tilf wrote:I've run 11-28 (short cage + midcage), 11-32 (mid cage), and 11-40 (mid cage+goatlink and with an XT). On the road they all work well, the spacing is a little larger on the big range cassettes. This can be a little more fatiguing on day 3 of a ride in the flats with gusting wind. On the other hand, when I hit a hill and can sit and spin up it that is a huge plus. In the end I am going to swap around a few of the smaller gears to get smaller jumps around my cruising range (15-19) (which all the discussed cassettes have pretty good gaps around). If I weren't married to my current crankset I would just go for as wide of a range on the front as I could using something like White Industries VBC.
Assuming a compact crankset:
http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=34,50&RZ=11,12,13,14,15,17,19,21,23,25,28&UF=2125&TF=100&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&GR2=DERS&KB2=34,50&RZ2=11,13,15,17,19,21,24,27,31,35,40&UF2=2125 This compares an 11-28 vs my 11-40 setup. Both don't have optimal jumps. For me the tight spaces on 11,12,13,14,15 do no me no good as I am "at home" at 100rpm cadence.
Here is the setup I would like to try on a VBC chainset from white industries, I just need to see if I can get any FD to make the 20 tooth jump. http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS ... 2&UF2=2125
Another consideration if you are worried about chain slap -- even the 11-28 slaps offroad for me, thus monkeying around with the XT and its clutch was the answer.
This is a good answer. I've also used 32, and 40. After a while I got used to the gaps between sprockets. All comes down to where you're riding but I would be comfortable riding an 11-32 as long as I can keep 80-90 cadence on a climb.