Cassette quality vs price

radhartgeorge

Hi all,

I’ve recently purchase SRAM etap but have yet to purchase the cassette. I was amazed at the cost of the corresponding SRAM cassette - £185 on sale! The SRAM Force or Shimano ultegra is £50 or so.

Having only ever used ultegra before - never Dura Ace or SRAM red- how much difference will there be in terms of shift quality or is the only differentiator in terms of weight?

Thanks.

trivial_poursuivant

Apart from the weight I find the difference between DA , Ultegra and 105 marginal. There is really only so much engineering can go into shaping a few rings of metal.

cooldad

Basically weight.

Matthewfalle

as per TP - just go Ultegra or whatever the SRAM equivalent is together with a mid range KMC chain.

w00dster

I disagree, Dura Ace cassettes are bling, just because you can't tell instantly by looking that it is a top of the range cassette, Dura Ace comes with an accompanying loud creaking and groaning noise to let other riders you only ride the best....
But agree completely Ultegra is fine.

svetty

Corrosion resistance seems better with Ultegra and Dura-Ace than 105 and lower.......

ravey1981

I've always found shimano cassettes to shift better than sram..so I would spec a shimano cassette even with etap. Ultegra seems to hit the sweet spot between weight and price.

w00dster

But the flip side to the cassette corroding is that it matches a kmc gold chain.
Have to admit my 105 cassette does show signs of corrosion, and that's after it being cleaned and dried every ride. It will be swapped for an Ultegra soon.

cycleclinic

The da cassette has ti sprockets.

These are ok for dry use but too pricey for wet use.

Midlands Grimpeur

I use Force cassette's with etap groupset (have used red as well). There is no discernible difference in shift performance between red and force (ultegra would likely be the same as others have suggested).

FatTed

I use Campagnolo Chorus

joey54321

Lots (most?) pros use ultegra/force level cassettes. More durable and they don't care about weight as they're frequently under the limit and adding weights anyway.

naavt

Weird that nobody hasn't mentioned wear so far. Besides weight, wear is the other key factor. Usually, lighter cassettes come with the expense of price and/or wear.

I'm a Campag user and I can say that Record cassettes last forever if well maintained.

For a quick comparison, I've tried Miche Supertype cassettes in the past. They are VERY lightweight (even lighter than Super Record IIRC), but they wear fast. Very fast indeed. But then, they cost 1/4 of the price of a Super Record cassette.

If you multiply the lifespan of a Supertype and account the final price for how many cassettes you need to match the lifespan of a Campag one, I don't know how it turns out in the end (well, in truth, that's the first time I put things in perspective like this) :?

cycleclinic

I did mention wear.

cycleclinic

The miche supetype cassette is all alloy apart from the start cog so hardly surprising it wear fast (I know and thats why I dont sell them).

grahamcp

Aren't 105 cassettes pretty much identical to Ultegra? Thought I read that somewhere recently.

trivial_poursuivant

Grahamcp wrote:

Aren't 105 cassettes pretty much identical to Ultegra? Thought I read that somewhere recently.

The spider material is different but apart from that they are both nickel plated steel.

GT29

is the cassette spline on 5800 different material to 6800? I have found 105 cassettes bite into my freehub more than Ultegra cassettes ....

trivial_poursuivant

5800 is metal, 6800 is carbon, but only main body. The loose ones are still metal and can still bite into your freehub

GT29

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

5800 is metal, 6800 is carbon, but only main body. The loose ones are still metal and can still bite into your freehub

Both are obviously metal.... And obviously both can bite.... My question stemmed from my anecdotal perception of difference...

The colour of 5800 and 6800 cassettes are different too.... suggested a different alloy or at least a treatment....

Hence, is the spider/spline material of 5800 vs 6800 at all different?

pblakeney

FatTed wrote:

I use Campagnolo Chorus

I use standard Miche instead.

bondurant

PBlakeney wrote:

FatTed wrote:

I use Campagnolo Chorus

I use standard Miche instead.

How does Miche shift / last in comparison PB? The Primato steel cassette, if that's what you have

trivial_poursuivant

GT29 wrote:

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

5800 is metal, 6800 is carbon, but only main body. The loose ones are still metal and can still bite into your freehub

Both are obviously metal.... And obviously both can bite.... My question stemmed from my anecdotal perception of difference...

The colour of 5800 and 6800 cassettes are different too.... suggested a different alloy or at least a treatment....

Hence, is the spider/spline material of 5800 vs 6800 at all different?

I’ve only ever had silver finish on both. There may be a different ratio of each metal but as far as so ever noticed the Ultegra has a carbon spider.

pblakeney

Bondurant wrote:

PBlakeney wrote:

FatTed wrote:

I use Campagnolo Chorus

I use standard Miche instead.

How does Miche shift / last in comparison PB? The Primato steel cassette, if that's what you have

Yes, the Primato and other than being heavier and much cheaper I find it indistinguishable from the Chorus. I usually allow 3 chains per cassette and haven't been through one chain yet so it is hard to say, but no problems yet.

vinnymarsden

Recently sold Etap, which I ran trouble free with the new Ultegra 8000 11/30.... quiet, smooth and light.
Went to the Alps with the Etap being brand new with a Sram 11/32on it, noisy, clunky.
The difference was night & day, saying that the Sram was the lower than Force option, so can’t comment on Force/Red

super_davo

GT29 wrote:

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

5800 is metal, 6800 is carbon, but only main body. The loose ones are still metal and can still bite into your freehub

Both are obviously metal.... And obviously both can bite.... My question stemmed from my anecdotal perception of difference...

The colour of 5800 and 6800 cassettes are different too.... suggested a different alloy or at least a treatment....

Hence, is the spider/spline material of 5800 vs 6800 at all different?

According to Road.cc
http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/201 ... no-ultegra

"Cassettes
RRP Weight Typical price
105 £49.99-£54.99 269g (12-25) £29.99-£32.49
Ultegra £74.99-£79.99 243g (12-25) £46.47-£48.49 (li
Both 105 and Ultegra are 11-speed systems. 105 cassettes (above) are available in 11-28-tooth, 11-32-tooth and 12-25-tooth options. Ultegra is available in all of those plus 11-23, 11-25 and 14-28. There’s no reason why you can’t use an Ultegra cassette with an otherwise 105 set up.

In both cases, the sprockets are made from nickel plated steel, although an Ultegra cassette has a carbon spider arm that a 105 cassette doesn’t."

That's different from the previous generation where there was absolutely no difference at all bar the coating and the lockring. I just kept an Ultegra lockring from an old cassette and bingo they become the same again! The coating is still different, which is why 105s can corrode easier, however, for me the main reason I end up buying Ultegra is you can't get the 11-25 ratio in 105.

bondurant

PBlakeney wrote:

Bondurant wrote:

PBlakeney wrote:

FatTed wrote:

I use Campagnolo Chorus

I use standard Miche instead.

How does Miche shift / last in comparison PB? The Primato steel cassette, if that's what you have

Yes, the Primato and other than being heavier and much cheaper I find it indistinguishable from the Chorus. I usually allow 3 chains per cassette and haven't been through one chain yet so it is hard to say, but no problems yet.

Thanks

StillGoing

Sometimes it depends on whether you can get the teeth combination you want. I've always used 105 cassettes, but needing a 12-30 tooth for some good gradients, find the closest I can get is 11-30 in Ultegra at almost twice the cost of a 105 in 12-32.

grenw

super_davo wrote:

That's different from the previous generation where there was absolutely no difference at all bar the coating and the lockring. I just kept an Ultegra lockring from an old cassette and bingo they become the same again!

Thought I wouldn't be the only person that did that

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I don't see the point of almost doubling the ~£30 cost of a 105 11-32 to move up to Ultegra, to help save a few grams up the steepest ~20% hill sections I climb with a standard compact chainset.