Originally Posted by
mdcoram
I think I'm missing the good ol' 10 speed days. I'm riding fewer miles now than ever before but it sure seems like I'm going through a lot of 11 speed chains. I know more is almost always better but other than slightly tighter ratios between each gear are there really any benefits to 11 speeds?
If you can't tell the difference, no.
On the other hand, if you're racing or otherwise performance oriented, then extra gears make it that much easier to settle your cadence/power/form into just the right notch for any given condition at any given moment.
My road bike is 11 spd, my CX bike is 10 spd. I never miss the extra gear when I'm riding a CX course, but on the road, I do find that on the CX bike I'm more likely to end up wishing I could bump my current gear up or down 1 tooth.
BB