which SRAM cassette for a hilly race?
I know I have lots of time before IMWI 2011 rolls around but I'm gonna have to get a cassette to handle those hills.
I currently have 10 speed set up with SRAM Red components, a standard double up front and 12/25 on my every day wheels as well as the 404s and 12/23 on my disc. In the off season I'm gonna get a compact quarq, which will have a SRAM Force (not a red) crankset.
I figure for Moo I'm gonna need a bit more help and should have another cassette in the mix. I dug around on SRAMs website and see that I have a few options - since I've still got a lot to learn about this techical stuff I thought I'd get some feedback and learn as much as I can before spending the $$.
The SRAM OG 1090 says it works with SRAM Red and it's only option is 11/28
The SRAM PG1070 is compatible with Force and Rival and I could get a number of setups: 11/28, 11/32, 12/27, 12/28, or 12/32
Help... first of all, since I have Red components do I need to go with the OG? Or does the new Force crankset that comes with the Quarq mean that I should get a Force compatible cassette, the PG1070? If the latter - which of the 5 options should I choose to give me the most bang for my buck on hilly courses? Thanks!
Comments
I personally race with SRAM Red (OG1090) cassettes because I acquired them very inexpensively. They are light and look cool becuase they are forged out of one peice and made out of steel so they last longer, but the Open Glide is kind of a gimick if you ask me and normal (ie Power Glide = PG) shifts just as good. All that said, they are loud and I would not buy one at full price the money on them. I run 11-23 on flat and HIM course and 11-26 in the hills, with a modified compact up front.
I also have a SRAM Force level (PG1070 cassette) it works fine and looks better then the shimano ones (it has a polished finish that doesn't collect dirt as much) but I'm not really sold on it.
My go to cassette is the Shimano 6700 ultegra level cassettes. They shift better and quieter than the SRAM with either SRAM or Shimano components and you can get them from places like bikenashbar.com, performancebike.com, probikekit.com, etc for $70 or less. They come in pretty much all the sizes you could need. I would suggest picking up something like a 12-27, or 12-28 for IMWI 2011. No reason you can't race on these as well and I would find it hard to justify the cost to upgrade to DA or SRAM Red, unless you just like the bling.
FWIW, I run all SRAM components, with Shimano cassettes and chains.
As Matt says, you can pick up a new cassette pretty much at the drop of a hat.
If I were to design some new perfect cassette to give me a wider range than I have now, I would move the 25 to something with more teeth (e.g., 27) and move the 12 to an 11 perhaps. However, I would not want to fuss with the interior gears. As Rich regularly points out, when you spread out the cassette, you'll get "gear gaps" or "cadence gaps" somewhere. I'd be ok with them at the extremes, but at one time I was running 53/39 and 12/27 and had a nasty gear gap that drove me crazy right around a common cruising speed in a middle gear. You might consider that when you look at cassettes.
This is a useful resource when looking at potential gearing and the respective gaps and ranges:
http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/bikegears/CompareBicycleGearing
Wm
WJ, great resource, thanks for posting.
As others have noted, they are pretty cheap so try a couple. You've got lots of time!
Matt- Any specific reason you chose SRAM components over Shimano? I'm in starting the bike component upgrade process and am trying to choose the best setup without completely breaking the bank...
If bang for the buck is the goal go with SRAM Rival. It performs better and cost less than anything else out there.
I went SRAM becuase:
For the TT bike I liked the SRAM return to center shifters. Of course now Zipp makes a shimano version of those.
For the road bike because the hoods fit my hands better and all cables go under the bar tape (yes i'm anal about my bikes). of course now shimano offers that on 6700 and 7900 road shifters, but when i switched they did not.
Plus, I really like that the rival group performs as well as the red group and costs so much less. In my mind it is by far the best bang for the buck. I have red on my race bike, force on last years race bike, and rival on the road bike ... can't tell the difference at all, other than a few grams here or there.
Do the RTC style shifters let you shift more than one rear cog at a time? I find the RTC concept very appealing, but I like having that flexibility. For better or worse, it's my usual pattern to switch 2-3 gears in the back all at once when I'm going changing the front ring.
(Among other minor things, an RTC shifter won't send the RD into some bizarro gear when the bike is in the car and some kid hits the lever accidentally. :-) )
I've got shimano throughout, so if I switched, it would be to the Zipps I guess, and you may know less about that one.
Wm
FWIW, the Zipp ones use the same core components and just have a different lever design. You are paying about $25 more for a more comfortable and "aero" lever. But if you need shimano it's the only way to go.
I love the R2C, but other don't like them so you may want to try them first.
However, I will say that it took me longer to get my front R2C shifter dialed in then to build my full bike, which is equaly because the shifter is a pain and my Orbea's FD cable routing needs some refinement. RD one took about 5 minutes to get working perfect.
Thanks! (And, yeah, I guess redoing the cabling and all has to go into the cost calculation!)
[Ouch! Just saw the price on them! Will have to keep an eye out for a sale. Can't justify quite that much just for a convenience...but still glad to have the info!]
thanks, really good info!!! I've got lots of time, but my learning curve is high, too... becoming a first time fancy new TT owner has given me some motivation to figure this stuff out and sound like I deserve the bike I'm now riding!
(and speaking of nothing, Matt, got the water bottle hooked up on the aero bars... I can totally see the value of the plate underneath... got to get that done so it won't slide around so much... but I got a different cage that works a lot better than the one I took off my old bike - less room for the zipties to move so the cage doesn't move around when I pull the bottle in and out).