I think you’re more sensitive to the jumps than I would be, although I might notice it more when I get lighter gears.
12 speeds do look nice!
I found this to be useful.
https://www.mantel.com/blog/en/derailleur-capacity-maximum-techcenter
I just know that cruising around I find myself in the 17t and when I shift it goes right to 15 which feels like a big cadence drop. Some of that probably has to do with the rest of the changes in the range being so smooth due to their spacing. Same the other way, when I’m in the 15 and shift to an easier gear it feels like it gets too easy (wish there was just a little more resistance)
It’s rarely something I think about, but definitely something I notice.
Yeah, just measured it…it is a GS (mid-cage), not a SS cage.
Sorry for the confusion!
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I run an 11-34 10 speed with a medium cage derailleur + wolftooth. On another bike I run an 11-36 with a MTB derailleur, also 10 speed. On that bike I can go to 11-42 for specific rides.
I don’t think shifting is as crisp/reliable on these setups compared to narrower range cassettes and a short cage derailleur, however it’s been so long since I’ve run one of those I can’t really say.
I like to spin, so in the hilly/mountainous terrain I usually ride in these work well for me, and the large gaps don’t really bother me much. I think whether this will be ‘good’ for you depends on how often you will use the lower gears - if you use them on climbs most rides, then the tradeoff is worth it. If you only use the lower gears once every 10 rides, then likely not.
For me, the 11-42 is great for certain big rides, but I wouldn’t want it for everyday rides as I don’t need gears that low. Where this point is for different people will determine what range is appropriate for every day riding. This depends both on your fitness, and on the terrain. Someone at 5W/Kg will like different gearing on the same climb than someone at 3W/Kg.
I used to run a 11-34 shimano cassete with 52/36 in the front, I really enjoyed it to be honest. I rarely found a gradient I couldn’t spin up, especially for longer gradients it really came in handy. A great thing about that 11-34 cassette is you can spend almost all your time in the big ring on rolling terrain since you can get a huge range of gears without cross-chaining.
I changed this year to a 11-30 and short cage derailleur and I find I either have to really put power down up some of the steeper hills or am forced to grind whereas previously I could spin without working too hard. On that note you can get up to 11-30 in the shimano short cage (at least the 105 one I’ve got is spec’d for that).
The gaps on the flat are noticeable vs my current cassette but not that bad, I find the 15-17 gap on the current one more of a pain than the regular sized gaps on the previous one. I’m currently considering getting an 11-25 cassette for flat terrain as a result.
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No I just keep the same chain. The medium cage derailleur is able to take up the slack when I move to the 28. It does require adjusting the b tension but that takes about 10 seconds. I only have one wheelset so I’m not swapping them that often (maybe 4-6 times per year).
This is confusing from that article…
Solution: mount a long cage derailleur, for example the Ultegra 6800 long cage, which has a maximum cassette capacity of 32t.
The short cage has a capacity of 34t, the long cage 40t.
The question is, if you have 50/34, what is the max capacity of the long cage?..Shimano says is 34t, this guy says is 40t, but also says is 32t.
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My 11-32t is my goto cassette that I use probably 95% on my normal rides. It gives me the range I need and has single tooth spacing in the 4 highest cogs. Coming back home on my normal rides I have some long stretches of -2 to -4% grades where the single tooth jumps in the 11-14t cogs are perfect.
I’ll throw the 11-34t occasionally if I know I’m going to be into a stiff headwind on my normal climbs. But I really hate the gear spacing Shimano uses with 2 tooth jumps from the 11-27t range. And I find the 11-13 & 13-15 jumps way too large to be comfortable.
I also like the 11-30t cassette since it provides single tooth jumps from the 11-15 range but the 30t low gear is sometimes a little higher than I like depending on wind. If I’d lose some weight I’d run the 11-30t or 11-28t exclusively.
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This is Shimano’s webpage for the Long Cage 6800 rear derailleur:
It says the max cassette cog is a 32T and the max capacity is 37T. I believe the max cassette cog for the 8000 series is 34T and the total capacity is 39T.
That article makes it a bit confusing cause they use the word ‘capacity’ for both the max low cassette sprocket at the max tooth difference that the derailleur can handle ([front max - front min] - [rear max - rear min] = Capacity)
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As noted above, an 11-34 can be a bit gappy; that bothers some people much more than others, tbh. What you get in return is range.
I’m not a huge fan of various aspects of SRAM, but in fairness this seems to be a problem that their 12 speed AXS largely solves. A 48/35 or 46/33 at the front and a 10-33 should cover enough bases for just about any terrain unless you’re going to be at the sharp end of a high level sprint finish. Ok, its 24-28-33 at the bottom end, but realistically with a 33 inner ring, the 28 and 33 are going to be bailout gears anyway.
Some data from a recent ride:
This is from a brisk (average speed just under 30kph) ride over undulating terrain, including a few double digit gradients. Basically, the 33 tooth and the 10t are more or less redundant, but they are nice to have for more extreme terrain.