I've got a mix of 10 and 11 speed bikes and genuinely don't notice any particular benefit from having one extra gear. But then I also do ~100 miles/week commuting on a single speed on rolling hills, so I'm not precious about maintaining a particular cadence.

I'd stick to 10 speed purely because it sounds like you can do it a lot cheaper, I don't think 11 speed offers much benefit, and 10 speed components will still be around for a long time.

Do you *want* to get new wheels anyway? Alternatively, do you also have other bikes that could participate in a wheel pool swap among them? My answer would hinge on that.

In my personal case, the lack of backwards compatibility with all my other bikes/wheels would lead me to stick w/ 10s.

That's the thing. I am looking to buy a new wheelset. My road bike is a 10 but I didn't know if I should look for a wheels that could switch and just use spacers? Is that too much?

---

2020 Team Zoot MTN

I'm going thru this, too.

Complete bike with 11s setup for $$$ or frameset and use my existing 10s setup for $$.

I inquired about some Flo wheels and they seem to be 9/10/11 speed compatible. This allows me to really consider going the new frameset/existing 10s components and still upgrade my wheels. When I do move to 11s, it's an ez tweak to the rear wheel to make it 11s ready.

Every time I think about just pulling the trigger on the complete bike with the new 11s, I keep reminding myself that a 10 speed setup as been more than adequate for me over the last 15 years and I've never felt that I wouldn't finish a ride unless I had one more gear.

For me, it comes down to your budget. If it is that close, go to the 11. The future is now. 10 speed will be gone in a few years and harder to find replacements, IMO.

---

"Outwork your talent." Kevin McHale

Most of the Shimano compatible freehubs for 11 speed that I have used have a thin shim to insert on the freehub before the cassette for 10 speed compatibility so you may not need to worry *too* much about rear wheel compatibility.

Thanks everyone for the input. Sounds like I need to buy 11 speed. Ha I am thinking resell value after a few year might be better.

---

2020 Team Zoot MTN

If you're looking at new wheels, they'll all be 11sp compatible and backwards compatible to 10sp. with spacers, so you could run the new wheels on your 11sp tri bike and with a spacer and swap to a 10sp cassette, run that wheel on your road bike as well.

Another reason to consider upgrading to 11sp is 10sp replacement parts will become increasingly hard to come by. They're on sale now, but in a few years your options for replacement are diminished, so you'd need to make the change eventually anyway. And depending on what fails, may cause you to need to replace several parts at once. For example, I had a DA right shifter lever explode (internally) on me once, which necessitated me replacing both levers (since singles are hard to come by), and since I went up a speed, an RD, FD, cassette, and chain- almost a full gruppo! So since you're in the market now, I'd encourage you to take the plunge to 11sp.

Also to note, there are "old" 11sp options out there now (such as DA 9000, superceded now by 9100) so you can get the current speed standard without a premium price.

This is definitely a vexing decision.
You might be interested in this article.

10 speed was a sort of pinnacle in terms of performance and light weight. SRAM even released a lighter, better "V2" of SRAM Red...right before Shimano sprung 11 speed on us.
I have 4 bikes and tons of wheelsets that I "trade parts with" -- and they are all 10 speed. Moving to 11 speed, WTF? Need to buy new everything.
I think if it is your one main bike, stick with 10-speed. As others have indicated, parts are still available and relatively cheap. And most hubs support 10- and 11-speed with the adapter.

With regards to 11-speed, I will admit that shifting is better than 10 speed; 10 speed is a bit more finicky.

I will probably upgrade to 11-speed when/if disc brakes become ubiquitous or just hold out until something like 12 speed comes around.