Cassette on new bikes.

[gavroche]

Why do they all come with 11x28 cassette? It is ok if you are a good climber or young or very fit or live in a flat area. In my case, 12x32 is a minimum as Wales is not flat, I am not young, a bad climber and not as fit as I would like to be. All my present bikes are 32 and one even 34 cassettes.

 

[HLaB]

I've never had a bike come with a 11-28 although its my preferred gearing so I usually change for that. The road bikes Ive had have come with an 10 or 11 - 23 or 25 and the mtb oriented hybrid I had came with an 11 - 34. I guess 11-28 is the middle ground and most sellable/popular.

 

[nickyboy]

It gets worse...I bought a bike from Decathlon. Decent road bike. Presumably standard specced for UK.

Lowest gear was 34-25. I live in the Peak District. It was tough going. I did make it up Winnats pass with that gearing for a bet but it wasn't pretty

 

[Racing roadkill]

All of my road bikes came with 11-28 cassettes, except for a Boardman Pro Carbon I bought in 2014, which came with an 11-25. The chainsets are all semi compact as well, except the Boardman, which has a Compact. I think the bike manufacturers have a certain idea of the types of riders they are expecting to be parting with their hard earned, for particular bikes, and spec them accordingly. It’s no massive problem to swap a cassette for one with a bigger largest sprocket, and the manufacturers know this, so they give the people the majority of whom are spending on the bikes, what they want by speccing them with something like an 11-28 cassette.

 

[lazyfatgit]

11-28 is probably a fair compromise for an average rider. I've been able to negotiate a swap with bike shop on my last 3 bikes. Either cassette, stem or seatpost for no or little cost.

 

[I like Skol]

You are looking at this the wrong way!

11-28 is a good cassette with a decent range for most riding. Where people and manufacturers get it wrong is pairing it with an unsuitable chainset.

 

[gbb]

I had the same but in reverse....bikes with compact chainsets...on the edge of the Fens

Manufacturers can't cover every terrain option, you buy what's there / available and then change what's necessary.

 

[Moodyman]

11-28 is a good cassette with a decent range for most riding. Where people and manufacturers get it wrong is pairing it with an unsuitable chainset.

Or unsuitable rider.

 

[vickster]

They don’t if you spec your own new bike from scratch

 

[Slow But Determined]

Cos it looks nicer with a short cage, if you go up to a 32 you invariably have to swop out to a long cage.

 

[Shortandcrisp]

Went to the Peak District for The Tour de France with a few other people from a local cycling club.
The plan was to ride some of the tour routes with a few additional hills!
Living in Norfolk I turned up on a bike with a compact chain set and an 11 or 12-25 cassette. What a horror show that turned out to be!

 

[Deleted member 1258]

I'm old enough to remember when most bikes came with 14-24 five speeds block, usually paired with a 52-42 up front.

 

[Poacher]

I'm old enough to remember when most bikes came with 14-24 five speeds block, usually paired with a 52-42 up front.

You had a front clanger? You must have been well off! I dreamt of having 10 gears instead of 5.

Cue "You were lucky, we had to eat COLD gravel" response.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

You had a front clanger? You must have been well off! I dreamt of having 10 gears instead of 5.

Cue "You were lucky, we had to eat COLD gravel" response.

 

[Sharky]

I'm old enough to remember when most bikes came with 14-24 five speeds block, usually paired with a 52-42 up front.

…. and I managed with a 14-18 with a 52/42! One winter I had an 18-20 block made up and thought it was "cheating" as I dropped my club mates on the hills.