The optimum gear choice all comes down to the rider. You might find yourself wanting to change the gear ratios on your bike. In this video, Alex talks you through the process and all the pitfalls to look out for.
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34 Comments
Have you ever changed the gearing on your bike? โ
if i want to convert my 2x to a 1x could i just simply put a single chainring in the front and call it a day or do i need a specific casette in the back thats like made for 1x ? are there any mechanical issues if i dont change anything in the back ?
I want to buy a bike which comes with a short cage shifter, and 11-30 cassette. I want to change it right from the get go to a medium cage and 11-32 cassette. Is it likely that I'm gonna have to get a new chain as well?
Many times. It's no issue when you have bar end shifters. Gearing for a long >25ยฐ climb, gearing for touring, gearing for mixed road, gearing for winter and summer. You can choose heavier stronger chains for high stress or high load (8 or 9s) and lighter running gear for summer (10 or 11s). Best of all you can run rim or mechanical brakes. Of course, you're not stuck with only one brand.
I saw a bike tech use a piece of plastic pipe taking the cassette off he just slip it into the opening after taking the lock ring off and slid the whole thing off very slick.
Why changing a 11-34 for a 11-32 cassette? You wonโt notice the diffence. Change it to a 11-25 or 11-28 and you will have the smaler steps between the cogs you wanted for road use.
Very helpful info๐๐ฝ love the content on all GCN channels ๐ซถ๐ฝ
Something to also consider for increasing cassette size would be the rear derailleur capacity and max cog size. Short derailleur cages wonโt be able to handle the larger cassette sizes and would require a new derailleur.
As for the ranges you asked for on our bikes, I run 50/34 chainrings with 10-speed 11-36t cassette. At 190 lbs with the hilly terrain in southern Oregon, Iโll take all the climbing help I can get!
GCN notification…Yes, Please!!!
Somewhat off topic but can't decide if I like that "Sand Grain" color of the new Grail. Unfortunately it's the only Di2 option here in the US. Guessing it looks better in person and not so boring and tan. Hopefully they expand the options next year whenever Shimano decides to update GRX Di2 to 12 speed. That and actually make all the accessories (pro handlebars, bags, computer mount, etc) available haha.
The cassette lockring threads are very fine, fine enough that they are easily cross threaded. To prevent this, always use the lockring tool as Alex does.
If you go from a 10 speed to an 11 speed cassette do you need a new hub?
With Shimano you are much more limited than with Sram.
Alex are you short of grease?
Please tell jon cannings or whoever to ditch the background music or at least take the volume way down !
The problems normally occur when going to a larger cassette such as the cage length and what is too big etc. Can you do a reverse video?
I wish you would've spent more time to show how to correctly index the gears. Even though I've the same size cassette on my wheel and trainer, when I affix my bike to the trainer the shifting is off, and I'm not sure how to adjust to prevent the chain rubbing and derailleur skipping that occurs when in the extremes of the cassette.
When you undo a cassette lockring you find out how bad a mood you were in when you did it up.
Are those real gears or fake gears?
Helpful and timely. Thank you. My winter project is to change my rear cassette from an 11-32 to an 11-34 and I need to change the front derailleur. Long story. Anyway, this video helped fill in the gaps in my knowledge re chain length and that b limit screw. Thanks ๐
Good onya Alfonso
Can you buy individual gears of certain sizes for the cassette, mine is a Shimano 105 cassette in this instance.
Reason for asking is that there is a jump in mine on my Zwift setup that drives me crazy. It's right on the middle of my most used gears but drops my RPM by about 10 which at the wrong time is a complete mare!
Donโt shorten your chain when you only go 4 teeth smaller. If you want to change back you have got to ad chain links. I run two wheelsets. One with a 11-40. The other with a 11-34 cassette. Chain and rear derailler are dialed in for the 11-40. No need to change it for the 11-34.
Thank you for yet another ( which I need) but much clearer explaination of adjusting the rear derailleur… that thing seems impossible for me.
Bravo!
A wrench?!? We're not in the US, it's a spanner!
Asking me if Alex is noticing that he should use the E-Tube App to re arrange the new settings for the DI2 features like synchronized shifting etc? Just asking ๐
11-speed 50-36 by 11-32 for summer road riding, currently 6-speed 52-42 by 14-24 on my commuter… Planning to swap that one to 8-speed 44-34 by 13-32 to better suit my typical commuting pace.
This video is a classic example of GCN's "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread" philosophy. There are literally HUNDREDS of things you have to get right, across the whole spectrum of gears and gearing from 8 to 13 speed, in order for your bike to function as well as it did stock, and a quick glance at a compatibility chart ain't gonna cut it. Use this video with a large pinch of salt, or even better, get someone who know what they are doing to help you. Alex really doesn't.
Why does my lockring never undo that easily. I tighten it to 40nm (29 ft-lbs – it's an old torque wrench) but I need all my strength and a long bar to undo it.
Skipped over the part that's most stressful for me, namely whether my new cassette will be compatible with the rest of my bike.
When shortening the chain, you should never push the pin all the way out as Alex does here. just push it far enough to release the inner plate. That way the link can be re-used if needed. It's a very difficult task to re-insert the pin once removed
Thanks for the great advice. GCN you will be seriously missed
I
A couple of teeth smaller , is this video a joke?
I'm glad you removed one full link since it was over sized before you went to a smaller cassette.