Recommended cassette with a 50/36 (10 speed)

[Tpayne]

I currently have a 12-28 but want to go to an 11 as the smallest cog. Should I do an 11-28 or 11-25 (I think sram has an 11-26 as well)? I ride hilly terrain but rarely big mountains on my road bike, so thinking I can go lower than 28.

[spartanKid]

39-28 is the same as 36-26, which is the same as 34-24.

I bet 11-25 would be fine, but in 10 spd Shimano an 11-28 and an 11-25 only differ in the three largest cogs, 21-24-28 vs 21-23-25.

I'd almost say get an 11-28 and just never have to worry about having a low enough gear, where ever you ride.

And with 50-36 with an 11-28, if you ever make a trip out to real hills, you can throw a 34 on there and get even lower.

[josephr]

I currently have a 12-28 but want to go to an 11 as the smallest cog. Should I do an 11-28 or 11-25 (I think sram has an 11-26 as well)? I ride hilly terrain but rarely big mountains on my road bike, so thinking I can go lower than 28.

I have a 50/34 and ride a 25 in the back...its a little tougher on the steeper climbs (mash instead of spin) but I'm not walking either...pretty hilly in these parts --- I am going to a 27 when this cassette/chain wear out though.

[echappist]

I currently have a 12-28 but want to go to an 11 as the smallest cog. Should I do an 11-28 or 11-25 (I think sram has an 11-26 as well)? I ride hilly terrain but rarely big mountains on my road bike, so thinking I can go lower than 28.

if by Nova you mean NoVa and not Nova Scotia, i say go for the 11/28. it's what i use with my 50/34t, and the 28t comes in handy in frequently on my rides as we have some sharp but short rollers here.

[Tpayne]

Ha yeah it is NoVa. I'll go for the 28, I forgot that I commute on this bike sometimes and the chill gear comes in handy on the way home through Arlington.

[oldpotatoe]

I currently have a 12-28 but want to go to an 11 as the smallest cog. Should I do an 11-28 or 11-25 (I think sram has an 11-26 as well)? I ride hilly terrain but rarely big mountains on my road bike, so thinking I can go lower than 28.

11-25 but remember, a 50/11 is a higher gear than 53/12..and when you add an 11t, you lose an interior cog. 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25,
12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-25. I'd much rather have a 16(or 18t-11s) than a 11t.

[Black Dog]

11-25 but remember, a 50/11 is a higher gear than 53/12..and when you add an 11t, you lose an interior cog. 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25,
12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-25

This is sage advice. Better to have a 12... than 11... the 50-12 is still a big gear and you will not spin out with it on the flats

[Ti Designs]

If you would invite me out there to ride with you, and put me up and feed me for say a week, I would be happy to make gearing recommendations.

Until then, 11-21 and bring a cell phone.

[Mark McM]

I currently have a 12-28 but want to go to an 11 as the smallest cog. Should I do an 11-28 or 11-25 (I think sram has an 11-26 as well)? I ride hilly terrain but rarely big mountains on my road bike, so thinking I can go lower than 28.

Only you can answer this question. How often do you use your low gear (36/28)? Would you miss it if you didn't have it? If you find that sometimes use the 36/28 and are glad you have it, then you may not want to go to a smaller big sprocket.

If you replaced the 12-28 with an 11-28, then you'd have an additional small sprocket (the 11), but the 23 & 25 tooth sprockets would be replaced with a 24 tooth sprocket. Do you find that you jump back and forth between the 23 and 25 often? Would the lack of this ability to fine tune the sprocket size in this range be more than made up by the ability to have an 11 tooth sprocket?

If you can't choose between the 11-25 and the 11-28, then why can't you have both? It only takes a few minutes and a couple of simple tools to swap sprockets, so you could keep the 11-25 on the wheel for most of your riding, and swap to the 11-28 for those particularly mountainous rides.

Plus there's an additional option you haven't mentioned - you could always replace the 50 tooth chainring with a 52 tooth chainring. This would keep all your gearing ratios in the small ring the same, and increase the gear ratios in the large chainring. How much larger a gear do you want to have? Adding an 11 tooth sprocket will increase your high gear by 8%. Replacing the 50 tooth chainring with a 52 tooth chainring will increase all the gears in the big chainring by 4%.