Cassette ratios?

[Willam]

Trying to work out the best cassette for my bike, at present the cassette is 11-42 10speed with 42 on front, the lowest gear I tend to use is on the 4th cassette ring, dropping a couple of gears for lights etc

What would you say would be a good ratio cassette to go for? As 11-42 seems a little over kill for me and also hard to source.

 

[cougie uk]

You're saying you only use the top (hardest) four gears or so ? Do you not have any hills around ?

If that's the case then I guess you need something that's got an 11 on it and then whatever you can get your hands on ?

 

[Willam]

I mainly use th 4th ring up from the 11, no hills, so would a 11-28 be about right or 11-36?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

11-28 and that would leave you with 6 unused gears for an emergency hill.

 

[Bike Tyson]

11-32 would be my pick

 

[Willam]

Great gives me more buying options.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Be aware you’ll need to shorten the chain with either choice. The 11-28 will give closer ratios which may better suit flattish terrain.

 

[Willam]

Be aware you’ll need to shorten the chain with either choice. The 11-28 will give closer ratios which may better suit flattish terrain.

Good point, I was thinking the 11-32 would have given closer ratios for some reason?

yeah new chain is on the list.

 

[Sharky]

Are you on a single or double chain ring at the front?

Using a double is one method of achieving a wide range of gear ratios.
If using an 11-42, this is also a method of achieving a wide range, but using both methods at the same time, will cause an overlap in gear ratios. You need to study the gear tables to understand what ratios you actually have and where the gaps are. Although you have 2x10 physical combinations, you may have considerably less actual gear ratios.

With a wide cassette, a single chain ring might be the best option. My preference would be for a close ratio cassette, with the largest sprocket being enough to get up the steepest climb on my normal routes. I'd rather sacrifice an 11t sprocket for a cassette with a more compact range in the "middle" where I do most of my riding.

Good luck

 

[cougie uk]

Surely a 1x ? If the big ring is a 42 and the big sprocket is a 42 - would you need anything lower ever ?

 

[Willam]

Surely a 1x ? If the big ring is a 42 and the big sprocket is a 42 - would you need anything lower ever ?

sorry I get totally lost talking gears…there is a single 42 upfront, I mainly use the 4th smallest sprocket from the 11-42, just need a couple of sprockets either side of the 4th as my commute is mainly flat, the 42 cog is never used, as I say the 4th I can use for the full commute most of the time.

 

[Willam]

Are you on a single or double chain ring at the front?

Using a double is one method of achieving a wide range of gear ratios.
If using an 11-42, this is also a method of achieving a wide range, but using both methods at the same time, will cause an overlap in gear ratios. You need to study the gear tables to understand what ratios you actually have and where the gaps are. Although you have 2x10 physical combinations, you may have considerably less actual gear ratios.

With a wide cassette, a single chain ring might be the best option. My preference would be for a close ratio cassette, with the largest sprocket being enough to get up the steepest climb on my normal routes. I'd rather sacrifice an 11t sprocket for a cassette with a more compact range in the "middle" where I do most of my riding.

Good luck

Thanks.

Yes it’s a single up front.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I am not quite sure what you are asking as you seem to have experience with both your rides and gears.

If you feel that maybe you have the wrong cassette for you and your needs and are looking for a bit of confirmation of that then I would say yes it is quite possible.

On my general purpose bike I have what is in effect a 1x50 tooth chain ring with a 11-28 7 speed cassette, so I am not surprised that your 42 tooth chain ring seems to mean that you are not using many of your gears during your rides.

11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32-37-42T (10 speed)
11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32 (8 speed/effective 7 speed to avoid cross chaining)

Have you thought of changing your chainring to something in the range of 46-50 instead/as well as changing your cassette? Even 50x32 is a low gear for bike not loaded down with luggage and by the sounds of it the hills that you are meeting and this increase would probably also see you using more of the other sprockets.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s 52/42 chainrings and 14-24 cassettes were considered normal on "racing bikes" and pretend versions, so you do have a lot of quite low gears.

With a 50T chain ring up from a 42T one you may find that you are using 15-18-21 more then 13-15-18 which means slightly larger jumps but it's not quite clear how much you are using the 11 and 13 sprockets. I am also unclear on how important riding speed is to you and how flexible you are on cadence, if speed is critical then this extra spread may be a bit of an issue.

Bye

Ian

 

[Willam]

Good morning,

I am not quite sure what you are asking as you seem to have experience with both your rides and gears.

If you feel that maybe you have the wrong cassette for you and your needs and are looking for a bit of confirmation of that then I would say yes it is quite possible.

On my general purpose bike I have what is in effect a 1x50 tooth chain ring with a 11-28 7 speed cassette, so I am not surprised that your 42 tooth chain ring seems to mean that you are not using many of your gears during your rides.

11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32-37-42T (10 speed)
11-13-15-18-21-24-28-32 (8 speed/effective 7 speed to avoid cross chaining)

Have you thought of changing your chainring to something in the range of 46-50 instead/as well as changing your cassette? Even 50x32 is a low gear for bike not loaded down with luggage and by the sounds of it the hills that you are meeting and this increase would probably also see you using more of the other sprockets.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s 52/42 chainrings and 14-24 cassettes were considered normal on "racing bikes" and pretend versions, so you do have a lot of quite low gears.

With a 50T chain ring up from a 42T one you may find that you are using 15-18-21 more then 13-15-18 which means slightly larger jumps but it's not quite clear how much you are using the 11 and 13 sprockets. I am also unclear on how important riding speed is to you and how flexible you are on cadence, if speed is critical then this extra spread may be a bit of an issue.

Bye

Ian

thanks for the detailed reply.

Yeah bike is in a bit of a mess at the minute, (Daily commuter on the coast) basically the whole drivetrain needs replacing, as you know parts are not easy to come by, I’m trying to change them all at the same time, when I can source everything.

The mech needs replacing, I have a spare waiting, can’t change gears atm luckily the 4th smallest cog is about right for my commute, a couple of cogs either side would be nice, for stopping at lights and a little more speed on the flats, the crankset has just failed too, with the bike being a 1x it’s not helping getting parts either, not came across many 1x 50t cranksets, not sure I would gain much swapping a new chainring to a 50t? If I could buy a 50t crankset I would definitely look at that option.

The reason for the question on the cassette was again trouble sourcing what I have and also do I really need the 11-42? as said the last few months I’ve not missed the range of the 11-42., just gives me more and cheaper options, looking at other cassettes.

 

[cougie uk]

I'd be tempted to make it a single speed then and save the costs.
How bad is the wear on the bike and its drive train ?