Another thing to look at is the specific sizes of all the cogs on your current cassette vs whatever you're thinking of replacing it with, to see what you will lose when you add 28 and/or others. I actually had wanted to go with a 12/32 because I really don't use the 11 cog all that much, but due to a failure to communicate with the LBS I got the 11/32 instead, which meant I lost one around 15-17, I think.
As is often the case, Sheldon' Brown's gear calculator can help you figure out the before and after scenarios. And I think the number of teeth should be stamped on each of the current cogs, though I needed a good light and reading glasses to read mine.
I just looked up my old road bike, which had a triple (vs the current one which has a compact double).
Chain rings: Shimano 105 52/42/30
Cassette: Shimano HG-50 12-25, 9spd
I ran Sheldon's calculator when I bought the current bike to compare the lowest gears for the old and new bikes, and as I recall the 34-28 combination on the new one was about the same gear inches as the 30-25 combination on the old one. Either was ok for the short steep hills around here, and adding the 32 cog made them significantly less difficult.
I will look to see if I still have the emails that some of my friends sent last year with details on their touring bike gears, which they use for riding up mountains.
Last edited by ny biker; 02-21-2017 at 03:28 PM.
- Gray 2010 carbon WSD road bike, Rivet Independence saddle
- Red hardtail 26" aluminum mountain bike, Bontrager Evoke WSD saddle
- Royal blue 2018 aluminum gravel bike, Rivet Pearl saddle
Gone but not forgotten:
- Silver 2003 aluminum road bike
- Two awesome worn out Juliana saddles