We’re just never satisfied. From the time Tullio Campagnolo (above) invented the derailleur, we were like, “Two is great, Tulio, but can I have more?” And we’ve spent lots of engineering cycles over the intervening century getting exactly that.
My first “real” road bike was a 7spd on a triple chainring. I’ve ridden doubles and 1x, and I’ve probably made every stop on the train up to the 12spd cassette I have on my current go-to mountain bike. The gravel bike is 11spd. The other mountain bike is 11spd. The road bike is too.
11 is a numeric palindrome. I like that.
Campagnolo does make a 13spd cassette, but it is beyond my modest means and ardent curiosity to obtain it. It’s a prime number, and I like that too.
But, even with an industry discount, I’m not much bothered to get the next thing just to get it. What does one more cog get me? I mean, that’s a question we can answer in literal terms, but what does it mean in experiential terms? What I’ve got works really, really well.
I might eventually land on 12spd, I guess, because that’ll be the settled standard of the moment the next time I buy any new bikes, but it won’t be because I was asking for it. I’m not averse to this flavor of marginal, incremental progress, but I am content to be dragged along, rather than pushing the pace myself.
We’re trying something new this week, a proper survey style question, with results that tabulate themselves. It’ll never work. Or will it?
So, on your MAIN AND PRIMARY bicycle, what is the current cassette?
I generally upgrade when I buy a new bike or when the old stuff stops working. Since I don’t race, having 11,12, or 13, or a quadrillion cogs on my cassette is a convenience, but not a necessity. Given my first real road bike was a 2×5, even a 2×9 setup is a blessing. Still pushing one of those on my beater road bike, a Cannondale CAAD-5. The nice Cannondale has a 2×10 Chorus setup.
In fact when I got my new gravel bike, I chose the 10 spd cassette version rather than the 11 as it actually had a wider range, which suits me in the mountains here more than close ratios might.
The new road bike has Ultegra 12-speed. The cassette range is enormous – 11-34! Admittedly, it’s pretty flat where I live, but on many rides I never even use the small chainring at all, which is sort of crazy.
If there’s one important benefit to having more gears, it’s having a wide gear range that still shifts quickly and smoothly. Modern groupsets are incredibly capable in that regard.
I, like you have 11 on most of my primary bikes so that was my answer. That said I too have 12 spd on my primary mountain bike so that would have been a fair answer too. I like both as they have allowed to transition to 1x which I absolutely love. I still never end up in the 10t so don’t see spin out as a problem. I do appreciate the larger 51t cog on the 12spd as opposed to the 42t on the 11spd.
Going from 5 sp to 6 is a 20% improvement. From 11 to 12 is “meh.” That said, I run 11 speed. It is just about perfect. Neither I, nor anyone I have eveey heard has ever complained about it, except when chains weren’t available in the pandemic. 12 and 13 speed seem a solution in search of a problem.
My go to is a 1×10 on my cross/gravel/road/under/over/singletrack/pave/dirt/cow path bike. Though I did drag out my Kona Unit to see if my old body could still propel a single up the mountains around my house.
12, 11, 10, 9 or 1 80% of the time I feel like in the wrong gear anyways.