9 speed vs 10 speed??

cali-largeguy said:

Can anyone tell me if there is a huge difference between and 9 and 10 speed. I currently have a 9 speed, and am a large rider, and was wondering if the 10 speed will give me any benefits for the hills. I don't need a higher top end, just a little extra on the bottom for sustained climbing. Oh yea, I have a triple in the front.
Thanks

You may lose out on the low end if you go with 10s. For shimano the largest 10s cog is 27t and for Campy, 29t. Depending on whether your rear derailleur has the capacity, shimano goes up to 34T for their 9s cassettes.

John M said:

You may lose out on the low end if you go with 10s. For shimano the largest 10s cog is 27t and for Campy, 29t. Depending on whether your rear derailleur has the capacity, shimano goes up to 34T for their 9s cassettes.

Right now I only have a 12-26 rear. I have a shimano 105 derailleur, but thinking of upgrading that to an ultegra, if I go with the 10 speed that is. How much difference are we talking with a 27t?

go here to check gear ratios:

sheldonbrown.comgearsOpen ↗

your 105 will handle a 22t difference up front, but i'm not sure what the total max difference is. however, road bike rear deraillieurs generally only handle up to about 27t rear cog. anything larger and the deraillieur will be contacting the cog (that's if you could even shift onto it).

one extra tooth will make a slight difference, but in actuality, you won't be able to notice it.

if you need some lower gearing, consider a mtn bike rear deraillieur. they'll handle 32 or so teeth total difference and around 34t rear cog. you'll notice a considerable difference in the ease of climbing.

you can also go with a somewhat smaller chainring up front too

cali-largeguy said:

Right now I only have a 12-26 rear. I have a shimano 105 derailleur, but thinking of upgrading that to an ultegra, if I go with the 10 speed that is. How much difference are we talking with a 27t?

Negligible difference between 26 and 27t rear cog. Plus to switch to 10s you would need to get new shifters, cassette, and chain.

If you really want or need a lower gear, your best bet would be to stay with 9s and try going with a 30t or 32t largest rear cog. You can use a mountain bike rear derailleur to accomodate the larger cog, since the 105 (and ultegra) is only rated up to 27t largest rear cog. They will work with a bit larger than the specified 27T, so the 30T may work but the 32T may be too much.

Some would scoff at the idea of a mountain derailleur on a road bike, but who is pedaling your bike up the hill? The scoffers aren't doing it for you.

Perhaps boudreaux will weigh in on this topic as I am sure that he has a good answer.

philso said:

go here to check gear ratios:

sheldonbrown.comgearsOpen ↗

your 105 will handle a 22t difference up front, but i'm not sure what the total max difference is. however, road bike rear deraillieurs generally only handle up to about 27t rear cog. anything larger and the deraillieur will be contacting the cog (that's if you could even shift onto it).

one extra tooth will make a slight difference, but in actuality, you won't be able to notice it.

if you need some lower gearing, consider a mtn bike rear deraillieur. they'll handle 32 or so teeth total difference and around 34t rear cog. you'll notice a considerable difference in the ease of climbing.

you can also go with a somewhat smaller chainring up front too

Actually, the FD will handle a 26 small ring with the 52 big thats on it.And his RD will almost always handle a 30 and sometimes a 32. Mtb cassettes on road bikes suck a big one.

cali-largeguy said:

Right now I only have a 12-26 rear. I have a shimano 105 derailleur, but thinking of upgrading that to an ultegra, if I go with the 10 speed that is. How much difference are we talking with a 27t?

There is no point to 10 speed in your situation, unless you just like to throw money away. A 27 vs a 26 will make virtually no difference,but as indicated in another post you can use a smaller geanny ring and a bigger cog cassette. Sheldon Brown offers an excellent 13x30 9 speed I think that your RD will handle and it's a better option, ratio wise than mtb cassettes.

boudreaux said:

There is no point to 10 speed in your situation, unless you just like to throw money away. A 27 vs a 26 will make virtually no difference,but as indicated in another post you can use a smaller geanny ring and a bigger cog cassette. Sheldon Brown offers an excellent 13x30 9 speed I think that your RD will handle and it's a better option, ratio wise than mtb cassettes.

I also agree with this reccomendation. What counts is having lower gears for the hills, this is the way to get it the cheapest, easiest way to go.

What others have said I want to emphasize, there are actually disadvantages to going from 9 speed to 10 speed in your case. I'm not generalizing, just telling you how it is in your particular case. If circumstances are different, then reccomendations have to take those differences into account and the answer could be different.

"Mtb cassettes on road bikes suck a big one."
why? please spell it out for those of us with lower sapience.

"13x30 9 speed I think that your RD will handle and it's a better option, ratio wise than mtb cassettes.

first off, boudreaux may be right with part of this. manufacturer's specs are usually a bit on the conservative side, and most deraillieurs can handle another couple of teeth or so. so your 105 may be able to handle a 30t cog, but then again, it may not. the specs say 27 max in the rear. maybe someone out there has tried and found it to either work or not. if you go with a mtn bike deraillieur, say deore lx or something, you'll have no shifting problems.

the "better option" part is unadulterated balderdash. you're running shimano components, and they make both a fine 11-32t and a 11-34t rear cluster.
bike.shimano.comcomponent.jspOpen ↗

you can keep your current 11t cog for speed and tackle the hills with 34t. taking a guess that you've got maybe a 51-39 double up front, the 11-34t will give you a range of about 125 - 13 gear inches, whereas with the 13-30t cassette will only give you a spread of about 105 -35 gear inches.

maybe boudreaux knows of some esoteric reason why the 13-30 is a better option. perhaps he could spell this out for us too.

philso said:

"Mtb cassettes on road bikes suck a big one."
why? please spell it out for those of us with lower sapience.

"13x30 9 speed (I think) that your RD will handle and it's a better option, ratio wise than mtb cassettes.

first off, boudreaux may be right with part of this. manufacturer's specs are usually a bit on the conservative side, and most deraillieurs can handle another couple of teeth or so. so your 105 may be able to handle a 30t cog, but then again, it may not. the specs say 27 max in the rear. maybe someone out there has tried and found it to either work or not. if you go with a mtn bike deraillieur, say deore lx or something, you'll have no shifting problems.

the "better option" part is unadulterated balderdash. you're running shimano components, and they make both a fine 11-32t and a 11-34t rear cluster.
bike.shimano.comcomponent.jspOpen ↗

you can keep your current 11t cog for speed and tackle the hills with 34t. taking a guess that you've got maybe a 51-39 double up front, the 11-34t will give you a range of about 125 - 13 gear inches, whereas with the 13-30t cassette will only give you a spread of about 105 -35 gear inches.

maybe boudreaux knows of some esoteric reason why the 13-30 is a better option. perhaps he could spell this out for us too.

Boudreaux is right with all of it. Sheldon Brown would not waste his time building 13x30 cassettes and telling people their road RD would handle if it didn't have good basis.Shimano road RD will often handle even a 32 and that is neither BS or speculation!!. You simply need to actually do some of this stuff rather then sitting around sucking beer and pizza then potificating and regurgating manufacturers specs...I duno many people that need a triple that really need a 12 let alone an 11...Do you?? 9 cogs...It doesn't take a genius to see the the % jumps are closer and easire to live with on a 13x30 than on a 11 or 12x34.....Are you really that thick or just smoke too much carpet???... 🙄 ...If you bothered to read his post you would see he doesn't need more top end and only a little more on the low end....He can sure as [censored] get it without mtb cassettes and MTB rd.

Thanks for all the different opinions. I agree though that mtb equipment on a road bike sucks. I've looked at all the shimano cassettes, and have now looked at the 13-30, and I think that's the way I'm going to go. Thanks

boudreaux said:

Boudreaux is right with all of it. Sheldon Brown would not waste his time building 13x30 cassettes and telling people their road RD would handle if it didn't have good basis.Shimano road RD will often handle even a 32 and that is neither BS or speculation!!. You simply need to actually do some of this stuff rather then sitting around sucking beer and pizza then potificating and regurgating manufacturers specs...I duno many people that need a triple that really need a 12 let alone an 11...Do you?? 9 cogs...It doesn't take a genius to see the the % jumps are closer and easire to live with on a 13x30 than on a 11 or 12x34.....Are you really that thick or just smoke too much carpet???... 🙄 ...If you bothered to read his post you would see he doesn't need more top end and only a little more on the low end....He can sure as [censored] get it without mtb cassettes and MTB rd.

I am running a 12-32 8 speed cassette with a Ultegra long cage RD. Shifts just fine in every cog.