Ultegra cassette - change or replace???

[funkingbaxter]

Hi all,

First post on here, so go easy on me...

I've just bought a very funky, near-new Giant SCR C3 off the 'Bay, with which I'm currently delighted.

It has Schwalbe Marathon tyres on its OE wheels, which are OK for day-to-day use as, although they're not the lightest, they offer a decent degree of pu****re protection. The rear is fitted with a Shimano 105 10-speed cassette.

I also have a pair of lightweight Bontrager Race wheels fitted with Michelin Pro3 Race tyres and an Ultegra cassette, which I intend to keep for weekend rides and the occasional triathlon.

My question is this - can I get away with keeping both cassettes, and swapping from one wheelset to the other? Or would this have an adverse affect on the wear rate of one - or both - of the cassettes, as well as the chain?

If I can get away with it, how often should I swap wheels to ensure that both cassettes are wearing at the same sort of rate?

If it helps, I'm 12 stone and not superfit, and I tend to spin uphill in a low gear rather than bounce up & down out of the saddle...

Thanks in advance

 

[marinyork]

If the cassettes aren't the same teeth length isn't that going to be a bit of a problem?

 

[funkingbaxter]

You've got me there.

Do you mean if they're already worn a different amount?

Or do different cassettes have different teeth lenght from new?

They are both 'as new' at present...

 

[02GF74]

difficult to say. is the ultegra 10 speed too?

over time the chain and cassette will wear - there will come a point when the worn chain will skip on a new cassette; the indication I have is 1 %.

ideally you want to do the same miles, say 500, on both cassettes so every wear in uniform. I have never done thatso cannot say how successfukl it will be,

bear in mind a chain is a lot cheaper than a cassette hence you do not want to bu88er up a newish cassette due to worn chain.

some options:
1. change cassette over to wheel
2. fit chain with open link and have a chain per cassette (I don't use these type of lings so don't know how many times you can split and refit them).
3. have a cheaper hack bike and do away with wheel swapping

neither of these are ideal.

 

[marinyork]

No I mean the gearing ratios. If one is a 10sp and the other is something different. Or even if they are both 10sp they may have different ratios e.g. 12-25 or 14-28. Otherwise it sounds interesting. I was thinking of doing a similar thing, just not sure of the costs.

 

[funkingbaxter]

Yes, the Ultegra cassette is also a 10-speed.

The Ultegra is a 12-25, whereas the 105 is a 12-27 . . . not sure if that makes a difference...?

I suppose I had an idea the the 27-tooth might be nice for everyday riding - a bit easier for the hill on the way home, whereas if I were out for a blast then I'd be more likely to power up the hills and wouldn't need the 27-tooth.

My heart says it would be nice to have the ease of changing the wheels, whilst getting a better choice of gear ratios for the two different types of ride...

But my head says I need to decide which set of ratios are best for me, and get myself a chainwhip and a locknut tool!

Unless you know different...

 

[marinyork]

Well I was thinking of getting a compact and worrying about the 34/25. In reality I rarely use the 28 or even 24 ring unless there's a 20% hill. I still like the idea of swapping wheels. I have marathon pluses 700x35 and they ride extremely poorly. I need new rims with 17mm to be able to get 25s on.

Are you actually going to notice any difference in the two cassettes in terms of gear ratios? Stick with the better quality one?

 

[funkingbaxter]

No, I don't think I'll notice a huge difference between the two in terms of either :-

• • the quality of Shimano 105 compared to Ultegra, or
  • changing the gearing from 12-25 to 12-27.

So my real question remains:-

Will I wear out my cassettes and/or chain significantly faster if I regularly swap between the two...?
​

 

[Se7enUK]

No, I don't think I'll notice a huge difference between the two in terms of either :-

• • the quality of Shimano 105 compared to Ultegra, or
  • changing the gearing from 12-25 to 12-27.

So my real question remains:-

Will I wear out my cassettes and/or chain significantly faster if I regularly swap between the two...?
​

Not really, the only concern I would have is doing damage continually swapping them.

 

[andy_wrx]

I really don't see what the fuss is about.

For two years, I ran a 8sp triple bike with one set of wheels with a 12-25 cassette as my weekday commuting wheels and another posher set with a 12-23 cassette as 'weekend best' wheels.
I simply swapped them over, made no effort to 'equalise cassette wear' or anything and there was no problem with the extra 2 teeth on the cassette - the rear mech just took up a couple of links of extra slack.

Now that bike has become 9sp, so just has the posher set of wheels on it full time.

The cheap wheels with their 12-25 cassette have moved over onto my 8sp TT bike as training wheels, and I've put the 8sp 12-23 cassette onto my Cosmic race wheels which get put on for actual TT's.
Again, no effort to 'equalise cassette wear'.

And I run a set of training wheels and a set of expensive lightweight Ksyriums as 'best' on my 'best'/sportive bike, both with 10sp 12-27 cassettes. There's no problems with the chain, but I do have to adjust my brakes as the Ksyriums are narrower than the training wheels.

I do between 4 & 5000 miles a year and I've never had any problems with cassettes or chains wearing out and slipping, etc. either when swapping wheels on a bike or when fitting a new chain.

What I do though, is keep my chains clean and lubed and make sure they don't wear out - I used to change chains every 6 months or so, but now have a chain-checker tool and slap a new chain on when it hits the 1% wear mark : even the KMC 10sp chains are only £10 or £15 quid.