I've been struggling with some of the hills around my house. I live in the mountains so grades are quite steep. I have a stock 11' Allez m2 apex. The stock low gearing is 36/28. I was thinking of going with SRAM's PG 1070 (lighter) 11-32t. Will it be a huge difference? Worth the expense? Do I have to put on a new chain as well?

I can't comment on whether or not you will need a new chain (although I think not), but 32t will be a noticeably lower ratio than 28t.

#1. Yes.
#2. Depends.. see #1.
#3. Probably.

And I guess the next question is... 11-32 or 12-32... The 12 seems to have better gaps, but I will lose a little speed. Noticeable?

Most climbs can be performed in those gears. For any climb you cannot do or suffer hardcore on: go as high as you can go and suffer, suffer, suffer, and then descend down to the bottom, when you get to the bottom, turn around and head back up. Repeat a few times for each climb and eventually you'll be able to conquer them. Establishing a better engine is more efficient than changing your gearing for only a few months of crawling up a short climb at a comfortable cadence, and then want the higher gears back.

Why do you say the 12-32 has better gaps? From 16T to 17T is a 6.6% change, then you have a 33% gap from the 24T to the 32T. SRAM should fire somebody for that.

Overall, the 11-32 has more evenly-spaced gaps, which is counterintuitive, but if you go up something steep enough to need a 32T, it's probably steep enough to get some use out of the 11T cog on the way down.

One thing to check too, can your rear derailleur take up the extra chain associated with a 32t cog. Also, you will probably need to lengthen your chain to use it. What kind of grades are you talking about here? I agree with others that it is better to upgrade the engine rather than the gearing if possible, but I also agree that sometimes you need to do both. I have lowered the gearing on my bike significantly since I purchased it a few years ago, down to a 34-26 from a 39-23, but I still have to stand and grind up certain hills in my area because they are still too steep to spin up. Others though are easier to ride, which makes a big difference in a long ride. So the long answer to a short question is that it really depends on what you are riding and how long you have been riding. If you have been riding for a while and still can't make it up, lower gearing may be the answer. If you are just starting, it depends on how steep the hills are that you are riding.

The difference is huge and most likely you'll need a new chain because the one you have will be too short unless it wasn't shortened to your existing gears. You will probably need a new rear derailleur. I've seen people use long cage RD's with the b screw turned out all the way, but this is well beyond the capacity they're supposed to be used for so an MTB RD is more appropriate.

Also, switching to a 34T inner ring will help noticeably.

I have a sram apex rear derailer, which is mid cage and sram advertises that it works with the 11-32. I think I am going to wait a month or so, and if I still feel I need it at that point I will get it. Thanks for everyone's help and opinions.

The apex comes in two models, short cage and mid cage. The Allez comes stock with the short cage, so you would need to switch to the mid cage.

It will be cheaper to get a 34T inner chainring (assuming you are using Shimano or SRAM and I read correctly that you are using a 36T inner ring) rather than get a new cassette. Plus, you will not need a new chain.

You will get comparable gearing (although the "feel" is subject to your fitness level) to a 32 cassette by just getting a 34T inner ring and using your existing 28 cassette.

+1. You will also be ridiculed less on BF for running a 32. GL

Srsly...who would do that? That's like the Shimano "Mega Range" cog on my wife's hybrid. No matter what, shifting in to or out of that cog is awful due to the differential.

I can verify this by personal experience. I went from a 36t to 34t small ring with a 12x25 cog set and it made a noticable difference on my Rival equipped bike. I have since gone to the 11X28 cog set and I'm where I need to be for a 48 year old, 6'-3" 200# rider climbing around the mountain roads of northern Utah.

The sram 12-32 does.not.go from 24 to32 it goes 24,28,32. However changing the small chain ring sounds like a good idea but I am worried about the gap from 34 to52.... I really like my current gearing' just wish I had a bailout gear

You would probably need a new crankset, but I'm not sure with SRAM. I know that most other brands need a different crank in order to take the smaller chainring. This would make the big ring 50 instead of 52.

If he already has a 36t on the front, he *has* to have a 110bcd crank, and just needs new chainings. I also don't know where you guys are getting that there is a short cage RD for apex, because according to SRAM there isn't:
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/produc...ear-derailleur


If you guys are going to give advice, at least know what you're talking about. He already has a compact, and has a RD that has a 32t capacity. If he wants to change his gearing, all he has to do is either put on a new chain and cassette, or new front chainrings, which may require shortening the chain.

The 12-32 "does.not.have" a 28t https://www.sram.com/sram/road/produc...-1050-cassette 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 24, 32

Jaye, you are right, my mistake. I was taking my info from another site and not Sram directly. I should have verified. Thanks for pointing that out.

On your link, look in the bottom left and click on "alternate views" to see a picture of the short cage derailleur (you might notice it has a shorter cage than the primary picture). Yes, no information is listed for it in the specs, but it can be readily found elsewhere on the internet (weight 200g, wrap 33 links, max cog 28t). I assume this is because so much of their marketing for Apex has focused around it as a triple replacement, rarely mentioning that it can also serve as a standard road group. The Allez is equipped with this derailleur (I happen to know, as I have one sitting in my house, I also have a cross bike with the Apex mid-cage derailleur, and they are definitely different cage lengths).

The Allez comes stock with a 110 bcd crankset with 36/52 chainrings. As suggested, the OP could change the inner ring to a 34, and in doing so would probably want to also put a matching 50t ring on the outside.

We all need help learning to ride hills seems to be the only thing anyone might agree on.
Work a little harder for free before spending any $.
+++

I thought my 21T to 34T jump cassette shifted pretty well. 9 speed with an XT derailleur.

Ah, I see. Crafty they are, those sram guys.