Not quite sure what I need. My roadie is running 10 speed 105 with a 12 - 25 cassette and FSA Gossamer Pro compact chainset, 34/50t. I did a hills ride at the weekend and was struggling up the really steep stuff, like I was almost going to have to get off and walk… So would the best option be to change the cassette? Something like an 11 - 32? The bike is a few years old so I don’t want to dump much $$ in it.
I would try an 11-28 first. More than a 28 and you may need a long cage derailleur which will cost you more money. 34 x 28 is a pretty low gear.
I would suggest working on the engine!!
But until that is tuned up, going with a lower gear cassette would help!
32 would probably require a long cage derailleur.
Assuming your running the 5800 10speed group there is a long cage for sale on the classifieds.
I just picked up a crank of him, so can give him a good word!
I would try an 11-28 first. More than a 28 and you may need a long cage derailleur which will cost you more money. 34 x 28 is a pretty low gear.
Gotcha thanks!
I’ve gotten an 11-32 to work with a 10 speed Shimano 105 short cage RD with a 50/34 on several bikes.
I’ve gotten an 11-32 to work with a 10 speed Shimano 105 short cage RD with a 50/34 on several bikes.
Same (on one bike though, not several).
I would suggest working on the engine!!
Assuming your running the 5800 10speed group!
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He asked about a cassette, not the engine. I really don’t like seeing this as the first response (even for fun) when in the TdF they run a 39 or 36 and 11-28 in the mountains these days. Just a peeve, it gets old.
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That’s a 5700. A 5800 is 11spd.
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Get the 11-28 for now. 3 teeth more is a good amount.
I would suggest working on the engine!!
Assuming your running the 5800 10speed group!
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He asked about a cassette, not the engine. I really don’t like seeing this as the first response (even for fun) when in the TdF they run a 39 or 36 and 11-28 in the mountains these days. Just a peeve, it gets old.
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That’s a 5700. A 5800 is 11spd.
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Get the 11-28 for now. 3 teeth more is a good amount.
Yeah I ignored his post :).
Yup 5700.
11-28 sounds good. 12-25 got me up there, just need something to help a little more. 11-32 is probably overkill. Thanks for the advice guys.
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Your right, he did ask about a cassette, he also didn’t mention if the hill he was climbing was an overpass or mortirolo…
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I was also as serious as a heart attack when I suggested working on the engine…that’s the advice a wise man gave me when we were discussing hills and cassette combinations…a couple years later, I am able to use a higher gear combo for the same hills. I meant no negative connotation in my comments, it’s just the plain truth
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I missed the 10sp part of the post…so scratch the 11spd long cage…
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Your right, he did ask about a cassette, he also didn’t mention if the hill he was climbing was an overpass or mortirolo…
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I was also as serious as a heart attack when I suggested working on the engine…that’s the advice a wise man gave me when we were discussing hills and cassette combinations…a couple years later, I am able to use a higher gear combo for the same hills. I meant no negative connotation in my comments, it’s just the plain truth
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I missed the 10sp part of the post…so scratch the 11spd long cage…
That’s why I’m doing hillswork - to help with the engine. I suppose you could argue I should stay with my current setup to make it harder, but I also want to enjoy the session plus I don’t want my mates waiting for me constantly 
If you don’t need the 11, you might consider the 10sp Ultegra 12-30. I’ve gotten 30 tooth cogs to work with 9sp Shimano short cage derailleurs, but never tried with 10sp.
I would also suggest the 12/30 route. I had found a Shimano HG50 (tiagra) cassette that worked great and wasn’t expensive but I think they may be pretty scarce.
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Your right, he did ask about a cassette, he also didn’t mention if the hill he was climbing was an overpass or mortirolo…
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I was also as serious as a heart attack when I suggested working on the engine…that’s the advice a wise man gave me when we were discussing hills and cassette combinations…a couple years later, I am able to use a higher gear combo for the same hills. I meant no negative connotation in my comments, it’s just the plain truth
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I missed the 10sp part of the post…so scratch the 11spd long cage…
That’s why I’m doing hillswork - to help with the engine. I suppose you could argue I should stay with my current setup to make it harder, but I also want to enjoy the session plus I don’t want my mates waiting for me constantly
No, there’s no merit in using inadequate gear ratios to make it harder. That’s macho ignorant cyclist nonsense, generally spewed by guys who are either mis-geared themselves or who are trying to talk down to cyclists weaker than themselves. You won’t see any wise & strong cyclists trying to get up a hill on their 11 sprocket because it’ll make them stronger. The ratios that allow you get up the hill, and better yet, at a sensible cadence, are the correct ratios.
I’m a reasonable cyclist. Nothing impressive, but certainly not a novice. I’ve typically had an 11-28 on the back of both my road and triathlon bikes. The road bike has a 34T front small ring and the triathlon bike has a 38T (It came with this, I may change it to a 36T at some point). I can get up anything I’ve attempted with 34/28 gearing. That might not have been the case in my first year or two.
Last year I did a ride in the Alpes that included the Cols of Glandon, Galibier, Telegraphe and also Alpe D’Huez all on the one ride (over 5000m climbing for the day). I could have done it on 34/28, but I put on a 32T cassette just in case. Why would I restrict my options? You don’t have to use the srockets just because they’re there, and the bigger gaps between gears is a small price to pay to have the right gearing on a steep climb.
- Your right, he did ask about a cassette, he also didn’t mention if the hill he was climbing was an overpass or mortirolo…
How is that relevant?
And you didn’t tell him which hills your comment referred to either so you’re not being very consistent here. - I was also as serious as a heart attack when I suggested working on the engine…that’s the advice a wise man gave me when we were discussing hills and cassette combinations…a couple years later, I am able to use a higher gear combo for the same hills. I meant no negative connotation in my comments, it’s just the plain truth
No, it’s ignorant BS
What cadence do you currently use when climbing a steep gradient? Are you still overgeared yourself or just suggesting others should be?
The fact you can now use a higher gear when climbing is hardly the point. The size gear you can wrestle is not a measure of your ability as a cyclist. Your speed up the climb and ability to do it repeatedly is.
Would you be just as quick up the climb if you’d done similar training volume using the correct gears? Yes, you would. And you just might have ended up better, almost certainly more enjoyably. Of course if you let the gears dictate HOW you train, that’s a different matter entirely.
If you don’t need the 11, you might consider the 10sp Ultegra 12-30. I’ve gotten 30 tooth cogs to work with 9sp Shimano short cage derailleurs, but never tried with 10sp.
I would also suggest the 12/30 route. I had found a Shimano HG50 (tiagra) cassette that worked great and wasn’t expensive but I think they may be pretty scarce.
This!
I used to run the Tiagra 4600 12-30T cassettes on my 10-speed setup, also using a 5700 short-cage rear derailleur; check the model number of your RD (stamped in the back of it) and the RD-5701 is officially compatible with a max 30T cog. I prefer a high cadence so the extra gearing going uphill was great, although I did spin the 12T out on occasion going downhill.
It might be a bit more difficult in terms of getting hold of one; Shimano discontinued the Tiagra 4600 cassettes when they released the 4700 series, which annoyingly doesn’t include a 12-30T option. As *FatandSlow *says, there’s the 10-speed 6700 Ultegra line that also had a 12-30T option, but not sure whether these are still manufactured or widely available?
If you read my first post to the OP, I suggested working on the engine, I than said that until that is up to snuff, a lower gear combo would be great…so how am I the bad guy here?
And it is the truth, ignorant BS would have been only suggesting working on the engine with no other opinion or option, which I did not do.
I’ve got more respect for someone who will shoot it to me straight, rather than beat around the bush and try to be all PC because they don’t want to hurt my feelings and pretend we live in a world that is full of unicorns and pixie dust.
So just to be clear, if you are having trouble with hills, work on your engine. Plain and simple.
And while you are working on the engine. Go with a lower gear combo, have a bail out gear, wether it be 28/30/32.
I would agree with anyone, slogging up a hill with a cadence of 50 because you can’t check your ego and won’t put a lower cassette on is not the way to go about it.
If you read my first post to the OP, I suggested working on the engine, I than said that until that is up to snuff, a lower gear combo would be great…so how am I the bad guy here?
And it is the truth, ignorant BS would have been only suggesting working on the engine with no other opinion or option, which I did not do.
I’ve got more respect for someone who will shoot it to me straight, rather than beat around the bush and try to be all PC because they don’t want to hurt my feelings and pretend we live in a world that is full of unicorns and pixie dust.
So just to be clear, if you are having trouble with hills, work on your engine. Plain and simple.
And while you are working on the engine. Go with a lower gear combo, have a bail out gear, wether it be 28/30/32.
I would agree with anyone, slogging up a hill with a cadence of 50 because you can’t check your ego and won’t put a lower cassette on is not the way to go about it.
As I understand your position: You DO think it’s okay to use a smaller gear, but you DON’T think that’s a long term solution because needing one means there’s something wrong with your engine?
The ignorant bit is the suggestion that the OP’s existing cycling ability is the problem.
No-one has any obligation to work on their engine. Your suggestion that this is the real solution and that gearing is a short term crutch is what I find highly ignorant. What makes one person’s level of ability acceptable and not another. Is there some threshold we’re supposed to meet before we should ride on hills, that I’m not aware of?
There actually IS a minimum ability required to climb steep gradients. But that lower limit is when, with a bike set up to suit you, you’re unable to achieve sufficient forward speed to maintain balance. If your gearing forces you off the bike before you reach that limit then it’s more than reasonable to fault the gearing…not the rider. The rider would be capable of climbing the slope if the gearing was not putting unnecessary constraints on them.
You seem to be operating under the impression that there is a “correct” gearing we should all be able to manage with.
I disagree.
Edit: Oh yeah, I meant to ask you…What the hell is the PC, unicorns and pixie dust stuff about? Who’s being PC? I think you have a comprehension/logic problem.
“working on the engine” gets a big “dah” from me.
basically it didn’t need to be said.
I would treat this like a math problem.
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What is the lowest cadence you want to maintain on these tough climbs? Keep in mind that the length of the climb matters. Most of us can tolerate a very low cadence for a minute or two if the climb is short, but if it’s a sustained steep climb that takes 5+ minutes, that minimum cadence number usually rises.
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What cadence were you sustaining on the climb when you almost had to get off your bike? Take that cadence, plug it into a gear calculator, and given you were in the 34/25, solve for how fast you were going. Or vice versa, if you know the speed, solve for cadence.
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Once you know how fast you were going, take that speed and whatever gear combination you are thinking of moving to (34/28, 34/30, or 34/32) and solve for the new cadence each gear will allow. Does that answer match up to the first question?
For me personally, I’m normally a 80-85 cadence guy on the flats. And for most of my routes, I can power through with 34/28 as my easiest gear assuming I don’t climb anything steep that lasts more than 2-3 minutes. I can drop my cadence into the 50’s if need be for that amount of time. But if I’m going to do steep climbing that is sustained for longer than 2-3 minutes, I switch to a 32t cassette as I need my minimum cadence to be in the 60’s. It’s still lower than my natural cadence on the flats of 80-85, but for 3-10 minutes, I can manage.
BTW - topping out at a 25 in the back is fairly aggressive even on a compact if you are doing any decent climbing or you are not cashing a paycheck from your cycling team, so you could definitely do with a few more teeth in the back. A large percentage of cyclists, including some petty good ones, would be cadence challenged on really steep climbs in a 34 x 25. And just because they could make it does not mean they would not be wishing for another gear or two during the climb.
Sure work on you engine, but if you are “almost” having to walk up “really steep stuff” in a 34 x 25 it is most definitely #1 a gearing problem.
Gearing is not a test of manhood. Get what works for you.