jryan

I'm looking to do some light touring on my 2008 Bianchi Volpe. It has 28-38-48 up front and a 12-23 cassette with a long cage Tiagra rear derailleur.

What would be a good cassette for touring with this setup?

Tourist in MSN

It obviously depends on how steep the hills will be. I find an 11/32 range cassette to work quite well on almost every road that I have come across. If you find that the hills with that cassette are a bit too steep, you could change the 28t to a 24t. But you said light touring, not loaded, so I suspect that the existing 28 granny will suffice.

I am not familiar with the exact bike you have, I assume it is a 9 speed cassette. I use an 8 speed 11/32 cassette with an Sram 11/32 cassette. Most of the cogs on the 8 and 9 speed Sram 11/32 cassettes are the same. The difference is that the 8 speed has a 26t cog and the 9 speed has 24t and 28t cogs.

Do not forget that you will need a longer chain.

jryan

Hills aren't an issue, I live in FL. Bridges, on the other hand, can get quite steep.

Yes, its a 9 speed. I was thinking 11-32 might be good, but wasn't sure it would work with my derailleur. The spec sheet for the stock build calls for an 11-32, but it came with a 12-23.

Also, when choosing a cassette, how do you know if its for road or MTB?

ClemY

With the rings you have, I wouldn’t worry about an 11 on the cluster. I like a 12-36 9 spd cluster with 20-32-42 rings, but I am old and slow.

jryan

I might consider that for the disc trucker i'm building for next year. I'm just looking for a quick replacement of my 12-23 that might make it a bit easier when carrying loaded rear panniers. I can't seem to find any 12-32, except for a custom made one from Harris Cyclery.

Tourist in MSN

I do not think there is any difference between road and mountain bike cassettes except that mountain bikes will generally have a wider range.

If a 28 front and 32 rear can't get you up a steep bridge, swap out the front 28 for a 24 but I would wait to see if it is needed before buying a different chain ring. The 28 probably shifts smoother than a 24 would. I have a 24 front granny gear but shifting up off of it is not a smooth shift.

I do not have experience with the Tiagra but I assumed a long cage would handle a 32 just fine. If the bike came new with a non-stock cassette that the dealer may have swapped, you might want to double check that the derailleur is the long cage that the bike should have had new. Maybe the dealer swapped that for another too?

If the bike came from the factory with an 11/32 and the dealer changed the cassette, maybe the existing chain is long enough?

nun

Anything with more that 28t will be a MTB cassette.....but it doesn't matter, as long as you use the appropriate derailleur MTB cassettes work fine on your road bike.

jryan

[QUOTE=nun;14841360]Anything with more that 28t will be a MTB cassette.....but it doesn't matter, as long as you use the appropriate derailleur MTB cassettes work fine on your road bike.[/Qwork]

I measured the cage and its definitely a long cage.

My lbs bought the left over inventory from a shop that went under. My volpe was part of that Inventory, but had been stripped of some of the parts. They must have put whatever cassette they had available. Not sure about the chain. I need a new chain anyways, so not too worried about making the existing one work.

Doug64

My Volpe set up with an 11-34 rear cassette, Shimano Deore rear derailleur, and 44/32/22 crankset. I also used a shorter, 103 mm bottom bracket to maintain a 45-47 mm chainline with the mountain bike cranks. Mountain bike cranks are usually made to obtain a 50 mm chainline. It is true mountain bike gearing. We have hills here! I also have a LHT set up with the same drive train, except a LX RD. You can just change out the rear derailleur, and the cassette to get a good combination of touring gears.

CrazyLemurBoy

I use 48-36-26 (thinking about switching to 24 or even 22 if I have the clearance) and 13-34 8 speed cassette. I also live in FL and have ridden in the windy, 'hilly' bridges of the Keys. It can be just as tough for us given the right terrain. Most of the time though, we get a nice flat ride I feel like these gears still give plenty of top end speed and natural gear progression. I use a long cage XT but I have plenty of leftover chain wrap capacity. Go for it

bradtx

jryan, The 11-32T cassette will be fine.

Brad

Doug64

I don't think the Tiagra rear derailleur will handle a 32 tooth cassette. They are designed for a top end of 27 teeth. Some folks have managed to make it work on 30 tooth cogs, but 32 might be pushing it.

If you have to change the derailleur to accommodate a 32 tooth cog, why not put something like a Shimano Deore rear derailleur, and an 11- 36 tooth cassette. It will not cost any more, but will give you a bail out granny, just in case you cycle somewhere besides Florida. In a 3 week ride around Michigan, a supposedly flat state, we gained a total of 31,000 feet. Bikers know that there is no such thing as flat!

fietsbob

crank in the B screw and give it a try.. even a 12 - 28
will give you a 4:1 high & a 1:1 low gear..

drop the 28 to 24t on the front ,
and then when you go out of state, to the places further from sealevel,
then your mountain climbing extra teeth on the back, will be that much lower.

ThermionicScott 

You've already got a 32" low. You may not need anything lower, depending on how "light" your touring is. A 12-27 cassette is guaranteed to work with your existing hardware, and would give you one gear below what you currently have, just in case.