After reading Slowman’s ideal bike spec I came across this in the Excel catalogue, but I didn’t understand the description. Is this something that would work?
Most often these cassettes are used to make normally non-compatible cassettes and wheels work together, usually a Shimano cassette body (on say a Hed wheel) and a Campy cassette.
Usually this will work fine. Mavic also makes one, as does American Classic. (They have just released a 12\27 - this should be both cheaper and easier to find that the Wheels cassette.) They may not work with all wheels, and you may have to use a thin spacer between the hub and the cassette.
Does this help?
Yeah it does, so I guess if you want to go 11-27 you would have to have a Campy setup then?
Wheels Manufacturing makes an excellent product. They have been around a while. They also make campy to shimano cassettes, etc. They are pretty pricey though. I think they can custom machine about anything as well.
Jeff, what equipment do you have, and what are you trying to do?
Well, I’m not trying to do anything right now, but I guess the point of the post was just to inquire into the possibilites of an 11-27 cassette. I guess I was just dreaming as it seems a bit out of my price range to build up a bike right now. I bought an '04 Specialized Allez Elite Triple last July as my first bike, it does the trick for now, at least until I graduate; thanks for the response though, my ignorance has been temporarily remedied.
Oh, maybe now I see what you’re looking for.
11-27 vs 12-27? When you mentioned the Wheels cassette I assumed it was for a conversion.
Shimano and Campy both make 12-27’s. AFAIK all of the cassettes made with a 27 cog come in 12-27. However, if you want an 11 small cog, it’s an easy fix. You can simply purchase a loose 11t cog and replace the 12t. (You may need a smaller lockring, as most Campy lockrings are too wide for 11t.) You can do the same thing for other cogs you may want to replace - this way, you can customize your cassette.
OK, I didn’t know you could customize your own cassette, even though that makes perfect sense now as I put one together for my wheel upgrade. But I guess I see now from a bicycle manufacturer’s viewpoint, which is from where the article was written, their bike specs would need to utilize standard production cassettes (i.e. a 12-27), right?
Campy does not make a 12-27. They do make a 13-26 or 13-29, but these are not practical with compact cranks. I think the ideal setup for me would be a custom setup 11-12-13-15-{16-17}-{19-21}-{23-25} or {23-26}.
There are some limits - the larger cogs are harder to replace since they come in sets, but the smaller cogs are easier since they are loose.
The problem that you may have is trying to get the gearing where you want it. While you can replace the 12t cog with an 11t, you will then have a big gap between your last two cogs. Going from 13t to 11t is a big jump. You can replace a few more and make that jump elsewhere - this will lessen the noticeable effect a bit, but it’s still there.
From your request, I am assuming that you have a hilly course with some flats, and you want the 27t for climbs but the 11t for flats. Is this correct?
One other thing which you might consider (especially if my assumption is correct) is to replace the chainrings on your crankset. For instance, replace the 53t outer ring with a 54t. This will give you extra power for the flats but not affect you on climbs. You can also go a bit smaller on your inner ring if you prefer. FSA makes excellent replacement chainrings, and Shimano\Campy do as well (FSA’s are easier to find, though if you have a Campy crankset you’ll likely need to get one from them since they use a 135mm BCD, where as most other road cranksets use a 130 BCD.)
are you looking to get new wheels or just a spare cassette for hilly courses?
seems like you’re mixing the 2 issues as you can use more than 1 cassette on 1 set of wheels
the easiest in is to have 2 sets of cassettes depending on the course, e.g., use a 11/23 for for flat fast courses and a 13/29 (Campy) or 12/27 (Shimano) on hilly course; changing a cassette takes only a few minutes and you don’t need a separate set of wheels. If you ride on courses with steep rollers and climbs you could also go with a 12/25 and a compact crankset in the front. All you need to invest in is a cassette tool (park tools are best)
The gear development you loose by not having a 11 or not having a 53 (in case of compact cranks) is minimal as most riders can’t sustain the 11/53 over long distances anyway and already coast down hills at speeds that would still allow for pedaling … and there’s no sprint finish to the line in a tri either
I run the WM 11-27 cassette, as a converter from Shimano PT hub to my Campy 10sp. Works great, and I like the choice of gears just fine. The 11 is not often used, but I don’t notice any big jumps anywhere along the cassette, so it doesn’t hurt to have it on there.
Like I said I’m just doing a little future setup dreaming so I’m not quite sure this topic deserves all the attention it’s recieved, but it’s interesting nonetheless as I’ve already learned quite a bit. I will probably try to build up an 11-27 for my next bike purchase, if I can swing it, just for the variability factor, but this isn’t really necessary now as I already have a road bike with a triple. Thanks for the response though as now I’m a little more informed.