Originally Posted by
thirdgenbird
If I want better or easier I will ride one of my two bikes with record 10spd.
Its also not "covering part of a cassette" I am using part of a cassette the plan is to buy a 12-26 and toss the worthless 26t.
On every shimano cassette I've seen the largest several cogs are all one unit, it might not be possible to take out just the largest cog. Using part of a 10 speed cassette is a good idea though. You could probably buy loose miche cogs and an assortment of spacers and build your ideal cassette, but it might get expensive.