Originally Posted by Emonda

About to purchase a new chain (overdue @ 5,000 miles), and considering a new 32t cassette for my 5800 105 on my S5 Emonda. I've got it set up with 11-28T and compact crankset, and it's been a fantastic first road bike for the last 18 months. I live in a super hilly area where a 15 mile ride around the neighborhood doing hill repeats can net 4,000' elevation gain. Some of these hills average 10% grade for a mile and in my 34-28 I'm grinding at 60 cadence up it. Maybe even lower. My dad says "YA DON'T NEED 32T!" but I'm starting to disagree. What's the point of grinding up a hill when you could be spinning 20-30 cadence higher at the same speed? Plus, all the videos I've watched about what the pros use in their hilly stages was interesting. These guys are rocking 32-34T on the big days.

But now I've learned that I have a short cage in the rear which is a bummer. I guess I have to buy a whole new derailleur + cassette. Is it possible to run a 32t cassette on my short cage 105? Is it cheaper to just replace the individual cogs? Am I going to need to readjust all of the cables if I switch it to 32t? Lol sorry for all the questions.. I should probably move this somewhere else