11-28 or 12-27

t5nel

Yep it's cassette choice time.

I have a full Shimano 105 5700 setup currently with a 50-34 compact 170mm and 12-25 cassette
FWIW I am about 70kg (aim to lose 2 or 3 more before July) 5'9" my cadence is ~ 90rpm

I am doing Acte I of the etape this year and want to change my cassette to something more alp friendly.

I realise it is a very personal thing but is there any benefit in going for the 12-27 (in terms of closer ratios etc) or should I just go for the 11-28 as it has the lowest bailout gear.

Part of me just says HTFU and get the 12-27 but I would be interested to hear others views

Cheers
Tim

apreading

IMO: If you are not sure then 11-28 gives you more options - simple as that really. 12-27 cant do anything that the 11-28 wont do, so the latter is the safer option.

Cassettes arent that expensive, if you then find you dont need the extra gears then you could get the 12-27 but even then you may choose to wait until the 11-28 has worn out.

t5nel

apreading wrote:

IMO: If you are not sure then 11-28 gives you more options - simple as that really. 12-27 cant do anything that the 11-28 wont do, so the latter is the safer option.

Cassettes arent that expensive, if you then find you dont need the extra gears then you could get the 12-27 but even then you may choose to wait until the 11-28 has worn out.

I am fine with the 12-25 where I live so this a really is a purchase just for the etape.

I guess I feel like (I have no power meter to prove this) I am quite sensitive to cadence and so the 12-27 might help keep me in the sweetspot more easily.

Omar Little

not sure what the route is like this year but when ive done alpine climbs in the past i've been very grateful of having a 28 as a bail out gear - its not so much the gradient its the weather and if its hot i have to concentrate on keeping effort levels in check. Having the extra gear allows me to back off a bit while keeping on going forward rather than getting off the bike.

Of course depends how good a climber you are, you may not need it.

Tom Dean

t5nel wrote:

I guess I feel like (I have no power meter to prove this) I am quite sensitive to cadence and so the 12-27 might help keep me in the sweetspot more easily.

Yes -the gap between 15 and 17 in the 11-28 is huge. The difference between 27 and 28 is tiny. You don't need the 11.

andy_wrx

Tom Dean wrote:

t5nel wrote:

I guess I feel like (I have no power meter to prove this) I am quite sensitive to cadence and so the 12-27 might help keep me in the sweetspot more easily.

Yes -the gap between 15 and 17 in the 11-28 is huge. The difference between 27 and 28 is tiny. You don't need the 11.

+1
I'd go completely with that, the 11 is a gear wasted.

John.T

andy_wrx wrote:

Tom Dean wrote:

t5nel wrote:

I guess I feel like (I have no power meter to prove this) I am quite sensitive to cadence and so the 12-27 might help keep me in the sweetspot more easily.

Yes -the gap between 15 and 17 in the 11-28 is huge. The difference between 27 and 28 is tiny. You don't need the 11.

+1
I'd go completely with that, the 11 is a gear wasted.

+2. The 16 is far more use than an 11.

robbo2011

Funnily enough, I use my 28 and my 11 on every ride but then none of my riding is on the flat. I think it depends on the terrain you are cycling on. If you are in the Alps, then I'd suggest 11-28.

springtide9

John.T wrote:

andy_wrx wrote:

Tom Dean wrote:

t5nel wrote:

I guess I feel like (I have no power meter to prove this) I am quite sensitive to cadence and so the 12-27 might help keep me in the sweetspot more easily.

Yes -the gap between 15 and 17 in the 11-28 is huge. The difference between 27 and 28 is tiny. You don't need the 11.

+1
I'd go completely with that, the 11 is a gear wasted.

+2. The 16 is far more use than an 11.

+3
You can always learn to spin a bit quicker to make up for the 11-12 difference (and generally when you properly spin out on a 12 it's because you are going down hill, you'd also spin out on an 11)

Those middle section gears are used all of the time. I figure that if I'm fit enough to properly push an 11, then I should ride an 11-23 (i.e. be able to manage with a 23)

okgo

I have a double on the front, and currently run a 12-25, but I wanted something for the hillier races so bought a 11-28 that came up. Aside from it making my road bike look more like a MTB do the ratios work?

hammerite

The descents are usually such that you don't actually need to do a lot of pedalling, you'll be going as fast as is comfortable just free wheeling in a lot of cases. I used a 12-28 last year in the Alps (Campag Centaur), and got on fine. 50x12 was as much as I needed to accelerate out of bends.

hammerite

Actually just checked my training from last year. On one ride I had a 12 minute stretch with no pedalling at all and was cruising at 40mph.

t5nel

okgo wrote:

...but I wanted something for the hillier races so bought a 11-28 that came up. Aside from it making my road bike look more like a MTB do the ratios work?

I know you did, you beat me to it!

I am sure the ratios work fine. Thing is if I wanted it for racing then I think (as many have said) 12-27 gives you a much smoother tranisition between the spread of ratios i.e. no nasty jumps between gears. 11-28 is a pretty wide spread. If you are a bit of a power monster who can churn it out from 70rpm then it probably doesnt matter but I like to sit at 90 really.

t5nel

hammerite wrote:

Actually just checked my training from last year. On one ride I had a 12 minute stretch with no pedalling at all and was cruising at 40mph.

I think that is the clincher. Acte 1 looks like it is 45% balls out effort uphill average 7-8% 45% downhill 10% flat
So I am thinking that for this trip alone the 28 might be worth it. In any other circumstance I would prefer a 12-27 though.

hammerite

12-28? http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Shimano-CASSETTES-Shimano-10-Speed-Tiagra-4600-Cassette/SHIMCASS926

2Phat4Rapha

If you’ll forgive me the slight hijack. I’ve been experimenting with this issue in a database I’m developing and happy to give away.

Calculations for gear inches or development etc are readily available but what I think most people want to do is to compare one set up with another. To this end I’ve set up a side by side comparator, so you enter in your first rings and cassettes and “what if” them against a second set.

I confess to being a Mac developer so not sure if everything is graphically as good as it should be on Windows but it’s free if you want to give it a try. It’s a fairly lumpy download as it includes a full database engine but still shouldn’t be more than a minute or so on broadband. Feedback welcome - preferably off-line whilst I'm still developing it.

http://www.dalynchi.com/wbpe.html

DF33

^^^^ showing error when downloading or trying to unzip on my mac.
Unable to expand etc

2Phat4Rapha

DF33 wrote:

^^^^ showing error when downloading or trying to unzip on my mac.
Unable to expand etc

Thanks DF. Just reposted, then downloaded to a different Mac and all unzipped ok. Think it might have been a permissions thing when I zipped it. Checking the Win version now.

Thanks again. Let me know if there's anything else.

Ian

DF33

That's working now, shall have a play around with it this evening, looks a nice neat set up with everything under one file! Thanks for posting it up. I'm just in the middle of building up some DT Swiss 465's so all fresh in my mind just now.

Just off topic, as a mac developer you may know;

I refuse to pay for a full sports package as I don't like football so don't see why I should pay for the package just to get Eurosport (ES), so I use ES player on my Macbook instead, standard 4 year old Intel Macbook.

Is there anyway to connect it to my TV and stream the ES feed from the Macbook to the TV - effectively using it as a monitor?
I'm sure it is easy on PC but knowing Apple it'll be difficult or blocked?
Feel free to PM me if you prefer on this.

Cheers

Peter

Rigged

Assuming you just want a cable to connect to your TV and nothing fancier then I think your laptop should feature the mini-display port (you'll have to double check as I'm not 100% on your model). If it indeed does then any of these should do the trick http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mini+displayport+to+hdmi&x=0&y=0&sprefix=mini+displ%2Caps%2C246 and then it's just a case of using a standard hdmi cable to link your TV to your adapter

Rigged

In fact I've just seen the 2nd item down in that list is a direct mini display port to hdmi rather than an adapter so no need to mess with a cable and an adapter, instead it's all in one. Wish they had that when I bought mine a couple of years back!

If you have the older version (they changed the adapter in late '08 so you could have either) then you need to look for mini-dvi to hdmi instead

DF33

Sorry to the OP for hijacking the thread. Thanks for that. it's the older one having delved into it. So Mini dvi to hdmi, found a 2 metre lead on the Bay for £4 so shall give it a try. Hoping it streams both pic and sound.

Normal 11-28 or 12-27 service is resumed!

Rigged

DF33 wrote:

Sorry to the OP for hijacking the thread. Thanks for that. it's the older one having delved into it. So Mini dvi to hdmi, found a 2 metre lead on the Bay for £4 so shall give it a try. Hoping it streams both pic and sound.

Normal 11-28 or 12-27 service is resumed!

DVI is just video unfortunately. Dependent upon the model of your TV you may be able to take sound from the 3.5mm headphone jack to the RCA (red and white) inputs of your tele and have the sound directed through there. That works with some tv's but not with others.

Sorry OP for being so off-topic