Cassettes????

One has a lower range of gears (12-28), and one a higher range of gears.

The 12-28 is going to better for hilly country. Do you have a pending decision of some sort that relates to these two different size cassettes?

Yep, looking at the following bikes -

Boardman Road Team Carbon Bike - halfords.iest...egoryId 212536Open ↗

Lapiere Audacio 400L - harrysbikes.ieroad...acio 400l.htmlOpen ↗

Cannondale Synapse - not sure if this is the right link but - evanscycles.com... bike ec042944Open ↗

Giant Avail 1 or 2 - giant-bicycles.com55903Open ↗

Carrera Virago Carbon Bike - halfords.iest...egoryId 212536Open ↗

Cassettes are also very easy to change.

if you aren't happy with the gearing on your bike and if you know you'll want one vs the other (say the 11-28 for hillier riding vs the 11-25 which is still a very reasonable low end gearing choice) then most bike shops will swap out the cassette to one you want at time of purchase as a service or for a very small fee. IOW, don't use the cassette as the major buying point for a new bike as it's very simple to change.

-Dave

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by daveryanwyoming [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Cassettes are also very easy to change.

if you aren't happy with the gearing on your bike and if you know you'll want one vs the other (say the 11-28 for hillier riding vs the 11-25 which is still a very reasonable low end gearing choice) then most bike shops will swap out the cassette to one you want at time of purchase as a service or for a very small fee. IOW, don't use the cassette as the major buying point for a new bike as it's very simple to change.

-Dave

Thanks Dave, that answers my question! 🙂

In addition to the higher/lower extreme ends of your gearing, an 11-28 will have bigger gaps between gears, typically toward the bigger gears in the cassette.

You may go 11, 12, 13,14,15 on the higher end, and then jump to 17,19, 21, and then to 24 or 25, and 28.

IMHO...Go with the Synapse... best bike for longer rides I have ever owned. Extremely comfortable and handles extremely well. Sent from my RAZR MAXX!