Originally Posted by
stephr1
...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...
This is a mountain bike, and so you are using a triple, right? Can I ask which front ring you are using most often? If you are spending a lot of time on the 11T cog, perhaps consider using the next biggest ring more often, or installing a bigger ring if you are already on the biggest one the majority of the time.
Originally Posted by nfmisso
If chain and cassette life are primary concerns; use cassettes and chain rings with more teeth as @
Eggman84 says. Consider 14 teeth for the smallest cassette cog, and make up the rest of the drive train to suit. Admittedly, this is a few grams heavier (cogs, chain rings, longer chain, possibly long cage RD), but it will last longer.
Maybe a few grams heavier, but isn't the current conventional wisdom that bigger bigger cogs and rings are more efficient? I think your advice is good, and he should try a bigger ring, which will have him spending more time in bigger cogs.