recmommended cassette ratio

j.thompson1989

hey just wanted to know what people thought of the best ratio to get. i've got a 9 speed tiagra shifter with a ultegra rear mech and ultegra chain. currently got 11-23 i believe. any help will be welcomed.

Mad_Malx

I read the title and thought you were after a Hitachi or Sony.

Really no answer to this question without knowing how you are coping just now, and what terrain you intend riding. Knowing your front chainrings would help a bit too. The very best riders would use an 11-23 on lumpy (but not very hilly) stages, but it's unlikely that you are quite so strong.
For most riders a compact (50-34) front with an 11-28 or 12-27 cassette covers most terrain, 12-25 if hills not steep, and 11-23 or 11-21 if you live in Norfolk.
With a standard (eg 53-39) front use a cassette with more teeth.

Bozman

A 12/25 will cover anything with a 50/34 chainset......well in this country anyway.

j.thompson1989

thanks for the comments, it was just i recently done a charity ride from crystal palace to Alexandra palace and some of the hills round there felt pretty hard work on the set up i have at the moment.

sloppyschleckonds

11-28 if you ride a standard double

Mad_Malx

Bozman wrote:

A 12/25 will cover anything with a 50/34 chainset......well in this country anyway.

This isn't true for me and is not likely to be true for any poster who doesn't know what cassette they need.

Alexvs

Not really advice but having done London to Brighton last weekend on a mates bike as mine was stolen I found the 50/34 and 12/25 combo didn't work for me on the hills coming from a 50/43 and 11/28 combo on my old Specialized. We went up Swaines Hill at the start of the trip as was on the list of hills we want to complete and I just about made it up that, nearly coming to a stop I was going that slow! If it hadn't been so early in our ride while I was fresh I doubt I would've made it up. I couldn't make it up a hill going through the Coulsdon area which surprised us all when we came up to it as hadn't read anything about it. I got 3/4 of the way up then the cramp in my thighs was far too much. As for Ditchling or whatever it's called that was a non-starter for me as legs were shot.

After all that I'd say 11/28 is pretty good if you're a hill hater like me.

mfin

Alexvs wrote:

Not really advice but having done London to Brighton last weekend on a mates bike as mine was stolen I found the 50/34 and 12/25 combo didn't work for me on the hills coming from a 50/43 and 11/28 combo on my old Specialized. We went up Swaines Hill at the start of the trip as was on the list of hills we want to complete and I just about made it up that, nearly coming to a stop I was going that slow! If it hadn't been so early in our ride while I was fresh I doubt I would've made it up. I couldn't make it up a hill going through the Coulsdon area which surprised us all when we came up to it as hadn't read anything about it. I got 3/4 of the way up then the cramp in my thighs was far too much. As for Ditchling or whatever it's called that was a non-starter for me as legs were shot.

After all that I'd say 11/28 is pretty good if you're a hill hater like me.

Eh? the bike you borrowed had a lowest gear of 34-25 and your's had 43-28, so you had quite a bit lower a gear on the bike you borrowed, so common sense would say you'd have been even worse off with your old Specialized with its 43-28

EDIT, just spotted what you've done, you've typo-ed 34 as 43, I thought they were odd ring sizes!!

imposter2.0

j.thompson1989 wrote:

hey just wanted to know what people thought of the best ratio to get. i've got a 9 speed tiagra shifter with a ultegra rear mech and ultegra chain. currently got 11-23 i believe. any help will be welcomed.

not knowing anything else about you, your fitness, or where you ride - I recommend the one you've already got.

Bozman

Mad_Malx wrote:

Bozman wrote:

A 12/25 will cover anything with a 50/34 chainset......well in this country anyway.

This isn't true for me and is not likely to be true for any poster who doesn't know what cassette they need.

52/42 - 12/25 in my day and you got up any hill :roll:
I like the ratio options available for folk starting out, but if someone struggles on the hills they'll look for the cassette change rather than putting in some hard work, what happens when there are no more options?

rolf_f

Bozman wrote:

Mad_Malx wrote:

Bozman wrote:

A 12/25 will cover anything with a 50/34 chainset......well in this country anyway.

This isn't true for me and is not likely to be true for any poster who doesn't know what cassette they need.

52/42 - 12/25 in my day and you got up any hill :roll:
I like the ratio options available for folk starting out, but if someone struggles on the hills they'll look for the cassette change rather than putting in some hard work, what happens when there are no more options?

So you are saying that anyone should be able to get up Hardknott after 100 miles on 34-25? And you used the :roll: smiley on that! I admire your awesomeness

To the OP - some forum advice can be safely ignored........

sloppyschleckonds

Bozman wrote:

I like the ratio options available for folk starting out, but if someone struggles on the hills they'll look for the cassette change rather than putting in some hard work, what happens when there are no more options?

They compare to the 22-34 they have on their mountain bike that gets up any hill. Very very slowly.

Bozman

Rolf F wrote:

Bozman wrote:

Mad_Malx wrote:

Bozman wrote:

A 12/25 will cover anything with a 50/34 chainset......well in this country anyway.

This isn't true for me and is not likely to be true for any poster who doesn't know what cassette they need.

52/42 - 12/25 in my day and you got up any hill :roll:
I like the ratio options available for folk starting out, but if someone struggles on the hills they'll look for the cassette change rather than putting in some hard work, what happens when there are no more options?

So you are saying that anyone should be able to get up Hardknott after 100 miles on 34-25? And you used the :roll: smiley on that! I admire your awesomeness

To the OP - some forum advice can be safely ignored........

The :roll: was the joke...the old one to throw at a comment "in my day sonny".

Hardknott, I doubt that I'd get up it but who knows, how many people are going to encounter Hardknott on a daily basis... probably no one, how many folk encounter a 25% climb on a daily basis... a couple and I could go on.
There's no point in having ratios like that for day to day use, if you're going to attempt the Fred Whitton then swap your cassette for a 12/30, other than that there's no point because you'll lose some ratios and your shift quality is compromised.
Each to their own.

rolf_f

Bozman wrote:

Hardknott, I doubt that I'd get up it but who knows, how many people are going to encounter Hardknott on a daily basis... probably no one, how many folk encounter a 25% climb on a daily basis... a couple and I could go on.
There's no point in having ratios like that for day to day use, if you're going to attempt the Fred Whitton then swap your cassette for a 12/30, other than that there's no point because you'll lose some ratios and your shift quality is compromised.
Each to their own.

Apols - I never see the rolleyes smiley as a humour flag!

TBH, there are stacks of climbs around here that are very tough and it's easy in West Yorks to make a route that is harder than a tour of the Lakeland passes without trying much. I've been using 12-25 cassettes a lot round here but, tbh, for most days a 12-27 is a better ratio and I'm a decent climber. I'll dig out the 13-29 for climbs like Mytholm Steeps which rates the same score as Hardknott in Another 100 Greatest Cycling climbs - and I'd probably agree with that.