Swapping gears


I have a Boardman Team Carbon Road bike with a 50/34 compact Shimano Tiagra chainset and a 10 speed 12-28 rear cassette.

I want to change my gears to make hill climbing as easy as possible (and am not bothered about top speed on the flat or downhill).

What’s the best way to do this?

Comments

  • arlowood
    arlowood Posts: 2,561
    Your easiest option is to buy a 10-speed 11-32 cassette which should give you plenty of additional help with hill climbing.

    https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-hg500-10-speed-road-cassette/rp-prod137768

    A straight swap over for the 12-28 should be possible without any major faffing about.

    If you want even more of a "granny" gear then there is the option of going to an 11-34 cassette. However you might have to check what rear derailleur is fitted to your bike. If it is a short cage then you would probably struggle to get the 34t sprocket to work. Consequently you would need to swap to a medium cage derailleur if you opt for the 11-34 cassette.

    You can quickly check what your derailleur is by measuring the distance between the jockey wheel pivots. Short cage will be 50mm , while a medium cage will be 74mm