13-23 cassette

Mavic has a cassette system where they give you about 15 or so sprockets and you can custom build your own cassette. Its worth a try, as for me I just use a 12-25 for training and "mountainous" races, 12-23 for racing on rolling to flat courses, 12-21 for TT's. ( the reason I don't use an 11 as the bottom gear is because as a Junior I am allowed to have a max gear of 45x12)

Overhill said:

I'm looking for a 13-23 cassette. My drivetrain is Shimano Ultegra. The only Shimano 13-23 I find is a 105? Any compatability issues? Are there other Shimano or Shimano compatable 13-23 cassettes. Suggestions for a source?
Thank you.

Is this for a 9 speed? You won't have any compatibility issues unless you try to mix 9 speed with 10 speed. It'll work fine. SRAM makes road cassettes that work well with Shimano drivetrains also, but Shimano 105 is the only make and grade that I'm aware of that offers a 9 speed 13/23 (HG70-9R) cassette. Here's a link to the PDF...

http://bike.shimano.com/media/cycling/techdocs/en/bikecomponents/CS/EV-CS-HG70-9R_v2_m56577569830556519.pdf

I bought a few Shimano 105 13/23 cassettes from Nashbar last year. They should be on sale SOON because of Christmas. Last year I bought a couple for $20 each, then about a week later they were still on sale for $20 but I used a 20% off coupon and bought a few more. It's a perfect cassette for me as I live in the flats and don't sprint. I also like the close gear ratios.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=87&subcategory=1109&brand=&sku=2936&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

If you keep an eye out you may get lucky and find a 20% off coupon. They're often posted here in the equipment forum.

Cyclist14: Thanks for the response. Good to see young cyclists in the discussion. Good luck with your racing.

Morbius: My drivetrain is a 9 speed. Like you, I like close gearing. I have some steep grades, but they are short, so a 23 will, I hope, be sufficient. I can't push a 53-12 so don't need the higher gear. I'll watch for the Nashbar ads. Thank you.

Whats wrong with the more common 12/23?

shokhead said:

Whats wrong with the more common 12/23?

what´s the point of having a 12 if you don´t have the strength to turn it ? Far better to have an extra mid-range gear you can use .
The 105 cassette is fine , not as light as some but cheap and functional .
Look at www.miche.it for economic alternatives ( the mavic is good but very expensive )

Like you, Overhill, on my Felt I rarely used the 25 and never the 12, and into those headwinds round the river, I missed the 16 and up the Mt Lawley Hills, I missed the 18, so, I went for the 13-23 as well. It came as a HG70 at about AUD$80.

My LBS is a Tri shop so only sells good stuff, the HG70 is excellent with Ultegra, many use it here. Today I am picking up a HG70 for the TRY-Bike (Ultegra RD and CN), it will be 12-23 as the wheel is smaller, 650c, that will keep the pressure off the knees. 🙂 Both bikes are 9 speed and have triple cranksets, the Try-Bike a 53 big ring.

Harris does list an Ultegra (6500) series 13-23 cassette:

harriscyclery.netitemdetails.cfmOpen ↗

sheldonbrown.comk7.htmlOpen ↗

but the 105's will work fine too.

serenaslu said:

Harris does list an Ultegra (6500) series 13-23 cassette:

harriscyclery.netitemdetails.cfmOpen ↗

sheldonbrown.comk7.htmlOpen ↗

but the 105's will work fine too.

the advantage of the ultegra is not the weight but that the ali spider that the larger cogs are mounted to gives them greater rigidity but you do need to be fairly strong to notice any difference over the 105 .

el Inglés said:

the advantage of the ultegra is not the weight but that the ali spider that the larger cogs are mounted to gives them greater rigidity but you do need to be fairly strong to notice any difference over the 105 .

The aluminum carrier is there to keep the larger cogs from digging into an aluminum freehub body. This is a common issue with cassettes that aren't pinned together. It has nothing to do with rigidity.

artmichalek said:

The aluminum carrier is there to keep the larger cogs from digging into an aluminum freehub body. This is a common issue with cassettes that aren't pinned together. It has nothing to do with rigidity.

sorry , your wrong .

el Inglés said:

sorry , your wrong .

Have anything to back that up with?

Loose cogs dig into aluminum freehub bodies. Anyone who's pulled a cassette off of one after a few thousand miles knows this. It's why Shimano switched to deeper splines on the 10s cogs. They put the larger cogs together on the aluminum carier because as cog size increases, so does the contact force between the cog and the freehub body. The carrier spreads the force out over a larger area, preventing damage to the freehub. I don't know where you came up with this idea about rigidity. A cog loaded in in-plane torsion will fracture long before you get a measurable deflection.

artmichalek said:

Have anything to back that up with?

Loose cogs dig into aluminum freehub bodies. Anyone who's pulled a cassette off of one after a few thousand miles knows this. It's why Shimano switched to deeper splines on the 10s cogs. They put the larger cogs together on the aluminum carier because as cog size increases, so does the contact force between the cog and the freehub body. The carrier spreads the force out over a larger area, preventing damage to the freehub. I don't know where you came up with this idea about rigidity. A cog loaded in in-plane torsion will fracture long before you get a measurable deflection.

I have to agree. I recently bought an old wheel for a spare/trainer. It has an old Ultegra hub, FH-6402, the marks on the freehub body from the individual cogs can easily be seen. I have fitted a HG50 12-25 to it, purrrfect. I see no problems with the current HG50 and HG70 range of (9 speed) cassettes, Ultegra and DA are fine if you have extra disposable income.

artmichalek said:

Have anything to back that up with?

Loose cogs dig into aluminum freehub bodies. Anyone who's pulled a cassette off of one after a few thousand miles knows this. It's why Shimano switched to deeper splines on the 10s cogs. They put the larger cogs together on the aluminum carier because as cog size increases, so does the contact force between the cog and the freehub body. The carrier spreads the force out over a larger area, preventing damage to the freehub. I don't know where you came up with this idea about rigidity. A cog loaded in in-plane torsion will fracture long before you get a measurable deflection.

loose cogs , yes . but anything that´s loose causes problems
try putting a very thin washer behind the cassette , between it and the wheel , this should , according to Dani , reduce the problem by allowing a more even tension to be applyed.
incidentaly the ultegra 13-25 comes with a seperate cog for the 25.

happy xmas