Which Shimano 10 Speed Cassette (again)

ayjaycee

I have got to buy a new cassette for my Turbo Trainer wheel - it's an old(ish) wheel fitted with a Zaffiro trainer tyre. I was thinking about transferring the current 12-28 Tiagra 10 speed cassette to the trainer tyre and buying a new cassette to replace it on the road tyre - probably a 105 or Ultegra version. Problem is I can't decide which one and am not sure on compatibility although I gather from a trawl on this site that that should not be a major issue and the manual for the Tiagra rear derailleur also indicates 11t and 30t as the range. For what it's worth, I have got a compact Tiagra 50- 34 on the front
I was thinking of either a 105 in 11-28 or the Ultegra in the same size or, perhaps, the 12-30. I mention the latter as I would probably be more interested in easier climbing that flat out speed. To my mind, the price difference between them is so small as not to be a factor in the decision - £13, £21 & £31 as you go up the range. It all therefore comes down to compatibility and whether 12-30 would give any real advantage in the hills. From my research, I am also aware that I probably won't notice much difference in smoothness when shifting.
Any constructive advice would be much appreciated.

mugensi

I have a 12/30 Tiagra cassette on my winter bike and Ultegra 11/28 on my good/summer bike and there is no real difference in them unless your on an exceptionally steep hill. I rarely use the 30 on the tiagra and plan to change it to 12/28 when it needs replacing as the spacing is too big with it, AFAICR the last few cogs are 30/27/24/21 so the jumps are too big between gears and it difficult to get a suitable gear especially on gentle slopes/climbs. If you can manage on the current 12/28 you have then just get the Ultegra version as a replacement (there is a difference in both noise and smoothness between Ultegra and Tiagra cassettes)

ayjaycee

Si, Thanks for that but, as far as I can tell, the 105 and Ultegra ranges include both 11-28 and 12-30 but not 12-28 which seems to be Tiagra only. I am very interested in your comment about noise and smoothness improvements with the Ultegra cassette. What are you using the Ultegra 11-28 and Tiagra 12-28 in conjunction with - ie. is it a like with like comparison? Also, if it's an Ultegra cassette with Tiagra shifters and derailleur, it clears up any doubt over compatibility.

Any other comment/advice much appreciated as I am a newbie to this road bike business. Cheers

dj58

OP you mention that you would prefer easier climbing than flat out speed. So how are you finding the 12-28T for your routes? If you have no problems climbing with the 12-28T then consider the 5700 12-27T cassette which has the 16T sprocket, however don't write off a 12-30T cassette until you have tried it, after all you can buy a 4600 12-30T cassette for £13, if you don't like the ratio's you can sell it on try the 11-28T or go back to the 12-28T.

ayjaycee

DJ - Thanks for the contribution. Sorry to show ignorance but what's special about 'the 16T sprocket' that you refer to? I take your point about trying the different sizes on the cheap - indeed at £13 I doubt I would even try to sell it on if not wanted as a lump of metal like a cheap cassette is likely to cost more to post than it would fetch on, say, ebay. I also take it from your reference to the 5700 (ie. 105) cassette that you would not see any compatibility issues with an otherwise all Tiagra groupset. In your opinion, would the same go for an Ultegra cassette?

markhewitt1978

I ran Ultegra 12-30 during the summer and for winter I took that off and put a Tiagra 12-30 on. tbh I've noticed zero difference in shifting.

dj58

ayjay, there won't be any compatibility issues with the 10sp cassettes you are considering as your 4600 RD will take up to a 30t sprocket and the cassette splines are the same between series. Just be aware that the Tiagra 4600 cassette does not need a spacer on the freehub, whereas with the 5700 and 6700 cassettes you need to use the supplied spacer when fitting the cassette.

The 5700 10sp 12-27T cassette has 12,13,14,15,16,17,19,21,24,27T ratios which some people prefer for the 1 tooth sprocket progression up to the 17t sprocket especially if they can manage with a 27T sprocket as their lowest. It depends on your preferences and how strong/fit you are and the type of terrain you ride. Cassettes are fairly straight forward to swop and change so easy to experiment with different ratios. Or you can have more than one rear wheel with a different cassette to suit different terrain.

ayjaycee

DJ, Thanks for that - I have ordered the Ultegra 11-28 from Evans using price match which brings the cost down to £28.99 and will pick it up from my local store early next week as I also needed a couple of other things which will not be available until then. The info on needing the spacer was particularly valuable.

cougie

First of - do you really need a new wheel ? Some turbos are fine with tyres.

If I was going to go for a new cassette I'd get one different to what I use now. the 30t would have been good in the hills. Lower is always better.