Replace Tiagra 12-30 cassette with? ...more or less teeth

[Stef 1]

Hi - I have a 2014 Crox de Fer, on which I've covered around 3.5k miles so far.

Recently, gear change hasn't been as smooth as always... sometimes takes a couple of clicks, or occasionally it feels like there's tension in the chain and then a jump, even more so when going up hill.

I've checked the chain, which visibly looks okay, but it's getting on for around 1/4 inch longer than it's suppossed to be so must be pretty worn! I'm guessing I should have changed the chain a long time ago and will probably need to change the cassette too.

My Croix de Fer came with a Tiagra 4600 12-30 which I'm was used to.
It doesn't appear you can get hold of Shimano Tiagra 12-30 cassettes any more.

Should I go for Tiagra 4700 11-32 or 12-28?

I've not considered different gearing before, and don't really know how much of a noticeable difference it will make. I currently use all 10 gears, so do use both extremes on the cassette.

Right now my fitness isn't what it was so finding myself spinning on the smaller front ring just for bigger hills, which I never used to need to do. However I think this will only be tempory as fittness is noticably getting better again day by day.

Any advice hugely appreciated ( 'cos I don't know much about this stuff!)

Thanks
Stef

 

[I like Skol]

If you use all the gears and struggle on some of the hills then the last thing you want to do is restrict your gear range. I would think the 11-32 should be just the job. If you want the 12-30 to match your current cassette do SRAM do an equivalent because they are indistinguishable to the Shimano in practice.

 

[Stef 1]

Great - thanks. I was pretty much heading towaeds the 11-32, but thought I'd ask incase the general concesus was to man up!
Having never experimented with different ratios, I really don't know how much different a couple of teeth here or there will feel.

I guess once fitness has got back to where it once was I can always look at something with fewer teeth on both ends if I felt the need...

Thanks for your help

 

[Stef 1]

Oh, another thought.... for an extra £16 is it worth upgrading Tiagra 10 speed cassette, to Ultrega 10 speed cassette and chain? (I'd keep everything else Tiagra for now).
I belevie it's a straight forward swap?

My steel CDF is heavy and I'm no pro, so the weight difference isn't really a huge factor... thinking more along the lines of smoothness and noise?

(I realise the ultrega is 11-28... so I'd need to man-up a little).

Thanks

 

[vickster]

Oh, another thought.... for an extra £16 is it worth upgrading Tiagra 10 speed cassette, to Ultrega 10 speed cassette and chain? (I'd keep everything else Tiagra for now).
I belevie it's a straight forward swap?

My steel CDF is heavy and I'm no pro, so the weight difference isn't really a huge factor... thinking more along the lines of smoothness and noise?

(I realise the ultrega is 11-28... so I'd need to man-up a little).

Thanks

Lighter but may well wear quicker. I'd go for a SRAM or cheaper still Tiagra 11-32 cassette

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-hg500-10-speed-road-cassette/rp-prod137768

 

[I like Skol]

another thought.... for an extra £16 is it worth upgrading Tiagra 10 speed cassette, to Ultrega 10 speed cassette and chain?

Definitely not. Tiagra is more than good enough.

Just had a poke around on chain reaction and it looks like Tiagra is the cheapest 10spd option in 11-32. It is the or i would go for.

 

[Stef 1]

Nice & decisive, unlike me.
Advice taken

Thanks

 

[vickster]

Definitely not. Tiagra is more than good enough.

Just had a poke around on chain reaction and it looks like Tiagra is the cheapest 10spd option in 11-32. It is the or i would go for.

As linked in the post above yours

 

[andrew_s]

Recently, gear change hasn't been as smooth as always... sometimes takes a couple of clicks, or occasionally it feels like there's tension in the chain and then a jump, even more so when going up hill.

Can I suggest replacing the gear cable?

 

[Stef 1]

Yep, you can absolutely suggest it!

I did consider and nearly added some to the basket when ordering cassette and chain, but then read lots of folk say they don't bother changing cables... they last 10k miles... only bother changing cables when you change your frame etc....

I have a couple of spare, generic, no-brand, cables purchased a while back when I built a knock-about bike back for my son. Are cables, just cables, will any cheap brand do, or should I really look at decent cable? Are they all the same or does it make a difference?

Thanks

 

[vickster]

Jagwire roadbike cable. You'll naturally need gear not brake cable. That said Clarks inners would be ok

 

[I like Skol]

Try clean and lubing the existing cables if you haven't already. It is often just the last section where it curves to enter the rear mech that gets a bit gummed up.

 

[Stef 1]

okay - thanks. Chain, cassette and tools should arrive today - will pop those on tonight. If there's still an issue will move onto replacing the cables too.

Thanks for the advice all - top stuff!

 

[Stef 1]

Just a quick update, quite a while later!

New chain and cassette made a good improvement, so much so I thought ‘job done’ and was happy.

So, six weeks later I’ve also changed my gear cables. I purchased just the inners... basic jagwire ones for less than £3 each. Fitted them yesterday after cleaning out and oilling the outers and then re-indexed again.

Wow, what a difference. It’s as if I’ve had a groupset upgrade! Much quicker & slicker gear changes. The indexing is spot on - One light click on the shifter = one precise shift. Best cash I’ve spent on my bike so far! I don’t ever remember the shifts being that good

For what it’s worth, my bike is 4 years old from new, covered around 6000 miles before changing the cables