Individual rear cassette cogs?

Ronanmk said:

Hi everyone, this is my very first post here !

I recently bought a beautiful Giant TCR1. Rear cassette is a 10 speed 11-23 combination, which -I found out later- is a bit to much for me. Of course, I could buy a new 12-23 or 12-25 cassette, but I'm not in the mood of spending another 100$ on that (much less explaining to my wife WHY we have to spend 100$ on yet ANOTHER thinh for the new bike).
I was thinking of dropping the 11th, and fitting an 18th cog there, thus giving me an 12-23 combo which is a lot better than 11-23.
Now...the problem...WHERE can I get individual shimano cogs?. My usual bike store does not sell individual, but rather full cassettes.

Any suggestions?. I'm in Perth

Thanks !

You can't just drop the 11. And Shimano doesn't list anything other than 11,12 or 13s in the QBP catalogue. Bigger cogs are mounted on carriers with 2 or more others and can't be separated. Your best bet is sell it take the loss and buy the right one.

Why drop the 11 tooth cog? He's a nice friend indeed when you want to whip down a hill.
Don't know the 10 speed cassette spread but I would imagine that the cog next to it is a 12 tooth one - just use that instead.

Oops...looks like I don't have much of a choice then...

Err....anyone want to buy a only-150K-on-it 11-23 10 speed Ultegra cassette?

Thanks!

[font=Times New Roman]I’m not sure what you are saying with “is a bit too much for me.”, especially when you have a 10 speed 11-23 and are thinking about a 12-23. [/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Is the 23 too small and you need a 25, or maybe a 27? Not enough low gearing?[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Or are you saying that when you ride you are using the 11 and that’s too big of a gear? Just don’t use the 11, you have 9 other gears to use…[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Or do you just want a cassette with the 18t gear in you cassette? I don’t see why this would matter that much.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]Below is a link to the Shimano web site (I visited the Giant web site and looks like you have an Ultergra 10 speed). The link will show you what’s available from Shimano. And all the gears in the various cassettes are shown. And how they are assembled.[/font]

[font=Times New Roman]bike.shimano.comEV CS 6600 v2 m56577569830537975.pdfOpen ↗[/font]

Thanks for the info Bikeguy.

The bottom line is that, for my kind of riding, its unlikely that I'll ever use the 11 cog. My best choice now would be to go with the 12-25 combination, but, as expressed, I dont want to spend another 100$ on a new cassette.

So, my cheaper choice (if possible) would be to drop the 11, get an 18 and have a 12-23 combination, which is a bit more relaxed that 11-23.

Is this such a big deal for me?. Not at all. I could perfectly go about with the 11-23, but I feel that the 12-23 would give me more usable range.

So my question still remains...can I get the individual 18 cog anywhere in Australia?. Is mail order from Shimano an option? (very likely no...)

Thanks !

Ronanmk said:

Thanks for the info Bikeguy.

The bottom line is that, for my kind of riding, its unlikely that I'll ever use the 11 cog. My best choice now would be to go with the 12-25 combination, but, as expressed, I dont want to spend another 100$ on a new cassette.

So, my cheaper choice (if possible) would be to drop the 11, get an 18 and have a 12-23 combination, which is a bit more relaxed that 11-23.

Is this such a big deal for me?. Not at all. I could perfectly go about with the 11-23, but I feel that the 12-23 would give me more usable range.

So my question still remains...can I get the individual 18 cog anywhere in Australia?. Is mail order from Shimano an option? (very likely no...)

Thanks !

Shimano does not sell to indivudals. If it isn't listed in the special order catalogue at www.harriscyclery.com it ain't likely to be had.

Ronanmk said:

Thanks for the info Bikeguy.

The bottom line is that, for my kind of riding, its unlikely that I'll ever use the 11 cog. My best choice now would be to go with the 12-25 combination, but, as expressed, I dont want to spend another 100$ on a new cassette.

So, my cheaper choice (if possible) would be to drop the 11, get an 18 and have a 12-23 combination, which is a bit more relaxed that 11-23.

Is this such a big deal for me?. Not at all. I could perfectly go about with the 11-23, but I feel that the 12-23 would give me more usable range.

So my question still remains...can I get the individual 18 cog anywhere in Australia?. Is mail order from Shimano an option? (very likely no...)

Thanks !

Plan B - What gears are you using on the front - you could always drop a tooth on one or both of those bad boys.

BomoSammo said:

Plan B - What gears are you using on the front - you could always drop a tooth on one or both of those bad boys.

Plan B is not bad...I'm using a 39-53 combination. a 42-52 would suit me better, but then again....its expensive.

Looks like Harris Cyclery does sell individual cogs...I'll have a look at that.

Thank !

Ronanmk said:

Plan B is not bad...I'm using a 39-53 combination. a 42-52 would suit me better, but then again....its expensive.

Looks like Harris Cyclery does sell individual cogs...I'll have a look at that.

Thank !

You gain literally nothing by going from a 53 to 52. Do it right and use a 50.

Just FYI, Jenson has Ultegra 10 cassettes on sale for $64.99

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/CS603A00-Shimano+Ultegra+Cs-6600+10Sp+Cassette.aspx

They have 12-25 and 12-27 in stock. I recommend the 12-27, because it gives you that 27 tooth bail-out gear if you get caught off on that super-steep hill. Your knees will than you someday. 🙂

If this is your first decent bike maybe give it a while before you start changing the gearing. My experience has been that as my fitness improved (and it's amazing how quickly it does)I used quite different gears to when I began getting serious with all this. For example I got a tripple and can't think of the last time I used the small ring. I used to ride the middle, now mainly in the big'n. Likewise sometimes wish I had an 11 and will replace it with that when this cassette wears out.