Mortica

Alright guys or gals...I hope I have all the info to enlighten ya'll.
I am new to cycling and well I want to get better. I have a Felt F65 and don't get me wrong, I love this bike; however, I have a shimano hg hyper glide 12-23T cassette and this is a 9speed bike (I believe I am correct on that). I live in Greenville, SC and tried to attempt to do a Paris Mountain ride with my boyfriend...low and behold you can forget that! I was struggling so hard with the hill climbing. Can I swap out a cassette on this 9speed without changing anything else or what all do I need to change out??? Or will it just save me to go out and get a new bike...I just cannot part with this one, I love it.

I'm confused...this is all new to me.

FBinNY 

Can't say with absolute certainty without knowing the chainring sizes, and derailleur, but in general, you can go with a larger cassette with few or no complications. In most cases, the derailleurs can handle cassettes up to 26 or 28t, and many derailleurs can handle up to 32 or even 36t.

So depending on the specifics, you have some room without other changes, or more room with some changes. In any case, you may need to replace the chain with a longer one, if it was measured for the minimum length on the existing gear combination.

Kimmo 

IIRC your rear derailleur will most likely allow a big cog as large as 28t, but you'll likely need a longer chain as well.

Which isn't such a big deal if your bike has some miles on it, because it's advisable to change cassettes and chains together since they wear together and using an old chain on a new cassette or vice versa invites extra wear and other bad things.

Mortica

i know for sure that I have put some miles on this bike with the same chain...the derailleur I have no clue.l I know is that it says Shimano ultegra with the shimano 105 flight deck shifters.

Mortica

from the reviews I was reading on Amazon...I do believe I can get a 12-27t, would probably be better for me with all the hills here?

ThermionicScott 

Does yours have the triple or double crank? (It seems like a lot of the 9-speed ones had a 52/42/30 triple crank.) A cassette with a 26-28 cog will undoubtedly help, but this problem may also be cured by riding more miles.

bradtx

Mortica, How many teeth do the front cogs have?

Brad

Mortica

I have only a double crank in front.

Brad...when you mean front cog, is at the crankset? Sorry, I am very new to this. If that is the case...it says Shimano SG B-53, so I am assuming there are 53T and the most inner one has 39T, I do believe.

Homebrew01

Chainrings

The number is usually stamped on them somewhere, otherwise just count.

Mortica

hahaha ok. the front crankset has 53/39.
the cassette I currently have is 12/13/14/16/17/18/19/20/23 (hopefully I counted that right)

Continuity

What you have there is sometimes referred to as a 'corn-cob' cassette (cos it looks a bit like one ) - it has just a 1-tooth difference between most sprockets, making it more suitable for time-trialists or flatland riders.

You would undoubtedly benefit from one that gives a lower gear (has bigger sprockets) - as others have mentioned, your rear dérailleur would almost certainly support a 28T, and it may even stretch to a 30T or a 32T.

You've got a pretty big large chainring up front as well a 53T, with the 39T inner - combined with the 23T at the back, it's no wonder that you've been finding things a bit hard going!

Mortica

Awesome...going to look into this 12-27 cassette then. Yeah I tried doing that mountain ride and I am surprised I lasted as long as I did before my legs said heck no you aren't going any further hahaha.

Continuity

You might be able to go a bit lower, even - do you know what year model your Felt is - the 2006 was a 10-speed - BikePedia has the 2005 model listed as having 53/39 FSA Gossamer cranks (I've exactly the same, but a triple on my Kona ) with a 9 speed 11-23 cassette, and Ultegra shifters and RD (rear derailleur).

You mentioned your RD was a 105, though? It's quite common for manufacturers to change specs on bikes, even within a particular year, or maybe your bike has had bits changed on it? Have you had it from new?

If you post what model your RD is (it'll be stamped on it somewhere, it'll be marked with something like RD-5700-GS-S) we can work out just how low you can go.

Oh, and *do* make sure you get a new chain when you change your cassette - not only will it very probably need to be a bit longer to accommodate the new cassette with the larger sprockets, it's always a good idea to change them together.

If your old chain isn't too worn (or 'stretched'), you could just put it in a bag with the old cassette, and maybe save it for when your engine has built up enough to use it.

Bezalel

Whatever larger cassette you use, you'll also need a longer chain. If you go past 27 teeth you'll also need a medium (GS) cage MTB derailleur and if you go past 30 teeth you'll need a long (SGS) cage derailleur. Deore LX is the same quality level as 105 so I'd suggest the RD-M571.

Your current gears are OK as long as you stay in the Piedmont but are not suitable for the Blue Ridge Mountains.

lineinthewater

If you are going with the larger cassette, don't forget to adjust the b-tension screw on your RD. With my older Shimano RD (2005ish), even completely screwing it down didn't provide enough gap on the 28 cog (even though the RD was speced for up to 28). If you have the same problem, remove the screw and put in from the other side, as discussed here:

https://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-762337.html

Homebrew01

If the 27 is not low enough, another option is to replace your "standard" 53-39 crankset with a "compact" 50-34. You can sell the 53-39 to get back part of the cost of the compact.

bradtx

Homebrew01, brought up why I wanted to know your chainring sizing, the option of using a compact 50-34T equipped crankset to further enhance climbing ratios.

Brad

ksisler

Can you post pix of what you have (the bike)? Can be most helpful in sorting out the fix.

ksisler

Mortica; Not surprising you had a hardtime on the hills as those are pretty high gears. Good thing you are looking at lowering them before your knees begin to protest...

Mortica

hahahaha...my knees did protest!!! by the time I got home, my whole lower body hated me!!!

Mortica

it says rd-6500 via...posting picture soon. also I bought this bike used because of how short I was hahaa. the 650x23 tires worked better for me than the 700 and I want to say this bike may be a 2004-2005 model. I bought it from a gentleman (was his son's bike) and it may have only ridden three times and just sat in is garage for years.

Continuity

Apparently, the 6500 SS and the 6500 GS have the same large cog limit of 27 teeth but that limit can usually be extended up to 30 or possibly in some cases up to 32 teeth.

It's a nice-looking and specced bike - how much did that set you back if you don't mind me asking?

BP has the MSRP (new) at $1,399.99, and the weight as 18.8lbs for the '05 model.

Mortica

believe it or not...I payed $500 cash and walked out with it...I love this little bike

Mortica

pierce

there's two RD-6500's, apparently, "SS" and "GS" (short swing, and I dunno what?). https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830611842.pdf says the SS version can handle 28T rear, while the GS can handle 27T

the SS has a 'total capacity' of 29T, while the GS has a 'total capacity' of 37T. Total capacity is the (bigfront + bigrear) - (smallfront + smallrear), eg the difference between the largest and the smallest gear range. I suspect the GS is for triples, so you undoubtably have the SS.

now, Shimano's specs are fairly conservative, you can usually exceed them by a few teeth...

anyways, 53 + X - (39 + 11) = 29, assuming you stick with an 11T high gear)... that gives... X = 29+39+11 - 53 = 26 with your current chain rings.

if you swapped that 53 for a 50, you could get a 29. if you could find a 9 speed cassette with a 13T high gear, you'd get 2 more on the low side, but sadly those seem to be uncommon or unobtanium.

frankly, the swap that makes the most sense is putting a 'compact crank' on there which is a 50-34 front, that would get you a 34T low gear instead of your 39T. but this is a more expensive swap, especially at Ultegra quality levels.