cassette advice?

[Adam]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about changing up the cassette on my Hillborne this winter. I'm currently running an 11-32 (9sp) with 48/36/26 in front.

I've moved to the midwest, and now the closest thing I see to a hill is a freeway overpass. I'd like to try a more compact cassette, thinking something like a 13-28. I somehow have only ridden wide range cassettes, so this is new territory to me. Any advice on this swap?

I also realize the triple front is superfluous, but don't want to swap it unnecessarily, the cassette is getting old, cranks seem fine.

Thanks!

Adam - just back from a ride through Chicago snow.

[iamkeith]

My only advice is to run your proposed chainrings and sprockets combination through Sheldon's gear calculator or something similar, to make sure you don't have a bunch of redundant gear combinations.  To me, the only reason for having a close-ratio cassette is to be able to have more incremental cadence options.  When you have a complete, mainstream, racer wannabe component group  this is usually worked out.    But sometimes the more versatile chainring setups like yours (and mine) end up yielding too many combos that are almost identical.  At that point, you don't really gain anything by going with smaller cogs.

[mikel...@juno.com]

adam,

a triple is fine. i would use a cassette with an 11t first cog so you will have some low end on those flats and downhills

mike in rhode island

[Adam]

Thanks everyone,

Just to clarify, my goal is to add some additional steps within my existing range. I often find--especially longer rides with constant winds--that I don't have quite the gear that I'd like to sustain my pace.

My plan is to just base things off my current setup and the gear calculator, just curious of there are other, not obvious considerations.

THANKS

[Garth]

Adam, if you're asking for specific gear advice please be specific in stating what gears, in inches, that you say you don't have.

https://www.gear-calculator.com/

Use this gear chart site, input your rings, cassette, wheel size and choose gear inches. Look at the gear-inch combos and see the exact gear inches you claim to be absent. Since I don't know you, I don't know what rings and combos you're using of a given cassette and how much or little cross chaining degrees you find acceptable.It might be as simple as you're not using certain 36 or 48 combinations, maybe not, the only way for us to help you specifically is for you to be very specific. Of course, after you do that you won't need any help, just look for cassettes that have the certain cogs you may need. BTW, I don't consider the 26t as rideable for anything but hills, and since you have none don't bother with that ring in your charting.

Point your mouse over the ring(and cogs) and move it, add or delete as desired. 

Yeah, I know cassette combos suck, but the lower end Sunrace all have cassettes held in place by long hex screw pins, thus you can make your own if you can find the right cogs. 

And smile.

[Joe Bernard]

I don't see any non-obvious issues (unless I don't see it cuz it's non-obvious!), you're keeping the triple so still need your long cage derailers. I'm not sure you'll find a 13-28 9-speed though*, most I've come across or can recall have an 11 or 12t final cog. There's 12-27 9ers out there which might do the trick for you. Of course if you're friction shifting you can grab a 13-28 8-speed.

*Someone here may prove me wrong and find one for you. 

Joe Bernard 

[Joe Bernard]

Also in your case I wouldn't worry about duplicate ratios, if you ride like me on the flats you're going to mostly be in the middle ring and just run up and down the cassette. The low and high front rings will see very occasional use. Is my guess. 

[Adam]

Thanks all,

I had not tried that gear calculator, but was using another. This one is nicely laid out.

My thinking seems like it will work. Basically, I currently use the 48T and end up between the 16 - 18 - 21 a lot of the time on faster road rides. I'd like to have more gears in between these cogs. I'll find a cassette that has them and see how it treats me.

I'm looking at a 12-27 now, and seeing that as Joe said, I could use the 36 instead of the 48 and have a lot more options in the 70-85" range where I spend all of my time.

going to give it a shot and see what I think

[Garth]

Even using the 36t with a 11-32 doesn't really help though combined with a 48t big ring. If you used a 36/44 instead however, here's your gears, https://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=44,36&RZ=11,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,32&UF=2280&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&DV=gearInches

You have a split between every gear ! 

I look at cassette hubs as a kind of effed up thing in that the innermost cog position is at such an angle I consider it worthless, and the outermost not far behind. The sweet spot is the 7 in between for optimal chain angles with 2 or more rings. So forget about the old idea about finding a smaller range cassette for that reason. You don't need the 11 or the 32 anyways even if you could, so leave them and ride the 12-28 7 speed in between. See ? There's your "smaller" cassette which when combined with the 36/44 will give you all the gears and half gears you'll need. 110 bcd 44t rings from Origin8 are easy to find online. On my Bombadil I ride 24/36/44 with a 12-36, though I never use and have locked out the 12 and 36. I have all the gears and a halves I need. The straw-man argument against not using cogs is a waste... or too heavy ..... hah hah .....ask the straw-man how much the straw-man weighs and compared to what.... and watch a circus ensue . .....   And if a 44/12 is considered "too small" .... hah hah again ...... Enjoy the Ride !

And a Smile

[lconley]

I still have several bikes with freewheels and I really love the "MegaRange" 7 speed freewheels that Rivendell occasionally has in stock.  14-16-18-20-22-24-34. The 14-24 is a close ratio 6 speed and the 34 is the emergency granny. Plus the 135mm 7 speed freewheel hubs have almost no spoke offset so the wheel is stronger (I am no lightweight). Right now I am readying a 12-27 9 speed cassette (12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27) with 48-34 crank for my Rosco Bubbe V1 (previously a single speed) for riding the levees. Not a lot of hills in Florida either, gears are mostly used for compensating for wind speed and direction. Less expensive cassettes with individual sprockets allow you to mix and match to build your own. I am fond of the "MegaRange" style gearing with the single large inner sprocket - I have no need of multiple low range gears here.

Laing

Delray Beach FL

[Drew Saunders]

How much do you use the 48x11? It’s a pretty high gear, but you may prefer a lower cadence than many others. If so, I’ll be the contrarian and suggest an 11-23 9 speed. I currently use a 24-36-46 with an 11-23 9 speed on my Riv in hilly Silicon Valley, and spend a lot of time in the middle ring. I’m gathering parts to convert to 2x11 soon as a rainy winter project.

[Adam]

Thanks all,

I appreciate the thoughts. I agree with the 48x11 being minimally useful. I have found it only useful for standing and "sprinting" sometimes on long flat rides.

Going to try building a 12-27 and see where that gets me.

[Adam]

Also, does the "megarange" setup shift well? I can imagine that being perfect for my situation. I could swap the 27 for a 32.

[JohnS]

Hello Adam,

My experience with the Megarange freewheels has been that they are difficult to setup with index shifters, friction is OK. 

JohnS

[lconley]

I use the MegaRange freewheel (NOT a cassette) with an Altus RD and 7 speed index twist shifter. Works fine, but I really don't shift to the 34 that much. If you are trying to make a MegaRange out of a cassette, there are considerations, like most cassettes have multiple inner gears on a spider that cannot be separated without machining. You could remove a middle sprocket and add a large inner sprocket, but it is best if it is intended for the big jump. If you look at the MegaRange 34T sprocket, it has ramps down to a smaller diameter that a normal 34T sprocket. The individual large inner sprockets used to be more available, but are now harder to find due to the wide range cassettes being more available. The Crust and Analog websites used to have articles on making your own cassette combinations. Analog talked about Turkey Vulture gearing and Crust's "THE STUBBY CASSETTE" related to the Scapegoat and using 11 speed cassettes to make narrow 7 speed cassettes (spacers used to fill the space closest to the spokes) that would clear fat tires on the non-offset 135 spacing frame without going crazy wide on crank Q-factor.

But I agree that when mixing and matching, friction makes things easier. Still going to try the Nexave rapid rise RD-600 with indexing on the MegaRange, before I go friction.

Laing

Delray Beach FL

[Michael Hammer]

I have had two bikes with a bailout gear setup.  A freewheel with a 24 to 32 jump with a 7 speed LX mountain derailer and friction shifting and a 7 speed homebrew cassette also with a 24-32 jump with a 7 speed Ultegra road derailer (6400 series) that shifts fine in index mode.  

[Patrick Moore]

When I have a lot of gear choices, I like very close ratios on the middle or cruising range, with much less-considered tailwind and downhill gears and ditto climbing gears. On my sole derailleur bike* I use a 42/28 X 13-25 10 speed and I'll probably one day swap the 28 for a 26 o 24, and the low 25 t (13-20 corncob + 22 + 25) with a 26 or 27t.

The current 42.28 X 13-25 gives me nice 1-t jumps between 95" and 50" in the mainstream 42, and down to 33" in the 28 (29 1/2" diameter wheel). With a 26t granny and a 26 t big cog the low would be 30"; with a 24/27 it would be 26". I climb by low-cadence torqueing, so 26" and even 33" is far lower than I need even in my old age for any hill I encounter in the terrain and for the sort of riding I do. I do 99.9% of my riding in the 42 (low 50"); terrain is either sandy flat (No-So) or rather steeply rolling with some short and sharp and some long and gradual climbs (E-W).

If I wanted to use a long cage instead of an 8-sp short cage rd and 11 or 12 speeds, I could maintain the essential crusing range 6 or 7 1-t jumps and increase the range to as much as 100" to 20".

I've built nice-working 10-sp cassettes from a mix of 7, 8, and 9 sp cogs + 1 or 2 Uniglides, but my 13-25 is built from Miche Shimano cogs, outer + middle + inner, and these shift even better. Using an 11-sp chain makes shifting the best I've ever used (as good as the Am Classic stock 11-23 and 12-25 10s I used a decade ago) and only ceding first place to the 7-sp Uniglide Sante drivetrain on my late 1989 Falcon.

*Out of 4; the other 3: fixed gear gofast with 76/67" flip flop gears, ss mountain bike -- 65" for flatland sand, and AM hub errand road bike: 72/65/56".

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[Hunter Harr]

I am a big fan of what you are trying to do. It works great when it is mainly flat like you describe. Not finding the right gears when the winds start dragging you is just that a drag.

I have Joe running 48/34 x 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-27 (10 Speed) on 700 x 38, and it works great, indexed bar-ends, straight no-ramp Sugino Chainrings to Miche sprockets with a SRAM chain. 34 to 109 gear inches

I have Sam running 48/34 x 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-28 (10 Speed) on 700 x 35, it works great as well, but I never use the 11, indexed bar-ends, straight no-ramp TA chainrings with Smimano Ultegra sprockets with a SRAM chain. 33 to 118 gear inches.

Had a Handsome Devil running 42 x 12-13-14-15-17-19-22-25-28-32 (10 Speed) on 700 x 35, which also worked well, but there were times I almost wished for finer gearing, but the simplicity of the 1x always won out, indexed down-tube shifter, straight no-ramp SAKAE chainring with SRAM sprockets and SRAM chain. 35 to 95 gear inches.

All running 5700 series 105 SS rear derailers. All running drops.

About to switch the Joe to uprights and plan on using 13-29 Miche cassette.

And will switch the Sam to a 12-28 Miche when I can.

Will stick with 12-32 on a Pass Hunter I am going 1x with.

Actually have 9-Speed Miche listed on ebay, but 13-26 so tooo short for your needs.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/165828075872

BTW, live in Florida, Tampa Bay Area, so only "hill" I ride is the Courtney Campbell Causeway Bridge, so mid 30 gear inches works fine for me.