Campagnolo 11 speed cassette advice

antonyfromoz

I am looking at installing a new Campagnolo cassette on my bike soon with the aim of increasing my maximum sprocket size from the current 27 to 29 teeth. Campagnolo now has three 11 speed cassettes covering either 11-29or 12-29 and all with similarish prices (especially when on sale) - Potenza, Chorus and Centaur (which is a bit cheaper usually). As none of my local bike shops tend to keep anything much in the way of Campagnolo components then I have no real chance of seeing any of these in the flesh (metal?) before purchase so any advice about the pros and cons of each from someone who has used them would be appreciated. As an alternative, I have been looking online at the Miche range of 11 speed Campagnolo cassettes which come with either a 29 or 30 tooth largest sprocket so any feedback on these as an alternative would be great too!

cycleclinic

The miche cassettes are similar to the centaur offering. The potenza and chorus cassettes are lighter. I have never found much difference in cadette life for any of them.

thegreatdivide

IMO Chorus cassettes are all you need when running 11-speed. They can take a hell of a lot of mileage.

I run a 12-29 on all but one of my bikes (with a 34/50 on the front). That range covers all the riding I do up here (Scotland) and trips across the water to the really big climbs. I've never needed the 11 cog. A good aero tuck gets the same speed (for me).

shortfall

thegreatdivide wrote:

IMO Chorus cassettes are all you need when running 11-speed. They can take a hell of a lot of mileage.

I run a 12-29 on all but one of my bikes (with a 34/50 on the front). That range covers all the riding I do up here (Scotland) and trips across the water to the really big climbs. I've never needed the 11 cog. A good aero tuck gets the same speed (for me).

Agreed. Chorus are expensive but compared to Record and Super Record they actually look cheap and they last well (for me).

antonyfromoz

Shortfall wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

IMO Chorus cassettes are all you need when running 11-speed. They can take a hell of a lot of mileage.

I run a 12-29 on all but one of my bikes (with a 34/50 on the front). That range covers all the riding I do up here (Scotland) and trips across the water to the really big climbs. I've never needed the 11 cog. A good aero tuck gets the same speed (for me).

Agreed. Chorus are expensive but compared to Record and Super Record they actually look cheap and they last well (for me).

thank you all for your input. surprisingly, while looking at the web yesterday i found a shop that has Chorus at a lower price than Potenza for the same sized cassete. No mention of weight to compare the two but the images looked very similar (although the images were not very detailed).

Would still like to know if anyone has compared the 12-30 miche cassette with one of the Campagnolo products for smooth changes etc.

shortfall

I don't know what the weight difference is between any of them but really? It can't be more than a few grammes, certainly nothing that will make any discernable difference to anything.

antonyfromoz

Shortfall wrote:

I don't know what the weight difference is between any of them but really? It can't be more than a few grammes, certainly nothing that will make any discernable difference to anything.

I totally agree but i was trying to get some idea of what the differences actually were. Weight of my cassette, within reason, is the least of my concerns.

antonyfromoz

thecycleclinic wrote:

The miche cassettes are similar to the centaur offering. The potenza and chorus cassettes are lighter. I have never found much difference in cadette life for any of them.

Cycle Clinic, have you ever paired the 12 -30 tooth Miche cassette with an Athena rear derailleur? I know that the length of the rear hanger has some bearing on this but it would be good to get confirmation that this pairing works smoothly in all gears.

cycleclinic

yes I run that on a short cage. Its stretches the mech so best with a medium cage. Shifting on miche cassettes is fine it campag like. I can also replace the worn small cogs on a miche cassette without having to change the whole cassette.

socrates

I would beg to differ. I tried a Miche 11 speed cassette with my Chorus rear mech. No matter how much adjustment was tried by myself and by also an experienced mechanic at my lbs the chain did not sit right on the cassette on 2 sprockets. Rattled annoyingly. Campag cassette all the way. Expensive, yes but the change is sweeter.