11-28 to a 12-30

[migrantwing]

Running Shimano 5700 on my bike and have been commuting to a gardening/maintenance job 15 miles away. For about half to two thirds of the route there are about 5 or 6 pretty hard, annoyingly winding hills, some short and steep, some longer and continually rising, and the fact is that it's knackering me out before I even get to the job. I admit that I have even walked up a few of the hills. I usually love hills and rarely get beaten by them, but I'm guessing cold, 7am, 15 mile pre-work rides are just not for me.

My question is: would swapping out the 11-28 for a 12-30 make much of a difference? I very rarely use the 11t as I tend to coast downhill anyway, I don't really need to go much quicker than the high 30's/low 40mph that I'm doing.

I assume that I have a short cage RD as the 28t came as standard. Would I get away with the same chain or should I dig a little deeper into my pockets and get a new chain, too? I know it's good etiquette to swap both at the same time, but the chain and cassette haven't done that many miles, in all honesty.

TIA

 

[lpretro1]

The short cage will prob not make a 30t so you'd need to get the longer cage one so you'd need a new chain anyway most likely. If cassette not done too many miles it'll prob be ok with a new chain

 

[the snail]

The short cage will prob not make a 30t so you'd need to get the longer cage one so you'd need a new chain anyway most likely. If cassette not done too many miles it'll prob be ok with a new chain

5700 SS will take 30T according to shimano, so will probably take 32T. The GS mech is 28T max according to shimano, so worth checking what mech you have first, although the GS would probably handle a 30T with some tweaking of the B screw.

 

[migrantwing]

5700 SS will take 30T according to shimano, so will probably take 32T. The GS mech is 28T max according to shimano, so worth checking what mech you have first, although the GS would probably handle a 30T with some tweaking of the B screw.

Nice one!I'll check my mech when the rains buggerd off

I'm just having problems finding a 12-30t now

 

[potsy]

5700 SS will take 30T according to shimano, so will probably take 32T. The GS mech is 28T max according to shimano, so worth checking what mech you have first, although the GS would probably handle a 30T with some tweaking of the B screw.

Would agree with this, if the bike came with 28t as standard then I'm fairly sure there is a bit of room for an extra tooth (or 2)
Try it and find out

I did the same swap on my Caa8 and it works fine, while 2 tooth difference isn't that noticeable it could just make all the difference when you really need it.

 

[Milkfloat]

My argument is that 2 teeth is not enough to warrant the cost and hassle.

 

[MontyVeda]

i recently swapped my 11-28 cassette for a 12-32 on my MTB... it makes a big difference to my low gears giving me 1:1 on the middle ring... and the extra tooth at the top end really makes a difference too... i want my 11 tooth little gear back!

 

[migrantwing]

My argument is that 2 teeth is not enough to warrant the cost and hassle.

Fair point. As I said, I rarely, if ever use the 11t so I'd like to swap it out and get a closer spaced cassette, if possible. If I can sacrifice the 11t for an added 30t at the other end of the block, then that would be fine. May even try a 32t, but not sure of the spacing/jumps bewteen sprockets. On the 11-28 I have now, I use the front 50t a lot. I don't use the 34t much at all, even when hitting hills, apart from this commute I've been doing recently. When I am running the 50t up front, I'm usually comfortable in the 17-19-21t at the back.

So, all in all, I'd like to ditch the 11t and add some teeth at the other end of the cassette, get less noticeable jumps in the cassette (the 11-28 is not good for that, I'm either spinning too much or not enough, I need an inbetween cog) and do it in the cheapest possible way

Does anyone know where to find a listing of cassettes and their equivalent cog/teeth sizes so that I can compare the jumps? (5700 10 speed)

Thanks for the input, folks.

 

[Nibor]

These http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/shimano-10spd-hg500-tiagra-4700-cassette/ come in 11-32 and 11-34
I just fitted 11-34 to my 5600 equipped bike.

 

[migrantwing]

i recently swapped my 11-28 cassette for a 12-32 on my MTB... it makes a big difference to my low gears giving my 1:1 on the middle ring... and the extra tooth at the top end really makes a difference too... i want my 11 tooth little gear back!

Life is never fair, is it. LOL!

 

[migrantwing]

These http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/shimano-10spd-hg500-tiagra-4700-cassette/ come in 11-32 and 11-34
I just fitted 11-34 to my 5600 equipped bike.

Nice find, @Nibor. Do you know the tooth size increments of the 11-32?

**Just found it online:

11-32: 11-12-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32
11-34: 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-26-30-34

Won't be able to go for a 34t as I'll max out my rear DR. Looks like I can push to a 33t, so a 32t will be what I'm getting.

 

[MontyVeda]

Life is never fair, is it. LOL!

either that or I'm never happy. Struggling to find a spare 11 tooth cog thing for a 7 speed cassette without buying the entire cassette

 

[migrantwing]

either that or I'm never happy. Struggling to find a spare 11 tooth cog thing for a 7 speed cassette without buying the entire cassette

Wish I could help you out. It's a pain in the 'arris when things work out that way.

**Come to think of it, I have a cassette from an old Carrera TDF. I don't know if it's 7 or 8 speed and don't even know if it has an 11t on it. I'll try and find it out and if so, you can have it for the cost of postage. I know it's indoors somewhere....

 

[Nibor]

My rear dérailleur is quite long a bit of fettling with the b screw and Robert was my fathers brother

 

[MontyVeda]

Wish I could help you out. It's a pain in the 'arris when things work out that way.

**Come to think of it, I have a cassette from an old Carrera TDF. I don't know if it's 7 or 8 speed and don't even know if it has an 11t on it. I'll try and find it out and if so, you can have it for the cost of postage. I know it's indoors somewhere....

cool... I've got a few old cassettes with the 11 tooth ring but that seems to be the first gear to wear out.