SHIMANO 105 CS-HG700 11-speed cassette, 11-34T One Size,Silver,ICSHG70011134

Product Information

It's also worth mentioning the dedicated cyclo-cross chainsets which have reduced chainring sizes (Shimano's FC-CX50 offers 46, 36 chainrings). Campagnolo 12-speed rear derailleurs can accept up to an 11-32. The only exception is Campagnolo Chorus, which can take up to an 11-34. These days, it is increasingly common to see higher-spec road bikes with 12-speed gearing, Shimano having joined SRAM and Campagnolo with 12-speed groupsets in 2021 with the release of its Dura-Ace Di2 R9200 groupset.

I've been through 4 chains. SRAM 951 is my usual - yes it's 9 speed, not 8 but IME it cures rubbing on the front mech on a triple.Shimano’s HG freehub design was the most common option for many years. Felix Smith / Immediate Media Other than that, 4 sets of brake pads, 3 tyres so far (Hutchinson Equinox from new which were scary then Michelin Lithion 2 25c which are much better) and bar tape. Still on the same chainrings, BB, front mech. You will need a long-cage derailleur if you want to use an 11-34t cassette on a road bike. Simon Bromley / Immediate Media Stiffness is right up there with the best. Shimano are persisting with a 24mm steel axle, where others have moved to 30mm aluminium axles, but it doesn't appear to make any meaningful difference to the performance of the crankset. This is a super-stiff unit: jump on the pedals and give it the beans and there's barely any movement of the rings at the front derailleur, so you hardly ever get any mech rub when things are set up properly. It's not really worth considering changing your gearing until you understand what it is you want to achieve. A lower gear by changing the cassette or chainset/chainrings might come at the expense of bigger gaps between gears or a lot of repeated gears, or lots of cross-chaining to achieve the right ratios.

Now that 12-speed road bike groupsets exist, cassettes can have a larger range and the jumps between each gear can be relatively small. For mountain bikes, 12-speed cassettes are largely the default for higher-spec groupsets, paired with a single-ring chainset. I also have to make do with a 10-speed triple chainset as there are no 11-speed triples now. Happily it works fine with an 11-speed chain. The idea set up would be to have either 105 in the front and Ultegra in the rear, like my bike, or go whole hog and get the DA in the rear, personally I don't see any need for DA. If you use DA 9000 cables on even a full 105 bike and did a blind test ride you would think you were riding on DA because the DA cables are better than standard Shimano cables. SRAM introduced its XD freehub standard when it started rolling out cassettes with a 10-tooth smallest cog. It recently ported this design over to the road with XDR, which also allows the use of 10-tooth cogs, but is slightly wider than the road bike standard.

What is a cassette?

Although it might seem straightforward, there’s a lot of engineering that goes into a bike cassette. The crank is a lever, and as with all levers, the longer the lever from effort (your foot) to load (the bb axle), the less effort you need per unit of movement achieved. For example, SRAM boasts a 520 per cent range with its 10-52t cassettes. How has SRAM arrived at this figure, and how do you work out your gear range percentage? We're going to focus on Shimano systems in this article, as that covers the majority of bikes out there. Rear derailleur capabilities

The capacity of a Shimano 105 front derailleur, for example, is 16T so it’ll cover all of the common double chainset combinations. Once set up, we found 105 shifting to be precise and consistent across the whole cassette. It's crisp and light whether you're using the short cage or the medium cage rear derailleur. Visually, it departs from the previous RD-R7000 rear derailleur, gaining a flattened body and the same 105 branding from the Di2 R7150 rear derailleur. Some people may wish to use a road bike cassette on a mountain bike or vice versa. Here, we’ll go over why you may (or may not) choose to do so, and look at the compatibility issues both options may present.

The 105 levers have been redesigned with shifting mechanisms that make the shift a bit more snappy than before, and the shape of the lever is squarer, slightly more compact and features a patterned rubber cover for extra grip on the hoods. It would have been uncommon to find a cassette as large as SRAM’s Eagle 10-50 a few years ago. Alex Evans The rear derailleur is completely new for 105, moving over to Shimano's Shadow technology that's come over to the road from the mountain bike groupsets. The mechanism is significantly more compact than the previous mech, meaning that the derailleur doesn't protrude so far outside the frame (33mm, as opposed to 45mm). This means it's better protected in the event of a crash. The new derailleur is available in two cage lengths; the shorter SS mech is for cassettes up to 11-30T, and the GS has a claimed maximum of 11-34T (although in reality it'll handle a lot more). The new design is compatible with direct mount frames, although there aren't many of those in the road sector right now. Both 105 and Ultegra are 11-speed systems and there are many more similarities between them than differences. Although Ultegra is more expensive, all of the same technology features in 105, and you operate them in exactly the same way. Whereas some chainsets feature a aluminium axle in a 30mm diameter, Shimano uses a steel axle with a 24mm diameter across the board.

Like rear derailleurs, front derailleurs have a maximum capacity. Here it relates to the difference in size between the large chainring and the small chainring. So, say you are using 50/34T chainrings: the difference is 16 teeth. It’s important to note that this figure is only indicative of the range of gears you have on your cassette, and is not the same as working out how far you will travel with your chosen gear ratio.

Shimano 105 R7100 groupset weight and prices

The Ultegra pedal is also available in a version with a 4mm longer axle for more clearance between the crank arm and your shoe. Conclusion