Why oh why did I bother with 11 speed?

[FishFright]

Does anyone still use Campagnolo?

Me; I love the look , the feel and the brifters fit my small hands.

 

[raleighnut]

Me; I love the look , the feel and the brifters fit my small hands.

Plus that big 'kerlunk kerchang sound lets you know you have shifted on a 1 tooth 'corncob' cassette.

EDIT - there are 10 cogs on that cassette.

 

[bpsmith]

Castillo

Castelli is fine. Decent quality without silly prices and a few earthy club members use their kit. I can happily do many steep climbs on 25/28 but not all day long one after the other especially after 100 miles or so. Bail out gears for the win.

Now the banter is out of the way, my comment on the frame and low gearing wasn’t actually a dig at anyone using a 30. I was just trying to say that the mid level frames are so good these days that you’d need to be pushing harder on it to get the benefit of the difference between mid and top end frames. Spinning doesn’t put the same strain on the bike, much like the knees.

 

[gds58]

Last year I think.

SRAM Eagle 12 speed has been around for the last two years and Campagnolo very recently launched their new Record 12 Speed Road Groupset. Whoever it was that made the comment ‘it’s all about cadence’ was actually pretty spot on. 12 speed cassettes allow for more 1 tooth only increments across the range thereby allowing you to maintain exactly the right cadence as the gradient changes rather than sudden changes in cadence due to 2 or 3 tooth jumps from one sprocket to the next. I would hazard a guess that many of those who are deriding the introduction of 12 speed either don’t know or understand the importance of a correct cadence or aren’t bothered about riding with a good cadence.
12 speed has also allowed the increasing popularity of 1 x systems which are becoming ever more common across all cycling disciplines.
I work in the trade so I see first hand how everything evolves.

 

[confusedcyclist]

Now, if someone could bring out a thoughtfully designed touring groupset...

3X Shimano XT?

 

[confusedcyclist]

The old “More money than sense” comments, yet again.

Still remains the most ridiculously illogical sentence that it is. Not to mention, fecking boring. ;-)

The truth hurts doesn't it.

 

[confusedcyclist]

What else would you do with the money, honest though this has been going on since Adam's time. I could almost hear you spit out the words " 1 x crowd"

I could think of lots of things to do with the money, but that's just me!

 

[Racing roadkill]

The terms “grinding / spinning” belong in the ‘irritating isn’t it?’ thread as well. I prefer the terms Cadence bias, and Torque bias, as they are more technical terms. I’ve always preferred getting the power by torque biasing, my bikes are set up and geared accordingly. It’s another reason why 11 speed + set ups are overkill for my riding requirements. There was a prime example of how I do things, versus the accepted / internet trope way, a lot of people prefer to ride, last Sunday. I happened across a Sportive, and so many of the riders were riding with ridiculous looking ( to me ) cadences, and I was flying past them, using a far lower Cadence, just Torque biasing my riding, to get ( obviously) more power than a lot of them. I think a lot of the ‘Cadence bias-ers’ don’t understand that they also need ‘Souplesse’ to get it to work properly, or they just look like Lycra clad hamsters, on a wheel, and really aren’t doing themselves the favour, they believe they are.

 

[confusedcyclist]

The terms “grinding / spinning” belong in the ‘irritating isn’t it?’ thread as well. I prefer the terms Cadence bias, and Torque bias, as they are more technical terms. I’ve always preferred getting the power by torque biasing, my bikes are set up and geared accordingly. It’s another reason why 11 speed + set ups are overkill for my riding requirements. There was a prime example of how I do things, versus the accepted / internet trope way, a lot of people prefer to ride, last Sunday. I happened across a Sportive, and so many of the riders were riding with ridiculous looking ( to me ) cadences, and I was flying past them, using a far lower Cadence, just Torque biasing my riding, to get ( obviously) more power than a lot of them. I think a lot of the ‘Cadence bias-ers’ don’t understand that they also need ‘Souplesse’ to get it to work properly, or they just look like Lycra clad hamsters, on a wheel, and really aren’t doing themselves the favour, they believe they are.

Given that it was a sportive, isn't it also possible they were not racing, and thus did not care much for speed and were simply training for high cadence?

 

[raleighnut]

Given that it was a sportive, isn't it also possible they were not racing, and thus did not care much for speed and were simply training for high cadence?

Yeah, right.

 

[smutchin]

The terms “grinding / spinning” belong in the ‘irritating isn’t it?’ thread as well. I prefer the terms Cadence bias, and Torque bias, as they are more technical terms.

I prefer the terms 'grinding' and 'spinning' as they relate more to how I feel when I'm riding, so are easier to understand, rather than being meaningless pseudo-science jargon.

Also 'cadence bias-ers' is a horrible mouthful compared to 'spinners'.

 

[GuyBoden]

If you're a dedicated serious road racer, you need the best equipment you can buy, you're trying to win the race, so you need any small advantage.

For pootling around country lanes, I don't need 11 speed or even 12 speed. I could even use single speed.

 

[MichaelW2]

I think the optimum gear count was achieved with 8 speed. The thickness of metal was sufficient for stamped steel entry-level production, thinner modern units need high strength materials or carriers. The gaps between cogs was sufficient to avoid high precision cable movements enabling better running between services. The chains were wider, again permitting entry level materials to use the design and maintain durability. Tourists, roadies, MTBers and couriers used 8 speed in all levels of qualities for long distance riding for many years.

 

[derrick]

The terms “grinding / spinning” belong in the ‘irritating isn’t it?’ thread as well. I prefer the terms Cadence bias, and Torque bias, as they are more technical terms. I’ve always preferred getting the power by torque biasing, my bikes are set up and geared accordingly. It’s another reason why 11 speed + set ups are overkill for my riding requirements. There was a prime example of how I do things, versus the accepted / internet trope way, a lot of people prefer to ride, last Sunday. I happened across a Sportive, and so many of the riders were riding with ridiculous looking ( to me ) cadences, and I was flying past them, using a far lower Cadence, just Torque biasing my riding, to get ( obviously) more power than a lot of them. I think a lot of the ‘Cadence bias-ers’ don’t understand that they also need ‘Souplesse’ to get it to work properly, or they just look like Lycra clad hamsters, on a wheel, and really aren’t doing themselves the favour, they believe they are.

It's just the cadence that suits the person riding we are not pro's, (bias)

 

[Milzy]

The terms “grinding / spinning” belong in the ‘irritating isn’t it?’ thread as well. I prefer the terms Cadence bias, and Torque bias, as they are more technical terms. I’ve always preferred getting the power by torque biasing, my bikes are set up and geared accordingly. It’s another reason why 11 speed + set ups are overkill for my riding requirements. There was a prime example of how I do things, versus the accepted / internet trope way, a lot of people prefer to ride, last Sunday. I happened across a Sportive, and so many of the riders were riding with ridiculous looking ( to me ) cadences, and I was flying past them, using a far lower Cadence, just Torque biasing my riding, to get ( obviously) more power than a lot of them. I think a lot of the ‘Cadence bias-ers’ don’t understand that they also need ‘Souplesse’ to get it to work properly, or they just look like Lycra clad hamsters, on a wheel, and really aren’t doing themselves the favour, they believe they are.

Interesting post. I’ll be going 12 speed when it’s more affordable.