another cassette question....

Hey everyone,

On my bike I have the Shimano 9-speed 11-25. My question is, would I benefit alot from a 10-speed ? Which would most likely include the 14th cog. Mine consists of 11,12,13,15,17,19,21,23,25. I do ride in the 12-15 alot, so maybe the 14th would be useful. Any opinions would be appreciated.

-Greg

i still ride on 8 cogs but since adding a cadence sensor to my bicycle i have noticed when shifting a drop in cadence of 5 on gears that jump in 2. I already bought the 9 speed complete set but im waiting for the one im using now to wear out before replacing it.

The 14 might be nice to have, but not really a big deal, certainly not the reason to spend for an upgrade to 10 speed IMO. Suggest you ride your current cassette until it wears out (usually by the time you need to do the second chain replacement, or 8-10K miles), then just get a 12-25 9-sp replacement (12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25).

Just as a point of reference, over the weekend was riding my 1974 Raleigh Gran Sport. For those few old enough to remember, bikes then were "real 10-sps", meaning 42/52 chainrings in front, and 5 cogs on the freewheel (14-16-20-24-28). Even those jumps really aren't bad. Besides, with the Simplex friction levers on the downtube, when you make the commitment to change gears, you want to feel the change

Being able to find just the right gear is always nice. In that sense, I personally would pick 10S or even 11S over 9S, if given the choice (I currently ride 10S just because it is what came with the bike). However, for improving 9S, if it were my machine, changing to 12-25 would probably be a noticable improvement, as I hardly ever (possibly never) use the 53x11 combo. Also, if I were to seek a new gear, I would be inclined to look at 12-27, as I find 39x27 makes a big difference over 39x25 in long hill climbs.