generalkdi

Me and my friend used the same gearing you do (34-27), this year, he changed his cassette to get a granny gear, and now he's just slower anytime he uses it.

rpenmanparker 

I have ridden a road bike on mountain roads equipped with a compact front crank set and Deore XT rear MTB derailleur. IIRC I used a 32 tooth cassette for a 34/32 low gear combo. This was relatively inexpensive to set up, under $150 including derailleur, cassette and chain as my existing road shifters worked fine. All that I had to watch out for was that the RD matched the pull direction of the road shifters. The setup worked pretty well. Shifting wasn't up to the highest standard especially making the leap to the 34/32, but overall it was just fine.

JohnJ80

There is a 12-30 (IIRC) 10 speed cassette. That said, you need to have the long cage RD in order to use it. If you have the short cage (which would be my guess) the max you can have is a 28.

The problem with the 12-30 or the 11-32 11 speed (which I have) is that it's just hard for me to find a gear I like on given terrain. Each of the adjacent gears are too big of a jump either up or down. I much prefer to have a set of tightly spaced cogs in the range of 11-19 and then to have it step up from there. The 11-32 doesn't do that and I always feel out of sync with the bike.

Also, at some point, if the gear is so low, it's faster to walk. So my counsel would be to not go lower than a 28.

I upgraded my bike this year from older 10 speed ultegra to the 11 speed 6800 stuff. Really, really nice group - quietest driveline I've ever had to the point where it's amazing. I also find the addition of that additional mid range gear really to be quite nice. Anyhow, I replaced the 11-32 with a SRAM 11-26 which I really like. For hillier country, I'd go with the SRAM 11-28 which is the same as the 11-26 but the spacing on the last 2-3 cogs is opened up a bit. Anyhow, that's as far as I'd go on a 50-34 compact crank and I'd be way good with that.

The nice part of gearing with the 11 speed systems is that the cassette spacing is such that the wheels are all interchangeable. So if you have a hub with a changeable free hub, you can use Shimano, Campy or SRAM cassettes in the same driveline. In point of fact, I actually think that my SRAM cassette is smoother and quieter in my Ultegra 6800 driveline than the Shimano one was.

J.

Panza

My LBS and I counted the rear cassette and its actually a 12-25. An 11-28 is the largest I can go up withoutneeding to chqnge my RD. Will the extra 3 gears really help that much? 34/25 =1.36 vs 34/28 = 1.21

gsa103

Yeah, the stock Infinito cassette is 12-25. I had mine swapped for an 11-28 when I purchased the bike. Yes,it will make a difference.

My LBS told me the same thing about the RD. The Shimano spec is 28T for the RD, but many people have gotten a 12-30 to work without any issues. You need to extend the B-tension screw, which should have plenty of threads to do that. If you read here most people who have tried it report success. You may need a longer chain though.

Panza

The b-tension screw still has half an inch of thread on it. I like the idea of moving to an 11 for a high gear... gotta break that top speed record. How long have you had your infinito, I see you posting often. : )

GP

Yes, it will be a big difference.

JohnJ80

Actually, the real benefit to the 11 speed is that it gives you access to a higher gear on the small chainring in the tightest range of your cassette. You can't use the 11 on the small ring but you can use the next one which is then typically a 12. on your 12-25, that means that the highest gear you can use on the small chainring is probably a 13.

I live in a hilly midwestern area and am pretty good with the 11-26. I also spend a lot of time out in the mountains and with my 10 speed there, I've been pretty happy with both an 12-27 and an 11-28. Like I said, using the 11-32 (11 speed) cassette I have now, I rarely went lower than a 25 (goes 11-12-13-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32). The 22 was adequate for me going up 8-10% grades with no problem and the 11-28 would be more than fine for steeper grades.

WhaI've found is that with the 11-26 (11,12,13,14,15,16,17,19,21,23,26), I like to keep it in the range of 11-17 where there is a long spread of cogs spaced out by a single tooth. If I have to climb, then it's welcome to drop by larger jumps (larger cogs on cassette) but on any relatively consistent terrain, I like to keep it in the more tightly spaced part of the cassette. Look at both SRAM and Shimano cassettes, they typically have different gearing in the range and both work interchangeably in a Shimano drivetrain.

J.

gsa103

I've had the Infinito for about a year and half, still loving the bike.

When I first got the bike, the shop didn't have an 11-28 cassette handy, so I rode the 12-25 for a week or two. I did one ride up Mt. Diablo (11mi, 6% ave, 17% at the top) on the 12-25, ouch. Since then I routinely ride on the 11-28T without any major issues. At 10% my cadence drops to the mid-50s and that starts to suffer, but beyond that its fine, since there are rarely extended climbs much beyond 10% that I tackle.

The thing to remember about climbing is that it varies widely. A 34-28t combination can be fine for 12+% grades, provided the grade is short enough that you can finish the climb before you burn out.

If your cadence is dropping below 60 for an extended period of time, you would definitely benefit from lower gears. Remember, a low cadence makes it hard to generate power, and so you go even slower, forcing an even lower cadence, its a nasty cycle. I rode with a friend who has a standard double (53/39) on 12-23 cassette (flatland gearing). He's a stronger cyclist than me and so on 1-3% grade he's was leaving me in the dust. As soon as the climb hit 5-6%, I passed him without any problem. All because he didn't have the gearing to maintain a decent cadence when it got steeper.

dicktill

I can't speak for others, but for me, the only way I get up steep hills (10-17%) is with granny gears. I use 9-speed Shimano Ultegra 6503 stuff (52-42-30 crank) with a 9-speed Shimano XTR 12-34 cassette and rear derailleur. Lowest gear of 30:34 is 23.2 gear inches. I've thought about going to an 11-speed Ultegra, but the best gearing available there is the 50-34 crank and 11-32 cassette, and that won't make it for me with a lowest gear of 34:32 or 28.0 gear inches. Have no idea how so many riders make do with double cranks (even if they are "compact") and only a 25-28 rear cog.

So in answer to your question, I would say yes!


Sorry, I'm new here, so I don't know the inside jokes and jargon. What exactly is "41"? And the rules?

Regards, Dick

Panza

Velominati ? The Rules

Hes refering to this. Lol

Panza

But the 41 i dont know

waters60

Go low, your knees will thank you. When you lose more weight and feel stronger you can go to higher gears.

chinkroadrunner

I went from 12-28 10spd on my previous bike to 11-32 11spd on a new bike and it made a huge difference on the steep grades. I have two short hills that are 20-25% and maybe 2-3/10ths mile where I can now sit and spin up the grade without have to stand and "power" up. If you need the bigger cassette it is well worth it. Not sure moving up to 11spd is worth it if you have to change out other components.

Long Tom

Go granny. Mashing up steep hills is begging for knee problems, and that'll shut you down toot-sweet.

The anti-large-cog bias around here is noticeable. A macho thing?

NormanF

Get a MTB Mega-range cassette and long cage derailleur. You'll be able to be climb a hill faster than you can walk.

If you really need need ultra low gearing, you can put in an MTB triple crank set 44-32-22. That combined with the Mega-range cassette should give you really low gearing.

You'll be thankful for the times when you can just call on your granny gear in a cinch.

fstshrk

A lot of people including me are running the Shimano 12-30 10 speed with a short cage RD. It works just fine. I am running this combo on two different bikes one with 6700 ultegra RD and another with the 5700RD.

Reynolds 

Even some pros use 34/30 or 34/32 up 20% climbs like Angliru and Zoncolan, IIRC.

Athens80

The 41 is the Road Cycling forum here. The URL used to have "41" in it.

Duane Behrens

I ran a 12-30 10 speed cassette with a short rear derailleur (RD) for about a year and a half without issue. Last night, I finally installed a medium-cage RD and a new chain. I found gear changes to be crisper, especially in the lower range.

Then I learned that both the stock short RD and medium RD have the same rating for max teeth on the rear sprocket; 28!

Oh well. It's still better. Go figure.

When they publish that maximum rear tooth rating, it would help if they'd tell you what sort of problems are most likely to arise if that number is exceeded. Apparently for myself and many others, there have been no problems at all.

EDIT: I was wrong. The new rear derailleur I installed last night is actually an Ultegra RD 6700-A, rated for 30 teeth max on the rear cog.

Joe Minton

I am 72. My wife is 63. Neither of us have been cycling long. I am overweight by 40# (it was 50# a month ago). Our granny gearing is 24 front and 32 rear for 21 gear inches. When we do an eight mile ride around where we live, we can expect to climb a total of 1300+ feet. It is "up" in any direction we choose to go. Some of the hills feel pretty steep to us and, I am sure, others.

There are times when I am glad for the 21" gearing. My wife needs even lower if I expect her to keep riding, with me or at all. I'll install an 11-36 cassette on her bike and shall have to also change the RD. It'll cost over $100 to do so but is certainly worth that cost.

Both our Cannondales (SL1 & Synapse) came with triple (30/39/50) front & 12-28 (10 speed) rear. The lowest gearing was 28-inches. Both now have 24/39/50 and 11-32; the lowest gearing is now 21-inches. A 33% reduction. Nancy would not now be riding if I had not made this gearing change. I am getting and shall continue to get stronger; a medical condition may not allow that for her.

My strong advice is to install whatever gearing you need to ride and climb comfortably. By comfortably I mean: do not use such a 'tall' gear that you hurt yourself climbing and such that you dread even getting on your bike. This is supposed to be fun and, in this, case -- don't listen to anyone who tries to give you an upper limit on what size cassette sprocket you may use or a lower one on how small the front granny can be. It may cost some to get it right for your situation but it is your situation and no one has a right to put a limit on what you do to make riding fun.

Joe

Homebrew01

I use small-small (39-12) now & then. Works just fine.
I don't have any use for an 11, so better to have cogs I will actually use.

JohnJ80

How do you use that combination without excessive rubbing on the FD?

J.

Homebrew01

I have Campagnolo, so just shift the front derailleur 1 "click" towards the big ring.

Different brands/models/years have different trim functionality.

Duane Behrens

Well-said. Here on the Peninsula, from Golden Cove up to Ralph's market is a steep and steady climb. And if you then turn right on Crest, well . . . that's when it gets tough. :-) This 3 or 4 mile ride starts at an elev. of around 260 and ends at around 1200.

Throw in a side trip to Bonapartes in Hermosa Beach (elev. = 10), and you'll have some real climbs.

As someone else here said, mashing (i.e. straining in too high a gear) invites knee problems. Finding the right combination to keep a reasonable cadence should extend the life of your gearset AND your knees. Best. DB