Worth converting a 9 speed to 10 speed?

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Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    Rolf F wrote:
    A mate of mine lives in Peterborough and has a Bianchi with a semi compact crankset and 11 tooth rear sprocket on 11 speed. I tend to feel he isn't benefitting much from 11 speed.

    A few years back the biggest road sprocket was a 28... 11 speed brought the 32 T. To avoid the problem I went for MTB RD and MTB 9 speed cassettes. I think now you can get 10 speed road cassettes with a 32 T (I stand to be corrected on this) and assuming your RD can clear them, then 11 speed has zero appeal

    It's part of the great divide between those who see the bicycle as a mean of transportation and those who see it as a fashion statement.
    Those who cycle far enough, typically realise that you need a big sprocket of some description, a mid sprocket (say a 20 T or so) and one a bit smaller than that (say a 16 T) for when the road goes downhill... the rest are fillers

    The others pretend to be racers and go on about how great it is to have a cassette singly spaced... which you can only have with 11 speed
    left the forum March 2023
  • Moonbiker
    Moonbiker Posts: 1,706
    I wish they made a nice modern ultra durable 5 speed "commuter" groupset. As 5 speed chains seemed to last ages but it would would have compatibility with modern 130 hub & and use a modern 5 speed freehub (not screw on freewheel) & have option or either 5 speed STI's, or DT shifter.
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    Thread resurrection! I see I posted on this back in the day. Still on 10 speed, now have 3 bikes with that setup. Can't say 11 speed appeals, would involve a big outlay on cassettes, shifters and chains across three bikes (plus spare wheelsets). I only went from 9 to 10 because I prefer the "new" (2007?) Campag shifter shape and they didn't do those in 9 speed. I can honestly say I have never been riding my bike and thought "I really need another cog" (OK, maybe downhill in a TT but that was running a compact so the solution to that one lay elsewhere...)

    For added retro kudos, I still run a couple of old school MTBs with 7-speed Shimano. I can confirm that that stuff lasts - both bikes 24 years old and one has full original Deore LX groupset (except for the brakes which are now V) and the other still has original rear mech and right hand shifter (the other parts have been upgraded / worn out / crash damaged over the years, but that bike has done a LOT of miles!)
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41991871@N ... otostream/
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    Moonbiker wrote:
    I wish they made a nice modern ultra durable 5 speed "commuter" groupset. As 5 speed chains seemed to last ages but it would would have compatibility with modern 130 hub & and use a modern 5 speed freehub (not screw on freewheel) & have option or either 5 speed STI's, or DT shifter.

    I have an 11-30 9 speed MTB cassette, like this: 11,12,14,16,18,20,23,26,30.

    On most rides I only use the 5 sprockets between 14 and 23... if the ride has very steep gradients I also use the 26 and 30. I have used the 12 T a handful of times, I don't remember ever using the 11T.

    On balance, a 6 speed cassette from 14 to 26 combined with a semi compact of some description would be more than adequate 99% of the times
    left the forum March 2023
  • debeli
    debeli Posts: 583
    I find myself agreeing with ugo.santa-thingummy two posts above....

    There is so much more to a bicycle than the number and spread of gears.

    One of my sons 'inherited' from me a rather lovely aluminium road bike running 9-speed Veloce gubbins. When he's home I sometimes use it and (much as I hate to write this) it is a PERFECT bicycle. It has a liveliness, a 'pointiness' and a sort of mad-Jack-Russell keenness to go and go and go.

    My current geared road bike of choice has Campag 10-speed on the back.... which is in and of itself a nice thing.... but the whole riding experience simply doesn't match that of the old 9-speed it replaced.

    There are parallels with cars here..... Tou may think that the latest paddle-flapping seven-speed whizz-dango full-ESP double-clutch quickfire Polaris geartbox in your BMW Z-Bomb is terrific, but it is unlikely it will give you any more visceral a driving experience than the old Austin-Healy with a four-speed sitting next to it in the garage. It may even be inferior as a driving experience.... even without synchro on first.

    If a bike is lovely, it will be so with five, seven or eleven gears. If it is not, the number of ratios will not make it so.

    Make sure that what you have is clean, oiled where it needs it and well serviced. That is what makes a bicycle fast and fun to ride. Counting sprockets as a means of judging quality is the way that madness lies.
  • fat daddy
    fat daddy Posts: 2,605
    Moonbiker wrote:
    I wish they made a nice modern ultra durable 5 speed "commuter" groupset.


    funny you should say this ... I took the single speed in today and as much as I don't "need" another gear, spinning out on descents (140rpm for 27mph) makes general SCR hard as I run out torque about 20mph

    I would love a durable 2 speed .... a 16t for down hill and a 17t or 18t for up hill and off road ..... suppose I could build one looked at the autopmatic hubs but they look to be a ball ache and not exactly friendly or controllable
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    fat daddy wrote:
    makes general SCR hard as I run out torque about 20mph

    And would you say SCR is an activity that should be endorsed?

    As I said above, if you care for going far, then it doesn't matter, if you pretend to be a racer, then it seems these things matter.

    IMO there way too many people who use the bicycle in frustration, to speed as they no longer can speed with a car... but that is my opinion :wink:
    left the forum March 2023
  • fat daddy
    fat daddy Posts: 2,605
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    And would you say SCR is an activity that should be endorsed?

    Definitely, riding at threshold in order to hold someone off or catch up and pass them, its invigorating, a challeng and an excellent workout .... its also a good way to make a few commuting friends as show my a nice chat at the lights I had with a guy on a giant that pushed me for 6 minutes up the climb out of Bristol at 17mph as opposed to my normal 12mph

    I think you miss-understand SCR to be honest ....... you have been cycling a lot longer than me and are no doubt faster, if I put the effort in to chase you down on the flat and gave it my all to catch up with you and pass you, if it took me past aerobic and into the anerobic zones, but yet you were only sat at 75% ..... is that wildy dangerous ? .... we are both only doing 18mph ?
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    IMO there way too many people who use the bicycle in frustration, to speed as they no longer can speed with a car... but that is my opinion :wink:

    actually you are right here in my case ..... driving in Bristol became boring, I have a meagre 300bhp at my disposal and sit in 1 gear all the way to work, it became boring I couldn't put my foot down ..... I discovered commuting on bike ... now I can push myself every day .. its fun .... do you ever go out on your bike for a shorter vigerous ride, something that makes you sweat, get out the saddle and push hard on that hill, try to hold your max speed on the flat .... or do you just enjoy the slower longer rides ..... the first option I can do every day .. its not dangerous, I don't break the rules of the road, I stop at lights, the difference is I try to keep up with the speed of the traffic. I ride my ass off when I ride

    now I have a SS CX bike to add to my choice of rides ... that's fun, I can now cross the playing feils instead of going around them ... I can do the majority of the descent in a pitchblack field covered this morning with frost and ice ?

    I suppose that is unacceptable to you as well ... there is more to cycling than just the socs a cycling cap and doing 15mph on the road until you stop for cake on a sunday
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,317
    fat daddy wrote:

    I suppose that is unacceptable to you as well ... there is more to cycling than just the socs a cycling cap and doing 15mph on the road until you stop for cake on a sunday

    Both ways are equally valid... but one is heavily endorsed by the industry, as it results in bigger outlays of money.

    It is not uncommon for beginners to get sucked into the spending mode very early on, peer pressure and all of that. I think it is important to reiterate that most of the gear is un-necessary and speed is not the only goal to aspire to... there is distance, the great outdoors, companionship, camaraderie... general fun

    I think a large proportion of what happens on this forum could be ascribed in the ride fast/spend big money category... it is very skewed in that direction... which, yes, I do find pretty sad :cry:
    left the forum March 2023
  • fat daddy
    fat daddy Posts: 2,605
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    Both ways are equally valid... but one is heavily endorsed by the industry

    for me, I don't have the pleasure of being able to spend hours in the saddle .. I get an hour at best so for the time being I get my kicks from power and speed.


    edit: .. when I say power and speed .. I mean improving my power and speed .... if I compare it to others its not very fast and not very powerful

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