9-speed vs 10-speed?

[velogirl]

I'll weigh in.

If you're racing, find out if there is neutral support at your local races. If so, find out what they offer. One of our local series only has 9-speed wheels, so if you're running 10-speed you'll need your own support.

I started out with Shimano 9 speed on my cross bikes (there wasn't Shimano 10 speed at that time). I run Campy 10 speed on my road bikes. Over the years, I realized I had way too many duplicates of things that weren't interchangeable (namely, wheels and cassettes). So I eventually transitioned my cross bikes to Campy 10 as well. And I wouldn't have it any other way now. Not to mention all the shifting confusion created when switching almost daily between Shimano and Campy.

One advantage of running Shimano 9 speed is that you can run a mountain bike rear derailleur and a 34 cassette so you get fabulous climbing gear. Although your races may not be too hilly, you may want to do some trail riding on your cross bike and I found the extra gearing really helped me. With Shimano 10-speed, you can only go up to a 27 in the rear. With Campy 10-speed you can go up to a 29 in the rear.

Much of your decision will depend on your fitness and the terrain you plan to ride.

The other decision is what to run in the front. I run a compact crank with a 48-34. I can also switch this to a 50-34 if I plan to do lots of road riding on my cross bike. I typically don't run the 50-34 during the race season because of the additional chain slack. Some racers just run one chainring in the front.

In CA, we have a variety of courses and at least one every year has a hill that just kicks your butt! I found the 34 extremely useful, especially in seasons when my climbing wasn't as good.

Hope this helps!

[Sheesh]

Thanks for the replies!

I am considering racing, and my husband is sure to push me to do it if I get a cross bike, but I'm not dead set on it yet... Chicago is very flat, so the local courses have a couple of rolling hills, but not much in the way of steep hills. I would probably do quite a bit of road riding, and a little bit of trail riding.

Regarding race support, there is no neutral race support. There's a wheel pit and that's it.

I have a compact double on my road bike (though I'm not sure of the numbers), and that works fine to get me up most hills in the area... so it sounds like a 10-speed would be okay (based on Velogirls comment) and would make switching parts a lot easier? Especially if racing and using the wheel pit, right?

Thanks again for helping me figure all of this out!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

One advantage of running Shimano 9 speed is that you can run a mountain bike rear derailleur and a 34 cassette so you get fabulous climbing gear. Although your races may not be too hilly, you may want to do some trail riding on your cross bike and I found the extra gearing really helped me. With Shimano 10-speed, you can only go up to a 27 in the rear. With Campy 10-speed you can go up to a 29 in the rear.

Yes, this is exactly the setup I have! We have no flat rides around here to speak of- lots of hills. I have the mtn rear derailleur and 34 cassette with a triple up front, and that gives me a HUGE gear range. I find I use my very lowest gear often to get up the steepest hills. I love it. But if i lived near fewer hills this setup would probably be overkill.

People make the mistake of thinking a 10 speed will automatically give you a wider gear range and lower gears than a 9 speed. Not true. It just means there are more gears within whatever range you have and less of a jump between them. Theoretically, you could have a 15 speed bike but your highest and lowest gears might still be the same as my 9 speed, depending on your cassette-to-front ring setup. You might just have more gears in the middle with less spread between them. At that point one would likely shift 3 at a time because there would be so little noticeable difference between them. Hope this explains a bit.

Oh, and....10 speed seems to be the "new thing" and so 9 speed parts are not "quite" as easy to get now. So if it's ease of getting parts and swapping parts you want try the 10 speed. If you don't care about swapping much, are good at searching out parts online, and want major hill gears, you might want to consider 9 speed.
Personally, I'm not so sure that 10 speed is here to stay, and I'm happy with my 9 speed setup.