Rear cassette question
FattyFoggon
Posts: 20
Hi pretty new to road cycling and come from a mountain running back ground but have a dodgy hip so now getting into cycling. I have an old road Sunn road bike with a 23 - 12 rear cassette and 52 39 chain rings, which I have been riding over the winter with plenty of steep hills to struggle up. I ordered a new road bike and went for an endurance road bike as I am hoping to build to 100 mile rides. However, I have the endurance bike now which has 11 -34 rear cassette and 50 34 chain rings, I have only been out on it a couple of times but I am finding it very easy to push and I am spending more time on the big chain ring in the higher gears, but it feels like I had more speed on the old bike on the flats and down hills. It is early days, but beginning to think I would of been better going for a more racy bike. So I am considering changing the rear cassette to a 11-28 or 11 :30 hoping it give me bit more speed and power through the gears, or is there no real advantage to doing this ?
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Comments
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If, and that is a big if, your new bike is slower it is more likely to be your position on your new bike that is making the difference rather than the gearing.
Ride the bike more before you make any changes.0 -
Are you saying that you run put of gears on the flat or downhill?
If so changing the cassette won't change your biggest gear 50:11.
All changing the cassette will do is give you a narrower range of gears, which if you have steep hills in your rides you might not want!0 -
Are you saying that you run put of gears on the flat or downhill?
If so changing the cassette won't change your biggest gear 50:11.
All changing the cassette will do is give you a narrower range of gears, which if you have steep hills in your rides you might not want!0 -
50 x 11 is a bigger gear than 52 x 12 so your gears are not the reason you feel slower on the down hills and flats.0
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Do you have any objective way of assessing or measuring your speed?
It's quite feasible that the new endurance bike may "feel" slower than your old bike while actually being faster.0 -
cheers for the replies, as you can see I am pretty naive, but i get that 50 - 11 will be the same with all the cassettes just seemed a bit slower until i get there, but it is early days and I do need to get used to the bike.
So one other question why do riders use the 11:28 is the only advantage smaller changes between the gears and maybe a tiny bit of weight ?
The riding position is different handle bars are higher (stack height maybe) was even thinking of taking a pacer out to lower the stem , but again probably over thinking it at this early stage, need to calm down!0 -
yeah singleton that it is a good point it is much smoother and does not seem to be as much road buzz maybe give it a bit and compare some segments on strava and see if there really is much difference0
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The advantage of an 11-28 cassette over an 11-34 is that the gaps between the gears are smaller.
In personal experience, this is rarely an issue if I am riding on my own, but can be a more of an issue if I am riding in a group of fast riders - as there will be times when I can't quite get the right gear for the speed we're doing.
If the bars feel too high, then maybe try riding with your hands on the lowest part of the handlebars - the drops - and see if that feel better.0 -
Your old bike had higher gearing but because of the chainrings and not the cassette.
52/11 will give you more speed for the same cadence compared to 50/11. I don't think you will get a cassette with less than an 11 cog.0 -
I would love to cycle somewhere where I use 50x11 frequently, a rare occurrence round here ! Use rear 32 and 34 quite a lot though!0
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I kinda get where the op is coming from, I have a 52 and a 50 bike and somehow pushing the 52 at a lower rpm always gives me the impression that I am going faster for less effort.
It's probably nonsense....but it's my nonsense!!
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50/11 at 90rpm gives you over 30 m.p.h. so pretty quick.
Perhaps find the steepest hill you think you might climb and see what ratio on the cassette you can manage with. If you can climb it easily in the 28 then an 11-28 cassette might suit your riding better0 -
getting more used to it now, took it for a longer ride so don't think it is slower just need to get the right gear selections at the right time i think (and it much smoother rolling). Hardly used the smaller chain ring, tried using the easiest combo 34:34 on the big climbs i do but was spinning a bit too much. However, i can stay seated on all the climbs now if I use the easiest combinations but definitely slower but a bit less effort obviously. On the old bike I would never get up the biggest hills seated. Will give it a bit yet and try on the 28 only next time, but still thinking i might change it at some point feels like i have a lot of gears atm which I don't use0
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I'm not sure what your groupset is or how many gears you have got - I'm assuming 11 speed in which case here are the sprockets on a Shimano 105 11 speed cassette:
11-28: 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28
11-30: 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30
11-34: 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-27-30-34
You can see there's quite a difference in that the top 2 have 1 tooth increments at the bottom (left hand) end whereas the 11-34 has 2 tooth increments at the bottom - meaning that the jumps are bigger.
If you don't have 11 speed, but have less - even down to 8 speed (claris) - then the jumps between the gears will be even bigger.
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yeah it is shimano 105 HG700-11 11 speed, like you say think it is the bigger jumps which I am finding quite different.
The old cassette was a shimano HG50 12-23
12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23T (i think) so there is a bit of a difference0 -
I can see why the hills were hard work with biggest cog of 23T, I wouldn't get up many hills round here with that!0
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It’s interesting you said earlier that you use your 32 and 34 tooth cogs a lot, but also said you don’t get much use of 50/11. I’m assuming you are riding in a hilly area (utilising the 34), so how come you don’t get to run your biggest gear on the downhills that must surely accompany the ups? Genuine question, as I run 52/34 with an 11/28 cassette in the Peak District and certainly get plenty of use out of the 34/28, but also the 52/11 on the downs!vincesummerskRoxcBTr said:I can see why the hills were hard work with biggest cog of 23T, I wouldn't get up many hills round here with that!
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The OP must be that old that he free wheels on downhills. I hope I never get that old.pilot_pete said:
It’s interesting you said earlier that you use your 32 and 34 tooth cogs a lot, but also said you don’t get much use of 50/11. I’m assuming you are riding in a hilly area (utilising the 34), so how come you don’t get to run your biggest gear on the downhills that must surely accompany the ups? Genuine question, as I run 52/34 with an 11/28 cassette in the Peak District and certainly get plenty of use out of the 34/28, but also the 52/11 on the downs!vincesummerskRoxcBTr said:I can see why the hills were hard work with biggest cog of 23T, I wouldn't get up many hills round here with that!
He must be even older than me.
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its the worst of all worlds on some of the potholed narrow steep hills round here. There's no way on earth you can let rip on the way down and a total grind to the top on the way uppilot_pete said:
It’s interesting you said earlier that you use your 32 and 34 tooth cogs a lot, but also said you don’t get much use of 50/11. I’m assuming you are riding in a hilly area (utilising the 34), so how come you don’t get to run your biggest gear on the downhills that must surely accompany the ups? Genuine question, as I run 52/34 with an 11/28 cassette in the Peak District and certainly get plenty of use out of the 34/28, but also the 52/11 on the downs!vincesummerskRoxcBTr said:I can see why the hills were hard work with biggest cog of 23T, I wouldn't get up many hills round here with that!
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lol not sure how old you are Les but obviously having problems reading posts maybe that's old age. At no point did say I don't use the 52 - 12 combination although I did say I don't use the smaller chainring much (the one on the front). I ride mainly in the Mourne mountains so loads of big long descents, for which certainly do use the 52-12 (on the older bike use the 50-11 on the newer bike) combination which is great fun!lesfirth said:
The OP must be that old that he free wheels on downhills. I hope I never get that old.pilot_pete said:
It’s interesting you said earlier that you use your 32 and 34 tooth cogs a lot, but also said you don’t get much use of 50/11. I’m assuming you are riding in a hilly area (utilising the 34), so how come you don’t get to run your biggest gear on the downhills that must surely accompany the ups? Genuine question, as I run 52/34 with an 11/28 cassette in the Peak District and certainly get plenty of use out of the 34/28, but also the 52/11 on the downs!vincesummerskRoxcBTr said:I can see why the hills were hard work with biggest cog of 23T, I wouldn't get up many hills round here with that!
He must be even older than me.0 -
I referred to Pilot Pete. According to a thread a while back, I am the oldest guy on this forum! Anyway have you been looking for your glasses since last April?FattyFoggon said:
lol not sure how old you are Les but obviously having problems reading posts maybe that's old age. At no point did say I don't use the 52 - 12 combination although I did say I don't use the smaller chainring much (the one on the front). I ride mainly in the Mourne mountains so loads of big long descents, for which certainly do use the 52-12 (on the older bike use the 50-11 on the newer bike) combination which is great fun!lesfirth said:
The OP must be that old that he free wheels on downhills. I hope I never get that old.pilot_pete said:
It’s interesting you said earlier that you use your 32 and 34 tooth cogs a lot, but also said you don’t get much use of 50/11. I’m assuming you are riding in a hilly area (utilising the 34), so how come you don’t get to run your biggest gear on the downhills that must surely accompany the ups? Genuine question, as I run 52/34 with an 11/28 cassette in the Peak District and certainly get plenty of use out of the 34/28, but also the 52/11 on the downs!vincesummerskRoxcBTr said:I can see why the hills were hard work with biggest cog of 23T, I wouldn't get up many hills round here with that!
He must be even older than me.0 -
lol nah only recently got my privileges back so I could go on the internet thingy again 0
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You don't need to use the higher gears, but you can't use them if you need them and they aren't there. If you do build up to 5 or 6 hour rides, I suspect you will find that an easy climb after 10 miles feels like mont ventoux after 80 miles and you will be glad that you have some more gears available.
My guess is that if you are new to cycling you will be riding at a low cadence. As you get more experience this is likely to increase somewhat. Some people mash away at lower cadence than others, but by the time you've worn the cassette out you should have a better feel of what would work for you.
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My thought exactly. What's your average cadence Fattyfoggon?First.Aspect said:You don't need to use the higher gears, but you can't use them if you need them and they aren't there. If you do build up to 5 or 6 hour rides, I suspect you will find that an easy climb after 10 miles feels like mont ventoux after 80 miles and you will be glad that you have some more gears available.
My guess is that if you are new to cycling you will be riding at a low cadence. As you get more experience this is likely to increase somewhat. Some people mash away at lower cadence than others, but by the time you've worn the cassette out you should have a better feel of what would work for you.seanoconn - gruagach craic!0 -
😄lesfirth said:
The OP must be that old that he free wheels on downhills. I hope I never get that old.pilot_pete said:
It’s interesting you said earlier that you use your 32 and 34 tooth cogs a lot, but also said you don’t get much use of 50/11. I’m assuming you are riding in a hilly area (utilising the 34), so how come you don’t get to run your biggest gear on the downhills that must surely accompany the ups? Genuine question, as I run 52/34 with an 11/28 cassette in the Peak District and certainly get plenty of use out of the 34/28, but also the 52/11 on the downs!vincesummerskRoxcBTr said:I can see why the hills were hard work with biggest cog of 23T, I wouldn't get up many hills round here with that!
He must be even older than me.
I think that was referring to me! I do use the 11 cog on some of the downhills round here but many of them are windy with blind corners so freewheeling and braking are the order of the day!
Not fast enough to use the 11 cog on the flat very often either !0
