Can I build an 11-30 hybrid cassette out of a 12-30 & 11-28

chaffordred
chaffordred Posts: 131
edited June 2015 in Workshop
I have 4 brand new ultegra 10 sp cassettes. They are:

12-30
11-28
11-25
11-23

For the climbing the alps I want the 30, for the descents I want the 11.

My question is can I build a hybrid 11-30 cassette out of my existing cassettes?

I currently have the 12-30 with 53/38 on the bike with a Di2 10 speed mech.

Thanks.

Comments

  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Why not? You have the cassettes. Give it a go.
  • mugensi
    mugensi Posts: 559
    It depends on the cassettes as some have loose sprockets and other such as Tiagra have one piece cassettes where all the sprockets with the exception to the 3 largest are pinned together. I'm not sure on how easy they are to separate but I cant imagine it would betoo difficult and the pins holding them together can probably be removed using a hammer and punch tool.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    It depends on the cassettes as some have loose sprockets and other such as Tiagra have one piece cassettes where all the sprockets with the exception to the 3 largest are pinned together. I'm not sure on how easy they are to separate but I cant imagine it would betoo difficult and the pins holding them together can probably be removed using a hammer and punch tool.

    That shouldn't be too difficult, it's usually the top 3 (or 4?) which are fixed together so you use those from the 12-30 then the bottom half from the one of the other cassettes.
  • crankycrank
    crankycrank Posts: 1,830
    Sometimes the shifting ramps on the teeth don't jive perfectly when mixing cogs from different cassettes which occasionally can cause a big hesitation. Usually though it's very minor to no difference at all so the answer is try it and see. No danger in experimenting.
  • navrig2
    navrig2 Posts: 1,844
    You might want to put a dab of nail varnish on each of the cogs on each of the cassettes - a different colour per cassette.

    Just in case it doesn't work.
  • Add the 11T to the 12-30. Change the 12T to one from an 11-x cassette and ditch the 16T. Job done.
  • dgunthor
    dgunthor Posts: 644
    Use the lock-ring that goes with the 11.

    ^^^ this, that's the main thing! rest should work fine
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    C'mon OP we need to hear if it's worked. Lots of people have asked this in the past but nobody has ever reported back!
  • brettjmcc
    brettjmcc Posts: 1,361
    He's off to the Marmotte soon, so I guess we will find out :) I assumed it worked as he was out with it the other day on it

    Paul, mail me if you want to discuss.

    Brett
    BMC GF01
    Quintana Roo Cd01
    Project High End Hack
    Cannondale Synapse SL (gone)
    I like Carbon
  • I don't know about the OP but I can confirm that it has worked for me.

    I used an Ultegra 11-32 and a Dura Ace 12-28 to build a 12-32 that is biased more towards climbing than sprinting. It uses the block of three big cogs (25-28-32) from the ultegra then the block of three (19-21-23) from the Dura Ace along with the remaining individual cogs from the Dura Ace except the 16T.
    This gives a top end of 19-21-23-25-28-32 instead of 18-20-22-25-28-32. It may look on paper as insignificant but change that gap from 22-25 to 23-25 seems to make a big difference to me.

    So, not just mixed cassettes but also from different series.

    If you want to play around with ideas then look at si.shimano.com and look for the EV-CS-xxxxxx pdfs for the exploded view of all their cassettes.

    As said above just make sure that you use the correct lockring for the smallest cog.