like how most of the time when switching between the front rings, I can usually keep the chain in the middle of the cassette and not have to jump around from end to end which I do alot of if I have a 13-26 cassette.

531Aussie

A big guy like you might need a 11 once in a while with a strong tail wind, especially with those big cranks.

No hills around here, and I have 9sp, 11/21. If i was doing hills I'd probably put on a 39 instead of the 42. I must admit I sometimes wish I had a 23 with the 42, but I'm not gettign rid of one of the middle gears

In my opinion, close ratios are crucial for hammering, coz our legs and lungs are sensitive to big cadence changes when we're riding flat out. Changing to the wrong gear can throw the cadence off for several seconds when my heart rate is 190!!

Sincitycycler

Hey Aussie,
turned my 12-27 Dura-Ace into a 11-27. The LBS took out the 16t

Goes like this now:11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27. Great shifting in the big ring, but you can see that I have some seriously climbing gaps- it's OK...better than have to get off your bike because you are overgeared...LOL

I really think that that there is a big market for an 11-25. don't you?

ViperZ

12-21 on my Campagnolo, and 12-23 on my Dura ace, It's nice to not have a gap, a small take back to riding flat prairie land.

Jet-man

DA10 12-21 is $125 wholesale and retails for like $200ish which is F-ing crazy. I 'gree the straight-block is nice to have if you're around the terrain to ride that. Here in CO, I alternate between a 23 and 25 depending upon how much climbing is involved. I want to get a 21, but I'd use it like 2x/year hardly racing at all anymore and am having a hard time justifying the puckering price. I wish Ultegra came in a 12-21. The new Sram's should be available soon and will likely be < than half of DA.

bigdraft

I generally use a 12-23 for training or rides with any kind of climbing to be done. I tried a 11-23 for a while but it created to noticable of gap in the gear ratio for what I like. For racing I use a 11-21, since I have 9 speed, there is still a gap in the gears, but I never notice it.

H1449-6

I have one.

In my parts box.

I haven't used a corncob since I lived in Columbus, which has basically no hills.

SBSpartan

I ride an 11-23t and sometimes I have to pay attention when shifting from the big to the small....nothing you can't get used to though. There are very few times when I think I would need something more to climb. Luckily, hills like that don't last long.

woodcycl

Not since I was 22yrs old and 140lbs !!! ;-) I'm just a "tad" older and heavier than that now.

pedex

Nah, I use a 52/17 for everything w/o a problem, gears are for people with weak legs and no heart.

nitropowered

I ride a 11-21 for crits, flat road races, and flat time trials. Oh, also when I'm feeling crazy/too lazy to change the cassette, I'll go struggle up big hills.

merlinextraligh

11-21. Not because I need an 11, but moreso I don't need anything more than 21 here in florida, so why carry any extra, unused weight.

botto 

honestly i wonder what the point of having a 12 is? when i was a proper racer (as in traveling every weekend to race as opposed to doing a local ciccuit race series every wkd) i made use of my 12 every once in a while in a sprint - as in my RPMS translated the 12 into some real speed, instead of just grinding a big gear.

there was one race a year where i think i made adequate use of it (1st proper stage of the Killington Stage Race) because it was a long, straight, fafse descent, where people started sprinting too early, and you'd be spinning out at 130-150-and more RPMS.

considering the admitted level of most folk here, a 13 would be more than enough.

spunky

I use my 11 all the time on descents. I've found myself spinning out a 13 on many of the hills around here trying to keep with guys using higher gearing.

botto 

perhaps i should have qualified my post. i live in the netherlands, so there arenm't many hills around.

when i was a full time racer, and needed a big gear, i was mainly based in NYC. I raced in NY/NJ/New England, where - apart from a few races in VT - i didn't have many problems getting dropped on descents, actually that's where i managed to make up for my cr@p climbing

KrisA

11-21 on my cross bike for road use, mainly due to the fact that the "big" ring is a 48. It can get kind of iffy climbing out of the valleys around here as often I'm down in 1st gear, but so far no problems.

Sincitycycler

The mph differential gets real small if you use a 50/34 with a 12-21!

xcmntgeek

I have one that pretty much stays permentaly on my disk. Even in flat crits its nice to be able to use the 21 for when things slow down a little. I like it for TTs though and its pieced together:

12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

zzzwillzzz

on my old 8 speed stuff the cogs were loose and i would make whatever i needed for the race. 12-19 for crits, 12- whatever for hillier races most of the time i used a 12-22 for training. with the new ten speed stuff i've got a 12-23, it the same as the 12-21 except trading the 20 on the 12-21 for a 23. it's a pretty good trade so that you've got some climbing gears.

pathdoc

I've got a 11-21 or a 12-21, can't remember which. Bike is superfast on flats and a killer on hills. My next bike has a 12-25 campy record 10 speed. Should be a little easier on the hills.

banerjek

What do all you folks with the 21T do when you get a really good headwind?

Having teeth only one apart is really nice, but it's most important to have tight spacing where you actually do the shifting. There's a lot more difference between 14 and 13 than 21 and 20. Tight gearing is much more useful at the high end than the low end.