Shimano Casette Options

mccutchie

Hey guys,

I'm looking into purchasing a new cassette for a set of wheels. I'm going for the Shimano Ultegra 6700 10 Speed Cassette but i'm a bit bamboozled by the various options, 11-23, 11-25, 11-28, 12-23, 12-25. I'm just wondering what the differences really mean and what is the advantage of choosing one over the other.

Cheers, mccutchie

AstraMonti

The biggest the number of the sprockets the easier the gear. If you are not too strong on the hills go with a 27 at the back I 'd say. Are you going for a compact/double or triple chainset on the front?

mccutchie

Double on the front, strong on hills relatively

AstraMonti

What cassette were you using before? If you were happy with the gearing you had get the same, if you want something lighter for easier spinning get a bigger one.

CheGuedara

+1 on Astras posts

If you're looking for a do it all combination of gears to give you good speed on the descents and flat and easy gears to go up hill (if you're similar to me and no threat to the polka dot jersey) you could consider a combination of

* a standard chainset (39-53) and a 12-25/27 cassette or
* if running compact chainset (34-50) a 11-28

I've a few clubmates running the latter and while it's quite a wide range they don't seem to suffer because of it, it gives enough to get over steep things like seskin hill and they're plenty fast when it comes to going for the line during the last sprint for home

mccutchie

Thanks for advice, I currently use a standard chainset (39-53) and a 11/25 cassette, if anything on the biggest climbs cat 1 - cat 2 I cud do with one more or else I cud just train harder. As sean kelly said on eurosport, groupsets haven't changed all that much through the years, its all about the man pushing the engine

manwithaplan

The numbers refer to the number of teeth on the smallest and biggest sprockets on the cassette. The small number will be your biggest gear and the larger one the easiest. What you choose depends what you want it for. 11-25 with your standard double chainset (53-39) would be a typical racing set-up but your easiest gear (39 tooth chainring on the front, 25 tooth sprocket on the back) would be tough to push up the bigger climbs. You might need something with a 27 or 28 sprocket if you want to use it a lot in the hills.

Edit: Sorry - hadn't seen your last post before I posted.

petethedrummer

mccutchie wrote: »

As sean kelly said on eurosport, groupsets haven't changed all that much through the years.

He's wrong and he should know, it cost him a world title.