if you make 'em out of titanium, I'm all in

my preference is durability, reliability, & ease of maintenance over weight savings. If the cost is right though, I'll opt for saving the weight.

Are your alloy cassettes really that light? I'm still riding Campy 10 but what you have left is a little too narrow for me but may go for it anyway as an alternate just to save the weight. I'm an older rider that certainly can't put out 1500w. I pushed 700w a month or two ago but haven't been able to replicate it. But it occurs to me that in my normal riding I almost never go to the small ring up front and the narrow cassette may just force me to do it more often. Since I finally fixed my front shifting maybe I should use it. I was also thinking of new carbon aero rim brake wheels. Save a half pound on those and a half pound on a cassette, all in the rotating weight? Sounds good. I may finally have that sub 16lb bike. It's a shame I have a barely sub 70 year old body.

12-25t 11spd. Hands down the best road cassette ever made.

Where is this mythical "only down hill with tailwinds" place of which you speak?



;)

An 11-speed 11-25 cassette has 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25 teeth cogs. I don't find the 18T cog all that helpful. I would rather have the 28T cog for 12-28 cassette or the 11T cog for a 11-25 cassette, depending on the terrain.

I bought that last Campy 10 cassette, 11-23. Even if I don't immediately use it I'll need a cassette for the aero wheels that I want, and getting any kind of Campy 10 is getting harder.

NW of Phoenix

You forgot the 11-36, I don't run anything smaller.

and the 11-34 which is now pretty common but is that only on 12sp? I’m losing track.

11-28 for me

I really do not have a certain favorite. I have 11 speed ranging from 11-28 to 11-36.
I have 1X by 12 speed with 11-40 and 44t front. It works great with friction bar ends. Just have to get used to the tight shifting with the lever travel.

a little late for 2025 season production...
But since this thread is still running, some thoughts on what many, probably most Rec riders (not racers) might really use.
Basing my comments on the general range of rider types in my area, which is a very strong cycling community for 'road', from upper level competitors to strong, consistent .
Rider demographics around here are an 'aging' group. More riders 40+, many riders 50 & 60+, many of which are ex-competitors. There just isn't a significant population of young racers/riders in the 20-high 30's ages...
Quite a few have migrated to 'e-road'. The wkend ride groups are mostly aged. Where we once rode at 25-28, the group rides are now 21-24 mph (with bursts).HAving a 52-11 just throws me, it has no use... Having a 50-11 is much the same. Having a 50-121 is marginal...
We have logn climbs, we have short climbs, steep and also middlin. But most climbs need 'moderation - tight sightlines and curves, sometimes drvwys, often dirty corners... Going 40+ on a downhill is unnecessary, and dangerous. You can do it and survive, but it only takes 'one time' to have it go south with very serious consequences.
so an 10-34 or 11-34 ??? Why ?
If you're strong, and a good rider, then you can do anything with a 12-34, and have more versatile gearing where you can use it more often.
Having an 11 and using it once or twice, without much further speed is useless. SO a 12 spd gearing is really only 11 and an 11 speed is only 10 - in all practical use.
Just because all these companies throw an 11-34 at you - doesn't mean you should use it.

@Bob Dopolina - It may take a little 'marketing', but a 'reality' group cassettes for the mass of riders could be sold. If riders don't offload their brains when they jump on the bike...
11 speed - 12-28, 12-30, 12-32, and 12-34 or some other mix... Gears in the 70 & 80 inch range eminently usable and great where many spend most of their riding time...
If you ride at a a steady 60 rpm, this may not apply.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4d4be3188c.jpg

I apologize if I'm making too much sense.
Ride On
Yuri - I buy my cassettes from Miche, in Italy. They can still make what one needs... not the lightest, but shifting is great.

12-32 for hilly conditions. 11 tooth makes no sense; if I'm going 40 mph, I'll coast. I think I'll go with a Campagnolo 10 or 11-speed kit on my imminent build (Emonda SLR rim brake), so I'll need a Campagnolo spline.

I would have brought in a few Campagnolo Ekar build kits for my last round of gravel bike builds, but for the absurd 9 and 10-tooth cassette cogs. So I went back to Shimano.

More: am I ever going to buy anything with Shimano Microspline, or SRAM AXS? Notwithstanding I spend way too much of my and my pals money on bike stuff, but the answer is a simple: Nope.

How fast are you going to spin when going > 30 mph? With a 52T chain ring, a 12T cog, and 28 mm tires, spinning at 100 rpm tops out at 35 mph.

Bicycle Gear Calculator

I have 50|34 chain rings and a 11-speed 12-28 cassette, and I routinely spin out at a little over 30 mph.

Lots of mashers use that small cog.

I don't know if that overlaps with bdop's target market of weight weenies in the know

Yeah I have to say I prefer low cadence high torque at high speeds on gradual descents. I don’t regularly pedal at over 50kph because we don’t have the terrain for it but if I do, I want a low steady cadence.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Mayer
11 tooth makes no sense; if I'm going 40 mph, I'll coast.

The point is, at 35 mph, are you using power to maintain that?
If it's a flat sprint, then you're always trying to add more power? means more force or more/higher cadence/spin.
If you're going 35 mph down a descent, is turning the pedals at 100 rpm adding to the 35 mph ? Maybe not... if the downgrade is creating that speed.
100 rpm is not really close to 'spinning out'
If you're really 'racing', then every little edge makes a difference.
If you're a 'rec' rider, why turn the cranks, if you're not adding anything to the result?
... There are very few descents where I would feel comfortable to safely go over the low 30's , unless it was a 'closed and secured course' and race conditions. - none of which applies these days.
Most descents around here are quite twisty and with the requirement for a good sightline at high speeds, 35+ is very risky...
The roads with adequate sightlines are usually highspeed state hwys - such as the elkhorn grade, and there you could do 50 easily - if the road surface was reliable - not because of 'surface', but because all of the crap/hard materials/car & truck junk on the road sides... Having any kind of blowout or fast puncture at those speeds will really hurt.
If I'm approaching 34+ish on most all roads, I'll let the hill do the work. and I haven't really sprinted in some 15 yrs...
race gearing is a whole different game.
are you really racing?
Ride On
Yuri

I ride the same rolling hills in my neighborhood almost every day, because I can leave from my house and don't have to drive my bike somewhere to ride it. My Caledonia has 52-36 chainrigs and an 11 speed 11-28 cassette. I use all the gears on my ride. I'm never in 52-11 or 36-28 very long because all the hills in my area are short. It's fun to put on the power downhill in 52-11, so don't try to take away my fun! My point is that we are all different riders riding in different conditions, so there's no one answer to what's the best gearing. Use what works best for you, and for me, an 11-28 cassette is ideal. Do I need the 11T cog? No. Do I even need 11 gears back there? No. But I want those 11 gears and I use my 11T cog on several downhills almost daily. The best gearing for you isn't going to be the best gearing for everyone.

Ditto :)

For what it's worth, my main road bike is a bit older and due to concessions I made when deciding on gearing, the smallest cog in the cassette is 12t rather than 11. Large chainring is a standard 52. There's a specific hill that I can usually just barely get my computer to recognize 50mph as my top speed while spinning out in 52-12. I don't know what my cadence is (though I know a gear calculator will tell me) but it's high enough that I can only hold it for a few seconds at or near 50mph. I get to 40mph regularly and, while my cadence is also rather high at that speed, it doesn't feel impossibly high and I can hold it for much longer.

I love seeing posts about spinning out at 100rpm.

Is that too low or too high?

spinning out at 100 is low

WORD

50-11 is about a 122 ish gear inches... fine, if you're a World class Track Sprinter... but most of them are using in the 112 to 120 inch range, except for a few real monsters.
and their 'spin' is quite a bit higher than the great unwashed of us...
https://www.velodrome.shop/progears
A 50-11 at 30 mph is 82 rpm... and is slightly faster for larger dia./circum. tires... at 35 mph, you're 'spinning' (term used loosely here) 96 rpm...
... are you really adding any power? I'd be surprised...
A 50+ - 10 , laughable...
so a 12 or 11 spd 10 (or 11) - 34 cassette is really, at best, an 11 or 10 spd...
might you be better off to have more useable gearing in the 70s & 80s inch range...
my guess is that you'd do better
some history... and really the 'general rider' hasn't changed that much over the years... BITD, most riders were quite 'dedicated', and put in some miles...
from a younger guy... https://markwalkercoaching.co.uk/jou...ad-bike-gears/

...so if your 10 or 11 has only a light coating of road dirt, maybe 'virginity', in this case, has no value...
I'm not espousing the demise of the 10 or 11, just that there be MORE options, like in the 'Good Old Daze'...
when we had 7 & 8 spd blocks we could make ANY range we wanted... 5 & 6 spd blocks were many, and much varied... and we learned how to 'spin'
for many, most of us, we'd do better with more 15,16,17,18,19 or 18, 19, 21, 23 than 11,12,13,14 straight sequences...

Any of you ever get a chance to ride with good junior racers (under 19)? Keeping up prove difficult? They are restricted to 52-14 , which works out to around 99 inch gear...
... just sayin...

Ride On
Yuri