If you are going to have 3 cassettes to cover different terrain which ones you’d get?
And what is your “all round” cassette size?
For some reason I ended up with 4 11-23 size on all my wheels so looking to replace them.
11-21 (could even pull a 20 off of a different cassette and drop the 21 to build a straight block 11-20)for dead flat to easy rolling courses.
11-23 for most rides.
11-26 for more demanding climbing.
i use a 12x25 on both my wheels and have been happy with them.
I’m a fan of the 11x23 as I spin out of the 12 pretty easily. An 11x25 would be perfect for most of my rides here in CO, but I haven’t jimmy-rigged a cassette to that (I don’t even know if it’s possible, to be honest).
I would think that an 11x26 would be good to have if you live in a hilly / mountainous area.
not too hard to find…
My “3” 10spd cassette recommendations:
11-21 Dura-ace (Race only cassette - flat to slightly rolling. DA is the only one I have found that makes a 10spd 11-21)
12-23 Ultegra (All around cassette…I prefer this one to the 11-23 because it has the 18t cog…and I rarely use the 11t)
11-26 SRAM (Billy goat cassette)
If you road race…or crits…I would maybe consider the 11-23 over the 12-23 for that extra “get um” gear.
I like a 12-25. It’s completely flat here with a few steep bridges.
if it is completely flat there, why would you want a 25t cog ?
i use a 12x25 on both my wheels and have been happy with them.
You know you only need one on the back wheel though, right?
Did you read the rest of the sentence?
I find it most amusing that people boast they can spint out a 12.
I was spinning my 53x12, down-hill at 70kph.
Learn to spin.
Well, I’m psyched for you.
I like having the 11 as well. I use an 11-23 with a54/42 up front.
On hilly with headwind, sometimes I could use a 25 or 26.
How is the SRAM 10 speed 11-26? Work ok with the Shimano 10 speed?
I find it most amusing that people boast they can spint out a 12.
I was spinning my 53x12, down-hill at 70kph.
Learn to spin.
No kidding. I did a 10 mile TT once in 22:31 with a 52-14 as my biggest gear. It was windy as hell and I was spinning like a mofo on the return leg… I don’t have any cogs smaller than 13 on any of my bikes and rarely use those.
Well I’m not the tri guy but a TT guy that likes to take information from various sources so you can take my advice with a grain of salt so to speak. Now I’m assuming you are still running a 53x39 front chainring combo right?
11x23 is a really good cassette for the flat courses and if there is a chance of a good tailwind push on any downhill sections. I haven’t actually spun out the 53x11 but on a long downhill section with a tailwind it allowed me to keep a higher speed.
12x25 in my opinion is a very good all around group of gears and you actually need the 11 very seldom.
12x27 is the hilly setup but you’ll only need it on very hilly courses.
For no other reason that it looks kewl and is supposed to be a bit more aero I’m running the FSA 55/44 chainrings. But I’m running a 12x25 cassette on my HED3’s. The gear inch of the 55x12 is slightly less than the 53x11 but more than the 53x12 obviously. Training hoops came with an 11…now go try and push a 55x11, I certainly don’t have the friggin motor!
How is the SRAM 10 speed 11-26? Work ok with the Shimano 10 speed?
the sram cassettes work fine with shimano or sram derailleurs. i don’t need the 11 very often (even though i use compact gearing up front) but if it’s hilly enough to need the 25 or 26 to climb, there’s a good chance i’ll hit the 11 on the way back down. since i spin at 90+rpm most of the time, i can’t see any chance of using an 11 (or even 12) with a 55 front ring. i don’t see 40+mph that much.
Andrew,
You raise an interesting point. One of the other reasons that I run the 55 for TT’s is my ability to stay in the middle of the gear set…it just seems smoother to me. I spend alot of time in the 15 -17 gears on alot of TT’s and my average cadence in a TT is 98-102 for the most part. Most guys are running the 53x11 as their big gear where my 55x12 is actually smaller or less gear inches.
James
I only use two a 11-21 for flats and a 12-25 for hilly training or racing, but now I feel kind of stupid for having anything smaller than a 12 tooth cog and actually thinking it was working out pretty well for me.
I’m a fan of the 11x23 as I spin out of the 12 pretty easily.
Really? You spin out 39.9, 41.4, or 43.0 mph “pretty easily”? You are one very very very fast dood.
Gear chart using MPH @ 120 RPM For 700 X 23 / 23-622 tire with 175 mm cranks With 10-speed 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23 Cassette 51 3.9 % 53 3.8 % 55 11 43.5 45.2 46.9 9.1 % 12 39.9 41.4 43.0 8.3 % 13 36.8 38.2 39.7 7.7 % 14 34.2 35.5 36.9 7.1 % 15 31.9 33.1 34.4 6.7 % 16 29.9 31.1 32.3 6.3 % 17 28.1 29.2 30.4 11.8 % 19 25.2 26.2 27.2 10.5 % 21 22.8 23.7 24.6 9.5 % 23 20.8 21.6 22.4
Note: Even if “spin out” meant > 90rpm, that line would be 29.9 31.1 32.3 MPH
Edit: crap. formatting didn’t work. Hard to be snarky when your chart doesn’t format…
yeah, i was thinking of going to a 12 from an 11 because i only spin the 11 down hill!!! and i have to go fast to spin it out.
I don’t think i can even spin out the 12 for more than a few seconds with out blowing up if it is not a slight down hill.
and i am a pretty good biker.