Originally Posted by
chasm54
Sorry to crash the chorus of approval, but I loathe and detest those big cassettes. The big jumps between gears are less efficient and mean one is constantly groping for the right gear in rolling terrain. A triple with a much tighter cassette at the back is much the better way to go if one wants a climbing gear in my opinion. It also means much less shifting up front, because going up and down the gears on the 39 middle ring is good for 22-23 on the flats and adequate for moderate hills.
I recently went 11-speed on one of my road bikes and foolishly bought a 50-34 compact and a 11-32 cassette. Horrible, just horrible. I've now put a 12-25 on it, which almost, but not quite, makes up for the horror that is a 50-34 compact crank. Next step will be to revert to a standard 53-39' or maybe one of the new 52-36 jobs if I'm feeling feeble.
+1
Well ... I wouldn't say that I loathe them, but I have no interest in moving to a compact double set up. I understand why Shimano et al would rather everybody move to a compact set up (forgoing the expense of marketing different brifters and derailleurs), but I still believe them to be a better setup.
1. The spacing offered by an 11 speed system is only marginally better than a 10 speed system. Why compare them to the 6 or 7 speed systems so few use?
2. Going to bigger and more cogs in the cassette negates much of the weight advantage of a CD.
It's not all about range, and it's not even all about spacing, its also about doing
less shifting. To wit:
Little Chainring: Hereabouts, our climbs are typically long, so I just put it in the little chainring and keep it there. I can shift up considerably using the rear derailleur as the grade lessens (I don't use the little ring as a bailout gear). So what is often referred to as the "hassle" and "complexity" of shifting into the little chainring is a lot of nonsense. And when I'm in that granny gear, I get the benefit of finer spacing.
Middle Chainring: Riding around in average terrain and gentle hills, I can put it in the middle chainring and keep it there. And since the cassette isn't wildly spaced out, there is reasonable spacing between them.
Large Chainring: Racing on flatter terrain, I can use the large chainring to get 1/2 steps between the gears and get exactly what I want. Believe it not, that is a huge advantage in the endurance races I do. And of course, its there for the usual purpose of high speed riding.
I dunno ... CDs are all right. But I'll be among the last to adopt them.