Road bike gearing question: which cassette

I’d go for the 2 cassettes because the 11-30 has smaller jumps in the middle of the cassette where (no 16 tooth sprockets on the 11-34)

34 is really big. since you don’t have steep hills, go with the 30. should be PLENTY of gear.

worst case, you get a new one in 6 months and change to 34 for next year.

my 2 cents, good luck!

In my opinion, always take the biggest bailout gear if you might end up doing some significant climbing. At that part of the cassette, the extra jump between gears isn’t even going to be noticeable. It sounds like you’ll seldom use that part of the cassette for your local riding, so why not have it on the bike for when you might end up in the mountains?

Full disclaimer - I like easy gearing. I am a fairly strong rider for an old fart (a little over 4w/kg), but I’ll grab my gravel bike with a 10-50 cassette (and 42 chainring) for a road ride if there is any climbing involved. For me, there is nothing efficient or fast about grinding over a tall gear on a steep climb. Some people do well with that approach, so no right or wrong answers here. Just don’t let your ego drive the decision, small chainrings and big cassettes can be a very smart way to get some free speed/efficiency when climbing.

3 Likes

I think this is especially true during super long rides when you’re tired. It’s nice to have something to ease up a hill at a steady cadence.

I just bought a 11-34 12 speed cassette for north GA mountain rides. 52/36 up front and 11-30 in the back (stock ultegra). Anyone tried the 11-34 without adding links or a new chain? I figure going smaller would work but didn’t know about going bigger?

It depends. You can also program it to just synchro one gear sooner. It’s probably more efficient too.

1 Like

I love my triple. :slight_smile:

“I ever met a lower gear I didn’t like”

@ambermalika

Smart lady. :sunglasses:

1 Like