Originally Posted by
FastJake
Maybe, but how much does that 10/11 speed stuff cost? I'm still buying 8-speed parts at $11 for a nice KMC chain with reuse-able master link and $20-30 cassettes.
I don't know, or care, about 11-speed but I buy 10-speed Shimano 105 (CS-5700) cassettes for about $25 and 10-speed Shimano chains (CN-6600 because I have triple cranks) for about the same cost. I've even seen SRAM 10-speed chains for about $12 so, overall the penalty is minor to zero.
One big advantage to 10-speed cassettes is that the 12x27 has he all-important 16T cog while giving me good, usable smallest and largest cogs. The widest range 8-speed cassette with that 16T cog cog is a 13x23.