Replacing part of a cassette

[Cowsham]

Noticed when I was up in decathlon Belfast the price is getting a bit more sensible for my M7000 cassette

[RickH]

Just how much to you use those big and expensive sprockets?

SRAM kindly tell me in their app

Here are the last 2 (night) rides I did
Wednesday

Friday

Those are probably fairly typical for round here. Wednesday was 20.2 miles with 1548ft of ascent. Friday was 18 miles & 1260ft.

[Cowsham]

Just how much to you use those big and expensive sprockets?

SRAM kindly tell me in their app

Here are the last 2 (night) rides I did
Wednesday
Screenshot_20260404-095452.png
Friday

Screenshot_20260404-095107.png
Those are probably fairly typical for round here. Wednesday was 20.2 miles with 1548ft of ascent. Friday was 18 miles & 1260ft.

That's mad ! ( isn't technology great )

[rareposter]

That's mad ! ( isn't technology great )

Di2 does the same. Connect the app and it'll give you all-time usage and individual trip stats.

If you run a compatible head unit paired with the shifters, it'll give you that info in real time as well.

Can be useful if you're changing chainring or cassette to see what gears you use the most and buy the most appropriate ratio rather than just guessing. Or, as with this, to show usage and therefore provide a guidance on wear rates.

[Cowsham]

That's mad ! ( isn't technology great )

Di2 does the same. Connect the app and it'll give you all-time usage and individual trip stats.

If you run a compatible head unit paired with the shifters, it'll give you that info in real time as well.

Can be useful if you're changing chainring or cassette to see what gears you use the most and buy the most appropriate ratio rather than just guessing. Or, as with this, to show usage and therefore provide a guidance on wear rates.

That's great cos I'm biased towards shimano.

[531colin]

That’s spot on…. Most used sprocket in the middle of the cassette.
Must be lumpy where you live, 36 x 21 most used!

[RickH]

That’s spot on…. Most used sprocket in the middle of the cassette.
Must be lumpy where you live, 36 x 21 most used!

I live on the side of Winter Hill, vertically about half way up. If you ever pass on the M61 around junction 6, or on a train between Manchester & Preston, there's a lump to the east with a TV transmitter on top. That's Winter Hill.

It is quite rare for me to do a ride from home, which most of my riding is, that doesn't have at least 1,000ft of ascent.

I pilot tandem for a friend in Chester with severe sight impairment. Last year when I was trying to get miles in I cycled the 40 miles between home & Chester a few times in one direction or the other, and once did it both ways with a tandem ride in the middle.

This is the elevation profile of one ride home.

Most of my riding is in the terrain like the right-hand quarter & most of my tandem riding is terrain like the left quarter.

It sometimes amuses me that we can do 30 miles or more on the tandem round Chester & clock up maybe 250 to 300ft of ascent. I can then get the train back to Wigan & clock up 1,000ft of ascent in the 8 miles riding home from the station.

[Cowsham]

That’s spot on…. Most used sprocket in the middle of the cassette.
Must be lumpy where you live, 36 x 21 most used!

I seem to have to replace the two smallest sprockets( 11 and 13 tooth -- due to skipping when putting more force through the pedals ) every time I change the chain ( about once a year -- about to change them now again before this trip to incidentally Cheshire in a couple of weeks time )

I think it's mainly because the new chain can't tolerate the small changes of wear in them like it can on the bigger sprockets of the cassette ie the chain is only in contact with 4 or 5 teeth at one time on the 11 sprocket eg.

It's a mountain bike and I'll stand on the pedals on those sprockets going up hill to get a bit more pace and more really for a change of position/muscles used.

As I live on the top of a hill all of my journeys by bike involve that climb back home. The 15 miles to work takes about 50 min but the 15 miles back takes an hour and 10 min and getting longer the older I get.