Mmmyeah I've been riding for 70. Everyone can play that

rm-rf, I like your graphs.

What I tell most riders, beginner or otherwise, is they usually don't even need a 50/11. As it has been pointed out 50/11 [MENTION=175934]120[/MENTION] is over 43 mph at a more common 100 rpm it is 35.5 mph. Now here is where honesty come into play. If you live in a flat area or even one with rolling terrain or some hills, just assess how much time you spend over 35.5 mph. Here in the Piedmont I can honestly say in most of my 2 hour rides I spend just over 1 minute in excess of 35.5 mph. I can do that coasting without pedalling. My sprint is only about 30-32 mph, I am old and fat and ride with other old, fat guys and mature, full-figured women. I do not even carry an 11 with my prefered cassette being a 12-27T (10 speed). I like giving up the 11 to add another gear in the middle, because I do a lot of group rides and when you are in the middle of a group, at times it is hard to find precisely the right gear for the cadence you are comfortable with.

Understood. 11-32 sounds like a decent solution for a standard double (39-53). Perhaps less decent on a compact. Am I right?

Though I can't understand why no one seems to make cassettes starting with 13 or even 14 teeth. Who needs 11?!? You could then get a tight, very tight spacing with an 8 speed, and have big cogs for hills.

Where can I find this tool?

It's Mike Sherman's Gear Calculator. It's great, all the charts change on the fly as you try different gears or cadences. I've clipped these charts and posted them many times on other threads.

I use the Speed over RPM Range chart, and the Speed at X RPM table at the bottom.

Here's the 50/34 and 11-28 set. It pops up a reminder that you can bookmark/favorite the URL, so it'll remember those settings.


My old bike had 10-speed 13-26 or 13-29 Campagnolo cassettes. The 13-29 added the 29 and dropped the 18 cog. I would coast above 32-33 mph on the downhills, and never missed the 50-12 or 50-11. So it's kind of strange to me to still be pedaling downhill at 35+ mph.

Just about every 11 speed cassette has a 11 tooth high gear. I think it's mostly marketing.

50x16 and 50x18 are very useful, and that cassette is missing them. Having the 28 & 32 cogs is useless for me. I rarely use the 25 as it is because there are very few hills in my area. I wish I had an 11-21 11 speed cassette because it's all I really need, and there are no gaps.

I'm not overly sensitive to my cadence, but I ride a crapload of miles and after doing so for many years I know when my body is most efficient.

Campagnolo usually has some 10 speed cassettes starting with 13. Quick look doesn't show Campy 11 sped starting with 13.
I have no idea why 11t cogs are so common. It's a wasted cog 99.5 % of the time.

Shimano used to make cassette for junior racers, but it's been years since I've seen any of them.

This is what we are all being told. I don't believe that that's true, on my numbers 30/30 is still lower than 30/32, and I don't need 50/11 at the top end. I'd rather have another triple, just to be able to stick in the 39 for 95% of everything I do, just shifting the rear is easier and I am accustomed to it. Maybe I'll change my tune after riding an 11 speed compact setup, though.

Obviously if you live in a flat area or preferentially seek out flat routes, you have no need for a 32 tooth cog. You probably don't want a compact crank either!

If you live near or ride up an actual mountain, a 32 tooth cog is a godsend. The solution is easy - if you need one, buy one and swap it out as needed. I have a small collection of 11-26, 11-28 and 11-32 that go on and off as needed.

Another way of saying that same thing is that if you need a 32 tooth cog you NEED it, as opposed to finding the missing 16 or 18 tooth cogs inconvenient.

You mean these ones? Universal Cycles -- Shimano CS-6600 Ultegra Cassette


I borrowed a bike with a 50/34 compact and 11-32 (I think) cassette for a while a couple years ago, and never did like the gearing. If it "makes a triple obsolete" it does so by forcing a lot of corrective rear shifting every time you switch chainrings. No thanks!

I find having an 11 on a heavy steel tourer loaded going downhills is good. Its useful when I want to exceed 50kmh.

Thanks for posting this. I currently run a 53/39 with a 12-27 9-sp out back. This leaves me in a 53x19 or 53x17 for around 95% of my flat land riding. Using this chart, I can see that a compact 50/34 with a 12-23 in back would give me at least four usable gears in that same range, without much change in my low gear. Which of course is a sucky thing to learn right after purchasing a DA 53/39 crankset!

actually a compact crankset with a close spaced cassette works great in the Phoenix area. Nearly all of my rides are in the big ring(50t), but once I get to the real climbs the small ring(36t) comes in handy. Having a 53x11 combo is pretty useless in flatland areas.

For those of us that can't pedal that fast any longer, the 11T is really nice on the downhills...

I ride a 50-34 compact, with an 11-30,,,,, and a 48-36-26 triple with an 11-34. I like the ranges!

+1. That 12-28 only comes in DA9000, not 6800 or 5800 (and not in any SRAM from what I can tell). My 9 and 10 speed stuff is all 12-26 and 12-27...and I don't use the 12 all that often.

yeah, those are the cassettes. I don't think they make them in a 6700 or 6800 version.

Bingo.

I always wonder why people who aren't strong enough to ride in the TdF ride 53/39 when a compact with an 11-23 or 11/12-25 gives much more useful and closer gearing.

Yup. A 50/36 crankset and a 12-25 11speed cassette is very nice.

This is a very good question that I can't figure out the answer to. All of Shimano and SRAM's 11-speed cassettes, that I've seen, are repeats of their 10s with an 11 cog added, the only exception being Shimano have a 12-25. Great for the competitive cyclist who wants that top end, but not for us social riders who still find some 20% grades just that little bit too steep for a 34-27. I use my 16 a lot on my current 10 speed setup, but hardly ever my 12. If/when I add that extra cog, I'd rather it be either an 18 in the middle or a 29/30 on the low end.

(Yes, I know Campy has a 12-29. Yes that's another reason I want to go Campy on my next upgrade).

When I got a new bike this year I went from a 50/34 11/28 10 speed to a 52/36 11/32 11 speed and love it. For me, its very similar to what I had, with essentially an extra half gear at each end. I do need the larger cog for hills, so I have that. If hills get harder over time (not getting any younger), I can always change to a 50/34 which would help a tad. I am a masher, and do find myself in the small front ring more often than in the past (due to the 52) when I can't power up a modest incline. This isn't a bad thing since it keeps me from being in harder gears as often as I had been (and keeps me from cross-chaining). As others say, its all about what works for you and where your sweet spots are.

Probably for the same reason we go up to the buffet and pile our plate a foot high, then end up stuffed halfway through and take the rest home in a bag.

a 50x12 is enough gear for me. I'd rather have the 16t cog. Anything fast enough to need an 11, I should probably be coasting on anyway.

I've never liked the 14T gap on compacts, too much rear shifting needed when changing front rings, and plus my cruising speed in the flats ends up right in-between depending on how hard I'm riding. I recently got a Shimano 52/38, and so far am really liking it with a 12-25 cassette. Definitely not a combination that would be fun in the mountains, but that's not an issue where I live.

52-39 with a 14-32 cassette?

53/39, 52/38,and 50/36 are all 14t differences the last time I checked.

When I lived in the mountains I used a 52/42 with a 13-23 7 speed cassette, but I'm sure I'd be much happier with my current setup.