That can be applied to anything we use.
Manufacturers are not going to keep on supplying parts for things that were modern in years gone by.
Cars for example are far more reliable than years ago, but with the downside in some peoples eyes that it is getting harder to do any major work on them yourself.
From my own experience I have ran 8/9/10 speed bikes for years without any excessive maintenance problems compared to when 5 and 6 speed were considered the next best thing.
Cassette Alternatives
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thirdcrank
- Posts: 36740
- Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm
Re: Cassette Alternatives
Achilles wrote: Or would I be better upgrading to another 11-32 or even 11-34 cassette and perhaps get a longer life out of it?
I am sure I have read somewhere recently that a spokesman was asked if better quality sprockets resisted wear longer and the answer was no. It seems the better finish looks nicer and may be more resistant to corrosion. (I am sorry that I cannot quote the source - must have been a cycling mag.)
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reohn2
Re: Cassette Alternatives
thirdcrank wrote:Achilles wrote: Or would I be better upgrading to another 11-32 or even 11-34 cassette and perhaps get a longer life out of it?
I am sure I have read somewhere recently that a spokesman was asked if better quality sprockets resisted wear longer and the answer was no. It seems the better finish looks nicer and may be more resistant to corrosion. (I am sorry that I cannot quote the source - must have been a cycling mag.)
Yep TC, I read the same article some time ago,I think it was CJ who wrote it or commented to that effect.
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thirdcrank
- Posts: 36740
- Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm
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reohn2
thirdcrank wrote:I've had a look on CJ's stuff on the desktop and I cannot find it. I have found some interesting stuff there about the finish of chains not affecting durability much - perhaps that's what we are thinking about
Could be, but I'm sure I read that he'd tried 'black'=cheap, cassettes and plated=expensive ones and found both lasted the same,or something similar
FWIW I think the same applies to sprockets only more so. The best material for sprockets would be case-hardenend steel. Fortunately that's also a very cheap process for mass-production, so I have no doubt that is the way the cheapest sprockets are made - the ones that are a kind of brown or black colour.
A bit more money buys zinc plating so they don't go rusty. More still buys shiny chrome-plate. Even more supplies an alloy spider to carry the bigger sprockets and save a little weight. Finally you get some sprockets made of titanium to save a little more. Titanium, however, aluminium even more so, is a lot less hard than case-hardened steel, so by this level more money actually gets you a less durable cassette.
But anything costing more than the cheapest that has the teeth you want is a waste of money. So the manufacturers don't offer as much choice of teeth in the cheaper ranges.
Pressure to upgrade by cutting down the choice in spare parts applies with a vengeance in the move to more speeds. If you want a nice progression from 11T to 34T it has to be 9-speed. Shimano do offer an 11-34 8-speed, but it's a downmarket gimmicky Megarange thing, with an awkward final 8 tooth shift, twice the jump in ratio compared to the rest of the cassette. And when 7-speed was state of the art, which was until only 15 years ago, you could choose from 10 different Shimano cassettes. Now we're down to half that, in the UK anyway. Thanks to the more service oriented bike trade in Germany it is still possible to get most of the original range over there.
A bit more money buys zinc plating so they don't go rusty. More still buys shiny chrome-plate. Even more supplies an alloy spider to carry the bigger sprockets and save a little weight. Finally you get some sprockets made of titanium to save a little more. Titanium, however, aluminium even more so, is a lot less hard than case-hardened steel, so by this level more money actually gets you a less durable cassette.
But anything costing more than the cheapest that has the teeth you want is a waste of money. So the manufacturers don't offer as much choice of teeth in the cheaper ranges.
Pressure to upgrade by cutting down the choice in spare parts applies with a vengeance in the move to more speeds. If you want a nice progression from 11T to 34T it has to be 9-speed. Shimano do offer an 11-34 8-speed, but it's a downmarket gimmicky Megarange thing, with an awkward final 8 tooth shift, twice the jump in ratio compared to the rest of the cassette. And when 7-speed was state of the art, which was until only 15 years ago, you could choose from 10 different Shimano cassettes. Now we're down to half that, in the UK anyway. Thanks to the more service oriented bike trade in Germany it is still possible to get most of the original range over there.
Chris Juden
One lady owner, never raced or jumped.
One lady owner, never raced or jumped.