Campy Cassette Reccomendations

[ariw]

After breaking a chain a few weeks ago, I replaced chains on both road bikes, I am usually pretty disciplined about only using chains for 1200-1500 miles before replacement. On my oldest cassette (4 years+, not sure), I have the new chain/old cassette issue. I can't complain about the wear, this one has seen many miles. Any advantage or disadvantage to using a Record 10 cassette over Veloce or Centaur level? I can see that it is lighter, but will it last longer,or maybe not as long with the Ti cogs on top? FWIW I have been using Wipperman chains, but trying KMC now. Drivetrains are 10sp Record and Centaur.

TIA,
-Ari

[Black Dog]

Zero advantage. The cassettes with Ti cogs wear much faster and cost way more. There is no difference in performance.

[fuzzalow]

It is fair to say that most Campagnolo users deploy Chorus-grade level cassettes and lower for standard use. Titanium cogs don't last as long as steel cogs - just a bad tradeoff in weight for longevity.

For any cassette, the right play is all steel, all the time.

[soulspinner]

Some use Veloce/Centaur except on race/event wheels. Here to a less expensive cassette for 11 speed in the near future...

[oldpotatoe]

After breaking a chain a few weeks ago, I replaced chains on both road bikes, I am usually pretty disciplined about only using chains for 1200-1500 miles before replacement. On my oldest cassette (4 years+, not sure), I have the new chain/old cassette issue. I can't complain about the wear, this one has seen many miles. Any advantage or disadvantage to using a Record 10 cassette over Veloce or Centaur level? I can see that it is lighter, but will it last longer,or maybe not as long with the Ti cogs on top? FWIW I have been using Wipperman chains, but trying KMC now. Drivetrains are 10sp Record and Centaur.

TIA,
-Ari

Ti cogs wear much faster than steel. Chains and cogsets are consumables. There is no advantage in using a higher priced cogset. Weight 'savings' are minimal.

Veloce unless you want a 12-27 or 12-30, then Centaur(only because Veloce are 13-26 and 13-29....).

Anecdotally, Wipperman chains seem to not shift as well when new and wear out cogsets faster than either KMC, Campagnolo or shimano chains.

[R2D2]

FWIW I've had pretty good luck with the stainless Wipperman on my Rando ride.

I only got it because it gets a lot of abuse in the weather.
IMHO their quick links seem to work the best of all.

[Anarchist]

Wipperman chains are all I have ever used. No shifting issues at all and my chains and cassettes do not wear out any faster than anyone else I know.

[Mark McM]

It is true that the performance advantage of Record cassettes (with Ti sprockets) is minimal (and it is probably not cost effective to invest so much $$ into a consumable component), but I disagree about Record cassettes wearing out faster.

It is true that all else being equal, titanium sprockets wear faster than steel cassettes. But all is not equal between the Ti and steel sprockets in a Record cassette. The difference is this: All else being equal, larger sprockets wear more slowly than smaller sprockets, and Record cassettes use titanium only for the larger sprockets. This tends to equalize the wear between the larger and smaller sprockets. In the end, the lifetime of a Ti/steel Record cassettes is about the same as an all steel cassette.

[oldpotatoe]

It is true that the performance advantage of Record cassettes (with Ti sprockets) is minimal (and it is probably not cost effective to invest so much $$ into a consumable component), but I disagree about Record cassettes wearing out faster.

It is true that all else being equal, titanium sprockets wear faster than steel cassettes. But all is not equal between the Ti and steel sprockets in a Record cassette. The difference is this: All else being equal, larger sprockets wear more slowly than smaller sprockets, and Record cassettes use titanium only for the larger sprockets. This tends to equalize the wear between the larger and smaller sprockets. In the end, the lifetime of a Ti/steel Record cassettes is about the same as an all steel cassette.

All Else Being Equal, a ti sprocket of teeth count 'X' will wear faster than a steel sprocket of tooth count 'X'.

[Ralph]

I have one of the new 12-30 Centaur 10's casettes, and I'm very surprised how light it is. They are made different than other 10's cassettes. It's about 70-80 grams lighter than a loose cog 13-29, and also lighter than a loose cog 13-26. Haven't heard much discussion about the new 12-27's or 12-30's. The 3 largest cogs are pinned together, and it uses a 2.50MM spacer for the rest. Older loose cog 10's cassettes used a 2.4 MM between the 5 smaller cogs....then a 2.55, then some 2.4 with ears and then a 1.6MM between two largest cogs (never studied a Centaur with two largest pinned together). So I think these new cassettes probably use cogs same thickness as the 11's cogs, and makes up the difference with a wider spacer than the 11's.

Since the 12-30 doesn't have a 16 tooth, and I have more use for a 16 than I do a 12, I have used this cassette as a 13-30. Used the first 6 cogs of a 13-29 (13-14-15-16-17-19) with the 2.4 MM spacers and the gold 2.55 after the 19 (all spacers from the 13-29), then used the 21-24-27-30 from the 12-30 with it's 2.50 MM spacer and the 3 largest pinned together. Worked great.

[Mark McM]

All Else Being Equal, a ti sprocket of teeth count 'X' will wear faster than a steel sprocket of tooth count 'X'.

Which is why we need to consider both the sprocket material and the number of teeth. Aluminum is softer and wears out faster than titanium or steel, yet it does just fine for chainrings. Why? Because chainrings have many more teeth than cassette sprockets.

For the riding I do, I find that I wear out the 16 and 17 tooth sprockets first on my cassettes - even if the 16 and 17 tooth sprockets are steel, and the 19, 21, 23 & 26 tooth sprockets are titanium.

[djdj]

I have one of the new 12-30 Centaur 10's casettes, and I'm very surprised how light it is. They are made different than other 10's cassettes. It's about 70-80 grams lighter than a loose cog 13-29, and also lighter than a loose cog 13-26. .

Interesting. How much does the 12-30 weigh?

[Ralph]

Interesting. How much does the 12-30 weigh?

I don't trust my old postage scale to be accurate enough to answer that question. It's good enough to compare weights of cassettes I have though. The 12-30 is a good bit lighter than a loose cog 13-29. It's a tad lighter than a loose cog 13-26. It weighs about the same as a loose cog 14-23. As I said above, I think it's cogs are same thickness as 11's cogs, with 3 pinned to aluminum carrier, with wider spacers than 11's. So center to center cog measuement same as old 10's.

[ntb1001]

I built my sons' bikes with...super record parts& cassette...and record parts& cassette.
I just swapped out the cassettes for cheap BBB cassettes and they work great!!!
( I changed them because they have junior gear restrictions...and the officials check now!!....anyone need a hardly used super record or record 13-25 11speed cassette??)

[mvrider]

Interesting... how does the 12-30 10s shift with old Chorus or Record 10s RDs? Either medium or short cage?

[Ralph]

I use a 2006 Chorus Medium Cage or an older Centaur 9/10 Med cage RD with Record Triple crank with mine. I set mine up to shift big to big, which leaves little to little a tad slack, with med cage RD, but shifting fine, same as any other Campy 10's set up. The important measurement....center to center on cog....is same. I'm only saying I think these new 12-27 and 12-30 10's cassettes have slightly thinner cogs and slightly wider spacers. Shouldn't make any difference in how they shift in older systems.