Upgrade from 9 to 10 speed (Ultegra) - what's required?

[colebatchd]

Hi All,

I'm pretty sure of this, but would like to confirm something. I currently have 9 speed Ultegra - in order to upgrade to 10 speed I believe I need:
- chain
- cassette
- rear dérailleur
I assume my current chainring and shifters will work fine - correct?

Also - I'd ideally like a 13-25, but the 6600 14-25 is the closest I can find. I assume that means 14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,23,25. If I were to take my existing 9 speed cassette, I assume I could turn the new one into a 13-25 by adding the 13 and removing the 20. My current cassette is only a couple of months old, so I would expect the wear difference to be minimal - especially on the 13t cog.

Secondly - will the 14-25 fit on my current shimano housing (oldish mavic kysrium)? There is a note on pbk that says it "won't fit onto an Ultegra 6600 10-speed only freehub". I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Should I just get the 6700 12-25 instead?

Thanks in advance for your help. Am getting a new frame, planning on shifting everything over, but would like an extra gear so thought it a good opportunity.

Cheers,
Dim

 

[Peter@vecchios]

Hi All,

I'm pretty sure of this, but would like to confirm something. I currently have 9 speed Ultegra - in order to upgrade to 10 speed I believe I need:
- chain
- cassette
- rear dérailleur
I assume my current chainring and shifters will work fine - correct?

Also - I'd ideally like a 13-25, but the 6600 14-25 is the closest I can find. I assume that means 14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,23,25. If I were to take my existing 9 speed cassette, I assume I could turn the new one into a 13-25 by adding the 13 and removing the 20. My current cassette is only a couple of months old, so I would expect the wear difference to be minimal - especially on the 13t cog.

Secondly - will the 14-25 fit on my current shimano housing (oldish mavic kysrium)? There is a note on pbk that says it "won't fit onto an Ultegra 6600 10-speed only freehub". I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Should I just get the 6700 12-25 instead?

Thanks in advance for your help. Am getting a new frame, planning on shifting everything over, but would like an extra gear so thought it a good opportunity.

Cheers,
Dim

Minimum You need is right shifter, cogset and chain. NOT a rear derailleur.

Cannot remove the 20t from the 10s cogset as it is assembled in a unit, on a carrier, riveted together and a 10s first position cog is different than a 9s one.

Just get the 12-25 and yes, the 6600 cogset will fit onto any shimano compatible freehub that now uses a 9s shimano cogset.

 

[alfeng]

Hi All,

I'm pretty sure of this, but would like to confirm something. I currently have 9 speed Ultegra - in order to upgrade to 10 speed I believe I need:
- chain
- cassette
- rear dérailleur
I assume my current chainring and shifters will work fine - correct?

Also - I'd ideally like a 13-25, but the 6600 14-25 is the closest I can find. I assume that means 14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,23,25. If I were to take my existing 9 speed cassette, I assume I could turn the new one into a 13-25 by adding the 13 and removing the 20. My current cassette is only a couple of months old, so I would expect the wear difference to be minimal - especially on the 13t cog.

Secondly - will the 14-25 fit on my current shimano housing (oldish mavic kysrium)? There is a note on pbk that says it "won't fit onto an Ultegra 6600 10-speed only freehub". I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Should I just get the 6700 12-25 instead?

Thanks in advance for your help. Am getting a new frame, planning on shifting everything over, but would like an extra gear so thought it a good opportunity.

REALLY?!?

If you want to spend the money for new shifters & a new cassette and/or new derailldurs just to get the "extra" gear in the middle of the stack, then sell your Shimano shifters & cassette & buy some 11-speed Campagnolo shifters + cassette & derailleurs.

Better, yet ... buy a 9-speed 12-21 cassette & mate it to EITHER a "compact" 110BCD ROAD crankset with 46/33 (you'll have to buy the chainrings separately) OR mate the 12-21 9-speed cassette to a 104BCD crank with 46/32 chainrings ... the smaller chainrings will cost you less & give you the gear range you want.

N.B. The so-called Q-factor of a MTB crank will be wider than the Q-factor on a road crank ... that shouldn't be a real problem for most riders, particularly if you also ride a MTB or if you use LOOK pedals & adjust the cleat position (a partial solution), accordingly.

 

[Solanog]

The expensive part here is the shifter. The other stuff isn't that expensive. Was going to upgrade from 8 to 10 and the same parts were needed, chain, cassette and shifter everything else was compatible. 105 shifters will work the same and weight very similar. Or maybe you can get the new Ultegras with the "hidden" cables.

 

[colebatchd]

REALLY?!?

If you want to spend the money for new shifters & a new cassette and/or new derailldurs just to get the "extra" gear in the middle of the stack, then sell your Shimano shifters & cassette & buy some 11-speed Campagnolo shifters + cassette & derailleurs.

Better, yet ... buy a 9-speed 12-21 cassette & mate it to EITHER a "compact" 110BCD ROAD crankset with 46/33 (you'll have to buy the chainrings separately) OR mate the 12-21 9-speed cassette to a 104BCD crank with 46/32 chainrings ... the smaller chainrings will cost you less & give you the gear range you want.

N.B. The so-called Q-factor of a MTB crank will be wider than the Q-factor on a road crank ... that shouldn't be a real problem for most riders, particularly if you also ride a MTB or if you use LOOK pedals & adjust the cleat position (a partial solution), accordingly.

Thanks. Perhaps a little more background might help, as I'm all ears for better ways of doing this.

I've been riding quite happily for a few years now on ultegra 9 speed 12-23. However I want to do a few more hills (specifically 3 Peaks Challenge — Bicycle Victoria) and thought another gear would be handy. So last year I changed to 12-25, however in doing so I discovered that I spend a fair bit of time in my 16t cog and now find myself continually going back and forth between 15 and 17. So I started thinking that I'd track down the 13-25 I wanted in the first place. Once I started thinking about that, I thought that if I was going to spend $50 on a new cassette, would it be worth upgrading and getting a little more granularity?

So - my options as I see them are (in order of price):
1. Accept what I currently have.
2. Find a 16t cog to put in my 12-25 cassette.
3. Buy a 13-25 cassette.
4. "Compact" setup as descibed by alfeng.
5. Upgrade to Ultegra 6600/6700 12-15.
6. Upgrade to Campag Chorus 11s.

My objectives are (in order of priority):

a) Gear range - maintain the lower end of what I currently have (41 - 39/25 with 175mm cranks). I'd also like to maintain most of the top end (116 - 53/12) as if I go up a bike hill, I need to come down the other side!

b) Granularity - Give myself more control over the minor variations, the current hope from 39/15 to 39/17 is too big.

So, assessing the options above:
1. Passes a, fails b.
2. Passes a, reasonable on b - I've been told its not possible, is this right?
3. Same as [2], but definitely possible.
4. Weak on a, excellent on b.
5. Passes a & b.
6. Passes a, better on b, but not as good as compact.

Of course I also don't want to waste money, so whilst $650 odd on campag would give me a nice solution, I could spend $80 and get option 3 which might be the sweet spot. At this stage I'm really only exploring what other options I have.

Why is it that every time I think about something to do with bikes I find more options, rather than narrowing them down like I'm trying to? I'd be grateful for any more guidance and/or advice.

Cheers,
Dim

 

[alfeng]

My objectives are (in order of priority):

a) Gear range - maintain the lower end of what I currently have (41 - 39/25 with 175mm cranks). I'd also like to maintain most of the top end (116 - 53/12) as if I go up a bike hill, I need to come down the other side!

b) Granularity - Give myself more control over the minor variations, the current hope from 39/15 to 39/17 is too big.

You may want to try replacing your current 39t chainring with a 38t chainring before spending money on the more expensive options.

 

[colebatchd]

You may want to try replacing your current 39t chainring with a 38t chainring before spending money on the more expensive options.

Thanks, but is that really going to work? If I focus on the problem area at the moment (lack of 16t cog), my gearing on the small chainring around the problem spot is 60.3 (17t), 68.4 (15t) to 60.3 (14t). By going to a 38t chainring I address the specific point of missing the 64.1 that a 16t cog would give me, but I then have 58.8 (17t), 66.6 (15t) to 71.4 (14t). Aren't I just going to find that the gap between 15t and 17t annoys me on a different gradient of hill?

Having said all that, I'm happy to try it, it does sound like a relatively inexpensive option to try out.

Cheers,
Dim