Can SRAM Rival 11-32 Cassette be put on to replace SRAM Red 11-26 and/or Shimano 7900 11-28 for moun



Cat5Hurricane

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My brother in law and I are going to Copper Triangle ride in August and I will start doing more during the upcoming years. I have a 53/39T SRAM RED crank (he has a FSA SL-K Lite Carbon Fiber crank, 53/39T). I have a full SRAM RED on mine and he has the Shimano 7900 component group. Neither of us want to buy a compact crank and literally just want to buy a cassette for the ride and future rides (will be used only for mountain rides once a year, the other 364 days a year we want to still with our original cassettes). Another SRAM RED cassette is expensive for its limited use and only goes up to 28T. The Rival is about a third of the price and goes up to 32T. Will this fit our bikes? We both would like some extra emergency gears when we get on the final 10+ mile climb. Any other suggestions? Thanks!
 
The spacing of sprockets on these cassettes is effectively the same. That doesn't present a problem.

What does present a problem is the fact that you will be going from a 26 to a 32 big sprocket on what is probably only a short cage rear derailleur. I doubt that will work without getting a longer cage rear mech. As a consequence you'll probably need a new, longer, chain too.
 
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Originally Posted by tafi .

The spacing of sprockets on these cassettes is effectively the same. That doesn't present a problem.

What does present a problem is the fact that you will be going from a 26 to a 32 big sprocket on what is probably only a short cage rear derailleur. I doubt that will work without getting a longer cage rear mech. As a consequence you'll probably need a new, longer, chain too.
Yeah, that is what I heard from someone else. Thanks for the conformation! Do you know a way I can do this relatively cheaply? I have already put $10 grand into the bike and really don't want to shell out hundreds more for a mountain ride once or twice a year. Would it be more "economical" to invest in a compact crank (and if so, what)?

We have some relatively steep, but short hills around here (15-16% max with average in the 9-11% range for half a mile ). I can ride 39-26T on the steep section. The ride we are doing this August is the Copper Triangle in Colorado and I heard the final climb is 10+ miles with an average of 7%. Obviously I am not worried about the climb, but the length of the climb and knowing I have enough gear ratio should I need it. Thanks!
 
Cat5Hurricane said:
 

Yeah, that is what I heard from someone else.  Thanks for the conformation!  Do you know a way I can do this relatively cheaply?  I have already put $10 grand into the bike and really don't want to shell out hundreds more for a mountain ride once or twice a year.  Would it be more "economical" to invest in a compact crank (and if so, what)?
 
We have some relatively steep, but short hills around here (15-16% max with average in the 9-11% range for half a mile ).  I can ride 39-26T on the steep section.  The ride we are doing this August is the Copper Triangle in Colorado and I heard the final climb is 10+ miles with an average of 7%.  Obviously I am not worried about the climb, but the length of the climb and knowing I have enough gear ratio should I need it.  Thanks!
 
 
I don't if this helps but most RD's have a capacity that CAN be exceeded by a few teeth. The only way to know is to try. For example: my ultegra RD has a max capacity of 27t bit I run a 30t cog without any problems. Some report using a 32t cog also; it depends on you RD hanger length. The chain length issue is more of a precaution; just don't run big/big combo...
 
Originally Posted by Cat5Hurricane .

Yeah, that is what I heard from someone else. Thanks for the conformation! Do you know a way I can do this relatively cheaply? [COLOR= #ff0000]I have already put $10 grand into the bike and really don't want to shell out hundreds more for a mountain ride once or twice a year. [/COLOR] Would it be more "economical" to invest in a compact crank (and if so, what)?

We have some relatively steep, but short hills around here (15-16% max with average in the 9-11% range for half a mile ). I can ride 39-26T on the steep section. The ride we are doing this August is the Copper Triangle in Colorado and I heard the final climb is 10+ miles with an average of 7%. Obviously I am not worried about the climb, but the length of the climb and knowing I have enough gear ratio should I need it.
FWIW. There are at least TWO things which you probably need to know:

  1. for most people, riding at altitudes above 5000 feet is signficantly different from riding at altitudes which are closer to Sea Level
  2. regardless of the wheels you have, if you paid [COLOR= #ff0000]$10,000[/COLOR] for your Specialized (?) frameset + SRAM RED components then, IMO, you probably paid too much ... WAY TOO MUCH!

Depending on your actual level of fitness, a 28t cog may be low enough ... of course, you may be wishing for another, lower gear.

If you really paid "[COLOR= #ff0000]$10 grand[/COLOR]" for your bike, then what's another $100+? Even $200+?!?

FYI. You can buy an individual cog which you can use to restack your current cassette AFTER you omit one of the smaller, loose cogs.
 
Originally Posted by rparedes .



Quote: Originally Posted by Cat5Hurricane .



Yeah, that is what I heard from someone else. Thanks for the conformation! Do you know a way I can do this relatively cheaply? I have already put $10 grand into the bike and really don't want to shell out hundreds more for a mountain ride once or twice a year. Would it be more "economical" to invest in a compact crank (and if so, what)?

We have some relatively steep, but short hills around here (15-16% max with average in the 9-11% range for half a mile ). I can ride 39-26T on the steep section. The ride we are doing this August is the Copper Triangle in Colorado and I heard the final climb is 10+ miles with an average of 7%. Obviously I am not worried about the climb, but the length of the climb and knowing I have enough gear ratio should I need it. Thanks!

I don't if this helps but most RD's have a capacity that CAN be exceeded by a few teeth. The only way to know is to try. For example: my ultegra RD has a max capacity of 27t bit I run a 30t cog without any problems. Some report using a 32t cog also; it depends on you RD hanger length. The chain length issue is more of a precaution; just don't run big/big combo...

I think economically, the best bet is to go with a compact crank or just put another casette that knocks me up from 26 to 28. Thanks again for all of your advice!




Originally Posted by alfeng .


FWIW. There are at least TWO things which you probably need to know:

  1. for most people, riding at altitudes above 5000 feet is signficantly different from riding at altitudes which are closer to Sea Level
  2. regardless of the wheels you have, if you paid [COLOR= #ff0000]$10,000[/COLOR] for your Specialized (?) frameset + SRAM RED components then, IMO, you probably paid too much ... WAY TOO MUCH!

Depending on your actual level of fitness, a 28t cog may be low enough ... of course, you may be wishing for another, lower gear.

If you really paid "[COLOR= #ff0000]$10 grand[/COLOR]" for your bike, then what's another $100+? Even $200+?!?

FYI. You can buy an individual cog which you can use to restack your current cassette AFTER you omit one of the smaller, loose cogs.
1) I agree and the best I can do is get up there a few days before to try to acclimate.
2) 2011 Specialized S-Works Tarmac Pro with SRAM Red and carbon handlebars, seat post, etc. Add to that Zipp 404s and some other components and the price is what it is. Could I do the same thing with a $2000 bike? Probably! Do I care? No! Trust me, I called ~20 shops across the U.S. trying to find a deal on that bike and no one will sell a new Specialized bike unless you come in in person. There is no "internet shopping" for a new Tarmac. I got what I wanted and I could afford it so who cares?!? I agree that the wheels were probably not worth the money but they have helped my overall time and especially made riding into headwinds much easier (which I hate). If I had a choice between a Ferrari 599GTO and a souped up Honda Civic that was was only 0.2 seconds slower in the quarter mile and a tenth of the price...I would still get the 599GTO if I could afford it. :)

And $200 for a part I will use once a year (twice at most) isn't something I want to do. If I were going to replace something on my bike and it was going to be permanent, than I would have no issue, but for 5-6 hours of use once a year?

As far as fitness, it is all subjective right? I can say I do love climbing (at least before and after the climb anyway). We don't really have climbs here but we do have some steep hills...unfortunately only a few hundred meters to half a mile long. What I don't have experience with is a 13 mile climb averaging 5-7% grade. Next year, I may want to go to the Appalachian mountains where they aren't as high, but far steeper. That is the "?" for me and why I would rather side on extra gearing for a casette than not. I think the CT ride will be doable in 39/26...the issue is if I decide to do Century Gap in N. Georgia where it hits 15% grade and there are 6 summits instead of 3 with much steeper average grades.

As far as stacking my current cassette, I think only the last two cogs are interchangeable while "13,14,15,17,19,21,23,26" are one piece so that doesn't resolve my issue for more "teeth".
 
Originally Posted by Cat5Hurricane .



I think economically, the best bet is to go with a compact crank or just but another casette that knocks me up from 26 to 28. Thanks again for all of your advice!




1) I agree and the best I can do is get up there a few days before to try to acclimate.
As far as fitness, it is all subjective right? I can say I do love climbing (at least before and after the climb anyway). We don't really have climbs here but we do have some steep hills...unfortunately only a few hundred meters to half a mile long. What I don't have experience with is a 13 mile climb averaging 5-7% grade.




Originally Posted by Cat5Hurricane .



Yeah, that is what I heard from someone else. Thanks for the conformation! Do you know a way I can do this relatively cheaply? I have already put $10 grand into the bike and really don't want to shell out hundreds more for a mountain ride once or twice a year. Would it be more "economical" to invest in a compact crank (and if so, what)?

We have some relatively steep, but short hills around here (15-16% max with average in the 9-11% range for half a mile ). I can ride 39-26T on the steep section. The ride we are doing this August is the Copper Triangle in Colorado and I heard the final climb is 10+ miles with an average of 7%. Obviously I am not worried about the climb, but the length of the climb and knowing I have enough gear ratio should I need it. Thanks!
The length of the climb and the relatively shallow grade isn't what's gonna get you. The altitude will. I think the low point of that ride is 7,000ft and there are sections over 11,000ft. Even with fresh legs, 10,000ft to a sea level flat lander is an immediate 20% or more hit of sustainable power and at worst altitude sickness and easy dehydration if you don't keep up with the fluids.

Your "bail out" gear should factor in all worst case senarios.

Altitude and all the weird things that happen*
Fatigue from riding all day.
Some degree of dehydration.
Bonking.
More sustained climbing than you're used to.
Possible dietry "consequences" from eating/drinking stuff on the bike that you may not be used to consuming.

* - my personal experiences with altitude. Headaches, dizziness, dehydration, vision issues (road in peripheral vision seemingly travelling at a different speed than the section of road I'm staring at) ears plugging up on descents (like some people get on aircraft landings/takeoffs) that mess with your head going around corners, hand/foot swelling. Altitude can severely effect your ability to sense when you're hungry and thirsty

Any one of the above will probable get you riding the next cog up from the one you normally ride. Any two of the above may be a ride ending event or at least two cogs bigger (32 instead of a 25 - on a cassette ending 23,25,28,32)

Based on your other thread, you should just put on your hyper climbing, "I will drop you all - I am Pantani reborn!!!@!" Easton carbon wheels on the bike. ;)

If your Specialized frame isn't the "team module" and doesn't have the BB30 bottom bracket then you can pick up a compact chainset for pretty cheap. I picked one up for the Alta Alpina Challenge (200 miles, 8 passes, 21,000ft climbing) to temporarily replace the >5lb PowerCranks - a SRAM something or other for $60 inc bottom bracket. 50/34, looked OK and worked as intended. A quick 20 minute swap and the bike was much lighter. If you do have a BB30 bottom bracket shell then you're looking at $250 and up for a new chainset and are stuck with something from SRAM, Truvative, Specialized or Cannondale. The last two are very expensive - but very nice.

For long cage rear mechs and cassettes - there's always the SRAM Apex. It seems to be well priced and has an 11-32 cassette and a rear mech that'll work with it and your SRAM red levers. Apparently it was good enough for Contador to use on the Giro last month...
 
As far as stacking my current cassette, I think only the last two cogs are interchangeable while "13,14,15,17,19,21,23,26" are one piece so that doesn't resolve my issue for more "teeth".
Your largest 3 cogs will be "spidered" (connected and riveted) if you go with SRAM 1070 level (Force/Rival), so you also need to keep that in mind when planning ratios. Compact crank and 28t or 30t cassette will probably do you, but will depend on your acclimation as you already suspect.
 
Originally Posted by swampy1970 .









The length of the climb and the relatively shallow grade isn't what's gonna get you. The altitude will. I think the low point of that ride is 7,000ft and there are sections over 11,000ft. Even with fresh legs, 10,000ft to a sea level flat lander is an immediate 20% or more hit of sustainable power and at worst altitude sickness and easy dehydration if you don't keep up with the fluids.

Your "bail out" gear should factor in all worst case senarios.

Altitude and all the weird things that happen*
Fatigue from riding all day.
Some degree of dehydration.
Bonking.
More sustained climbing than you're used to.
Possible dietry "consequences" from eating/drinking stuff on the bike that you may not be used to consuming.

* - my personal experiences with altitude. Headaches, dizziness, dehydration, vision issues (road in peripheral vision seemingly travelling at a different speed than the section of road I'm staring at) ears plugging up on descents (like some people get on aircraft landings/takeoffs) that mess with your head going around corners, hand/foot swelling. Altitude can severely effect your ability to sense when you're hungry and thirsty

Any one of the above will probable get you riding the next cog up from the one you normally ride. Any two of the above may be a ride ending event or at least two cogs bigger (32 instead of a 25 - on a cassette ending 23,25,28,32)

Based on your other thread, you should just put on your hyper climbing, "I will drop you all - I am Pantani reborn!!!@!" Easton carbon wheels on the bike. ;)

If your Specialized frame isn't the "team module" and doesn't have the BB30 bottom bracket then you can pick up a compact chainset for pretty cheap. I picked one up for the Alta Alpina Challenge (200 miles, 8 passes, 21,000ft climbing) to temporarily replace the >5lb PowerCranks - a SRAM something or other for $60 inc bottom bracket. 50/34, looked OK and worked as intended. A quick 20 minute swap and the bike was much lighter. If you do have a BB30 bottom bracket shell then you're looking at $250 and up for a new chainset and are stuck with something from SRAM, Truvative, Specialized or Cannondale. The last two are very expensive - but very nice.

For long cage rear mechs and cassettes - there's always the SRAM Apex. It seems to be well priced and has an 11-32 cassette and a rear mech that'll work with it and your SRAM red levers. Apparently it was good enough for Contador to use on the Giro last month...
Excellent advice...thanks! On the food, I do have issues riding at 90%+ and keeping food down so the secret is to literally eat as lite as possible prior and just keep consuming a few hundred calorie gels every hour to keep energy up. Going with my brother in law so most likely I will be able to ride slower than normal up the hills so we can stay together (though he has gotten much better the past few weeks). And yes, I have the BB30 bracket. I will either try to find a "relatively" inexpensive compact or just go with a Force 11-28 casette (~$75-80). 11-32 just requires more investment that I want to do for once a year (if I start doing 3 or more climbing rides a year, I may make that investment). Or I may just get a Red 11-28 and try to sell my 11-26 on Ebay. Also, my climbing with the Eastons were relative to my group rides and as much as others want to disagree, three weeks into the Zipps and my climbing has fallen off. Great on the flats and headwinds but noticeable when the grade gets ~3% or greater. And next time you want to rub it in, at least don't pick the gayest looking druggie climber Pantani. God I could never stand him! Virenque would have been acceptable even though he is French. If you want to stay Italian, Chiapucci would be more flattering. :p Once again, great advice...thanks!

P.S. "Alta Alpina Challenge (200 miles, 8 passes, 21,000ft climbing"....Damn damn damn! Is that one day or two? Either way 21,000 feet of climbing? Damn. I imagine you could shave your balls smooth and it would grow completely back after that!

Originally Posted by sitzmark .



Your largest 3 cogs will be "spidered" (connected and riveted) if you go with SRAM 1070 level (Force/Rival), so you also need to keep that in mind when planning ratios. Compact crank and 28t or 30t cassette will probably do you, but will depend on your acclimation as you already suspect.
I don't know what the relevance is to "spidered" so could you elaborate? I understand what it is but not the relevance of it with respect to your post. Is there a compatible 30T cassette that would work without me having to change anything else?
 
I don't know what the relevance is to "spidered" so could you elaborate? I understand what it is but not the relevance of it with respect to your post. Is there a compatible 30T cassette that would work without me having to change anything else?
Primarily my comment was in response to the poster saying to stack your cassette by dropping a small cog and adding a climbing cog. Can't do with SRAM because 3 largest are spidered. Have to plan your higher ratio choices around 22-25-28 or 25-28-32 (21-24-32) for SRAM..

I normally run 11-23 1090 and 11-23 1070 cassettes, but for a 6000+ vert century I do 1x per year, I switch over to an 11-28 1070 with a 50/34 crank. There's 2k+ vert with a couple of short 17-18% grades that come in the first 22 miles, so it's nice to have the 11-28 range and the 34/28 to spin the steepest grades out and conserve energy for the remaining 80 miles. This is in Maine, so altitude isn't an issue.

I was born in CO and spent most of my childhood there, but have lived in Midwest, SE, and NE for most of my adult life. While younger, I frequently returned to CO to visit family and to ski. A couple of years ago (around age 50) after about a 2-3 year hiatus from any 6k+ altitude, I was hiking on Mt. Evans and for the first time in my life I felt serious effects of altitude - not sure why, but it hit hard. So, anyway a new found respect for factoring altitude into the mix.

I run my SRAM Force RD short cage with an 11-28 cassette - no problems. I was exploring an 11-30 cassette prior to going with the 11-28. IRD has an "Elite" 11-30 or 12-30 option ( http://www.interlocracing.com/cassettes_steel.html ) and I "think" you will be able to run it without an RD change. At the time I was considering, I had people tell me they were using the 11-30 with their standard SRAM road RD.

Good luck and enjoy the CT!
 
Cat5Hurricane said:
 
Excellent advice...thanks!  On the food, I do have issues riding at 90%+ and keeping food down so the secret is to literally eat as lite as possible prior and just keep consuming a few hundred calorie gels every hour to keep energy up.   Going with my brother in law so most likely I will be able to ride slower than normal up the hills so we can stay together (though he has gotten much better the past few weeks).  And yes, I have the BB30 bracket.  I will either try to find a "relatively" inexpensive compact or just go with a Force 11-28 casette (~$75-80).  11-32 just requires more investment that I want to do for once a year (if I start doing 3 or more climbing rides a year, I may make that investment).  Or I may just get a Red 11-28 and try to sell my 11-26 on Ebay.  Also, my climbing with the Eastons were relative to my group rides and as much as others want to disagree, three weeks into the Zipps and my climbing has fallen off.  Great on the flats and headwinds but noticeable when the grade gets ~3% or greater.  And next time you want to rub it in, at least don't pick the gayest looking druggie climber Pantani. God I could never stand him!  Virenque would have been acceptable even though he is French.  If you want to stay Italian, Chiapucci would be more flattering.  :p  Once again, great advice...thanks!
 
P.S. "Alta Alpina Challenge (200 miles, 8 passes, 21,000ft climbing"....Damn damn damn!  Is that one day or two?  Either way 21,000 feet of climbing?  Damn.  I imagine you could shave your balls smooth and it would grow completely back after that!
 

I don't know what the relevance is to "spidered" so could you elaborate?  I understand what it is but not the relevance of it with respect to your post.  Is there a compatible 30T cassette that would work without me having to change anything else?
Chiapucci was blood doped under conconni (the guy that Ferrari studied under), ver-rank doped more than pantani and cried like a biatch about it. At least pantani used his doping to race with panache... Even after his big accident he was a true angel of the mountains. The Alta Alpina was one day. Some day, before i grow really old I'll actually try something difficult - like the furnace creek 508. 508 miles and 35000ft of climbing in one sitting. Watch out for the altitude in that event. Just looked at the course profile... 9000ft average? Damn. I'm not too bad at climbing and weigh sub 160 and I'd be running at least 34x28... From what i recall youre a tad bit more than that. Then again I have a 32 bailout sprocket because I know what fun you can have in the dizzying heights... Been there, done that. There are custom 10sp cassettes that have 30 teeth sprockets on them but your SRAM red rear mech won't handle it.
 
Thanks to everyone for the advice. To update, I have to get a new cassette. I had a wheel issue last month (which forced me to buy new wheels) and another issue where my chain was skipping. I put a new chain on but the issue didn't resolve. Turns out the 15T on my 11-26 SRAM Red cassette has mushroomed over a bit (really hard to see, but the chain notices it quite well). I can spin in the gear, just not apply any torque which becomes an issue when I am riding a fast group ride and the chain starts skipping. So I will pick that up today. So I am replacing it with the 11-28 SRAM Red cassette which will give me an extra climbing gear for around here (I was usually on the 23T or 26T on some of the high grade (15%) climbs so it will be nice to have that extra gear).

For the CT ride, I took most of the advice and am breaking down to buy a compact. Since I will only use it once or twice a year for these kind of rides and stick with my 53/39 the other 360+ days of the year, I decided to get the SRAM Rival Compact. My LBS matched the internet prices for both the cassette and crank so the crank will only cost ~$170 before tax. More than I wanted to spend, but it will make for more enjoyable rides when I get out to the mountains. Since the brackets are the same, I can switch them out whenever I want relatively easily.

Thanks again to all of the advice from equipment to preparation!!! It was much appreciated and very helpful!!!
 
I have a 2010 SRAM Red set up with 53/39 on a FELT F1 SLR, all of which has been extremely good since I followed the lead of the likes of Fabian Cancellara and Stuart O'Grady and swapped the Red cassette for a 12-28 Force/Rival cassette which changes better and is, near enough,silent.
I too intend to acquire an easier climbing gear, and much of what has been said concurs with what I have gleaned from some who should know.
On their advice, it seems very likely that a 30 tooth will be OK with the existing derailleur, but that the possibility of using a 32 tooth without changing the rear derailleur is unlikely.
I have an Ultegra 12-30 Cassette on the way, and I will see if it will work with the Red rear derailleur. I am fairly sure I will need a longer chain, probably only one link, (I like DuraAce chains) and, given the mileage on my existing chain, it makes sense to fit a new one now anyway.
It should be up and running in a week or two. I will let you know the outcome.
The need for this change is all down to age I am afraid.
Regards
The Scribe
 
Were you able to get the 12-30 running with your short cage SRAM derailleur? Or did you have to resort to the mid-length cage?

Thanks!
 

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