Originally Posted by
KonaRider125
12 speed would make larger cassettes such as 11-32 and 11-36 smoother, which is likely what we are going to see.
Not seeing this coming to road bikes real soon, but that would be my thought---having more one-step gearing, or having tighter gearing and a serious granny gear tacked on. A weakling like myself would sure love a 36-tooth don't-make-me-walk gear on a standard 11-28 cassette.
The advantage would be that a rider at a decent pace would not have to double-shift and hunt for the right gears if s/he were in a good cadence/effort level and the road or wind picked up just a little ... and being able to stay on one ring longer means not finding out halfway up a hill that you should have dropped to the small ring.
Can't say I think 12-speed is needed by most, and I think its best application is a 1x set-up ... but you know if they use it in the WorldTour peloton people will buy it.