@To all (except fietsbob
Really appreciate the feedback. The comments about "the chain is cheaper than the cassette" isn't quite true for me. I must be using a really low end 11-28T Shimano cassette because, unless I find a chain on sale, I pay the same or less for the cassette than for the chain. That may explain why I'm not getting 20K miles on a cassette, even tho my chain lube/cleaning schedule is fairly often.
Guess maybe it's time to look at higher quality cassettes.
My drive train is close to its time for complete replacement (Crank/Chain rings, chain and cassette). I've been using, and will continue to use, an 11-28T cassette because I like the higher end. However, that 11T cog is what wears the most and the quickest, for obvious reasons (someone has a 10T cog...wow!) My new crankset will change the crank/cog ratio such that 6th gear will be what 7th gear is for me now. Hopefully that will reduce the wear and tear on the 11T cog and I'll get more miles out of the cassette.
Thanks much for the input. Learned some things I hadn't thought about before.
Originally Posted by
Eggman84
I get 10's of thousands of miles on 9 speed Shimano cassettes (closing in on 30,000 with current 9 speed XT cassette). We should all acknowledge that wear on the different cogs can be hugely different. It depends if you typically use just 1 or 2 cogs and which cogs you typically use. For instance, a 14T cog will wear twice as fast as a 28T cog. Then, if you ride in that 14T cog for 80% of the time, well then yea, that cog will wear out fairly quickly while the rest of the cassette is in near new condition. So someone that rides in a small cog most of the time may get only 3,000 miles, while someone that rides a lot of rolling terrain, and thus uses a lot of different cogs including the larger ones can get 30,000+ miles.
I personally use the middle cogs (16//18/21/24) most but I also do climbs and use my largest cogs (28/32) a fair amount. The smallest 3 cogs get used the least. For those that change their cassettes before 10,000 miles, I would be interested in knowing what they are basing their decision on. Noise, bad shifting, chain skipping under load, visual, anecdotal stories told to them by their riding buddies, advice from strangers on forums, or just following what the pros (who don't pay for their gear) do?
Also, why are people so existed about the new Shimano and SRAM cassettes with 10T cogs. Lower weight (including in your wallet)?