Cassette for climbing

Not if you want decent shifting.

I run 50-34 and 11-40 with an RD 8050 GS and no wolftooth required. I do need a 116 link chain mind you.

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Think bigger than your cassette and change your cranks. There really is only so much you can get with cassette changes. If you swap your cranks from what I am guessing are 50/34s to say 40/28 mountain bike cranks, you’ll be spinning up those hills. I swapped from road to mountain bike cranks five years ago, I’ll never go back. Most people simply do not need road cranks, they’re overkill. With mountain bike cranks, you can still go hard on flats but spin up hills. The ability to spin up any hill at good cadence will save you time and energy and make you overall much faster. My FTP is 220 to give you a comparison and my watts per kilo are 2.9.

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Which online calculator makes it SIMPLE to enter a chainring and cog combo to see changes in cadence required at the same speed?
For example, 34x32 versus 34x34 or 34x36 at 6mph is at what cadence?
I want to see what happens if I had a lower gear to spin faster on climbs that force me into the 70s when I’d rather be in the 80s at the same power/speed.
Is there a basic formula that does this?

TIA

https://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence

This should help! Might need to flip through the options on the left to get the right page but I’ve found this very useful.

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BikeCalc should work. Can choose different ways of displaying gears, cadence and speed.

Couple quick examples:

And

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I like ritzelrechner.

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Someone mentioned putting together a custom climbing cassette that started with 14T.
What company allows you to build a custom cassette?
If custom isn’t a practical option, does anyone know of a quality 11-42T 12 SPEED cassette other than the junk found on Amazon?
Do you think Shimano will offer a 12spd in that range when GRX820 is available?

What type of freehub body do you have on the wheelset? And what groupset are you running?

Rotor makes a light 11-46 and 11-39 for HG freehubs. You’re probably better off going GRX crank or Sram direct mount 1x with a really small chainring.

Going with a JR cassette isn’t the way to go. Big steps in climbing gears aren’t a big deal. Who cares if it’s a 20% jump if you pedaling 60rpm?

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I don’t get what you are trying to do. The only 14–xx cassette is the 14–28 cassette meant for juniors (to comply with UCI gearing restrictions). As you can see from the size of the largest cog, it doesn’t really give you many climbing gears.

  • What is it exactly that you want to do?
  • What is your intended setup (groupset manufacturer, 1x vs. 2x, number of speeds, etc.)?
  • What gearing do you need? I would start with this visual gear calculator if you are unsure. Given the threat title, look at the lowest gear ratio. To determine that, I would start with a simple 1x setup with a 10–52 cassette where you change the size of the chainring and keep everything else fixed. This is not to force you into a 1x setup, all you need is the lowest gear ratio. Then press compare and use the second setup to replicate the options you were thinking of. Play with it until your minimum climbing gear matches your 1x12 setup at the top.

This. I wished SRAM had made a 10–39 cassette based on its 10–33 cassette, i. e. like Rotor’s 10–39 cassette with one missing sprocket. I don’t want small jumps at the climby end, instead, there are quite a few situations where I’d appreciate an even easier gear … :grin:

Z1 hub with HG spline.
DA 9200 RD capacity: 37
Roadlink DM installed and tested with 11-42T SunRace 11 speed. Shifts perfectly fine but Di2 cannot be programmed to work in 11 speed mode. That would make things so easy. I’d be done already.
Not worried about big ring capacity issue as cassette will be for hill climb events with FD removed or disabled. Essentially 1x mode on the small ring.
I’ve done all the math and chart calculations. I know what gear ratios I need to spin at preferred cadence at watts required to reach target speeds for various % slope.
I’ve ridden segments with those percentages on my 1:1 and know I need to spin lower gears to maintain desired speeds. I can’t push 70-80 rpm without easing up, but I can spin 95+ at higher watts for a longer time. That is my goal.
Only issue is locating a decent 12spd 11-42T cassette. XTR/XT are out as MTB cassettes are too large. 42T is Roadlink DM max.
1x cranksets have their own set of issues from chain line to spindle size to XTR 12spd chain and Quick-Link compatibility. GRX 820 may be the solution if chain line works, and crankset fits a DA spindle. Or Shimano releases an 11-42T cassette at same time. No telling if that may happen or when.

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Look no further…

Shimano Compact + 11-40T in the back :pinched_fingers:t3:

For the moment you are effed by Shimano’s product decisions:

  • There is no cassette I am aware of that fits your bill. Like you wrote, Shimano’s smallest cassette currently is 10–45.
  • Shimano currently has no 12-speed Di2 mountain bike rear derailleurs. (Why, Shimano? How many years has it been? I really don’t get it.)
  • Third-party cassettes are usually about increasing range, not decreasing it.

Your best course of action is to wait for the release of 12-speed GRX and look at the cassettes Shimano releases with the 1x-specific version.

Or you switch to another groupset.

Except that he runs a 12-speed drivetrain and the 11–40 cassette has 11 cogs.

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Will keep my fingers crossed.
I didn’t realize I would run into this dead end when I opted for the Shimano group.