How much of a difference is there between a 11-23 Cassette VS 12-23 Cassette?

I'm going to be riding a lot of hills, some climbs and very limited flat areas.
I ride for personal fitness. I don't race, but I do push myself as hard as I can.
I'm considering going from an Ultegra 6600 11-23 to a Dura-Ace 12-23.
The only other upgrade I'd consider on this drivetrain would
be to go from a Dura-Ace 7801 chain to a KMC X10SL chain.

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What front cogs?

12-23 is nice for having an 18 for hillclimb time trials, but otherwise the 11-23 may be a better choice if you use a compact crank. The 50-11 comes in handy occasionally.

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depends how steep the hills are. for me hills have 5%+ gradients and for more than 1km and under those circunstances i rather have an 11-26. the only difference will be the gear spacing.

53/39.

To be honest, I'm completely ignorant on gearing.
Generally, I get up to speed and keep it up as much as possible.
I try to maintain a 15-20mph avg over my riding time which generally averages of 1 1/2-2 hours.





I couldn't tell you the gradients. I'll offer up my Roofer skills in determining slopes.
Generally, I suspect it's an average 22 degree slope and gets higher than that.

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I hate to be a doubting thomas but 22% is really, really steep. Please tell us where you live.

Of course, gearing really all depends on the strength of the rider and for all I know, you may be the next [insert the name of you favorite pro mountain specialist here]. However, if your lowest gear is 39X23 and you are regularly riding up 22% gradiant climbs, you should already know whether you need an 11 tooth cog on the flats and the decents or whether a 12 tooth cog will suffice.

I even race with a 12-23 cassette and a compact (50/34) crank.
Never lost contact with the bunch because of the gearing, even with 45km/h (28mph) averages.
Sure, in Hungary amateur racing is far from pro level, but it's still racing speed, not comparable to speeds I can reach alone.

But during training I spend most time on 17-18-19, and I do miss the 18 when on a different cassette, but very rarely use the 12.

Like others pointed out, it depends... allaround personally I like 11.21 w/ 53.39 , unless grades go over 4% for over 5k. Then i. Like taller gears. I'm a high cadence climber/TTer, so 11.21 is more veristal for me with 50.34, 53.39, 55.42 just depends on the course. My other favorite is 12-25 for long climbs (50.34) and crits (53.39)

If I don't have gaps in the gears that is better. But the occasional 15% 400m climb at 40rpms is doable with 39.21

If you can't change the front, a 12-23 would be my choice.

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So you have an 11-23. How much do you use the 11? If the answer is 'not at all' then get the 12-23.





A 22 degree slope is a 40% gradient.

I could be completely wrong.
I guesstimated it.
Morgantown,WV 26505

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With a standard crank a 12-23 is really a better cassette, if you aren't a pro sprinter. I'd image you'd feel a bit better with a 12-25 though, if you are riding a lot of hills.

The real question for me is, is 23 enough? I often find myself needing more.

I have more legs than lungs. I didn't notice it being much harder for me to go from 12-27 to 11-23.

I purposely went with 11-23 to make myself work harder. With 25+ years of working on Roofs,
climbing 40' ladders with 100lbs on my shoulder and a 20lb tool belt, pushing a 20lb bike wasn't
as hard as my actual job (not saying that it's been easy either).

Again, it's my endurance that I've had to work on. I'm just recovering from a leg injury (ruptured calf)
and have had to stay off the bike since October. I'm going to start riding again soon starting this week.

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Thanks to everybody who's contributed.

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Ahhh so you are okay at pushing the gears but at what cadence? Sounds like your climbing cadence may be low. Low cadence taxes your muscles more and you get burn-out faster. If you are doing short-ish rides that is probably not a problem but if you are doing races preserving your energy and expending it where it's really needed is of utmost importance for race results. Since my new coach has got me to do everything at 100+ rpms I find that even the 25 is not enough on some of the hills around here.

Put it this way, choosing between 11/23 and 12/23 (that 1 tooth) is going to affect you at high speed not climbing speed. You do not climb in the 11 or 12 yeah? But you may be sprinting in the 11 or 12.

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It's not how much you spend on a bike it's how hard you can ride it.

I have this love/hate relationship with climbing.
I hate it so I try too tackle them as quick as possible.
When I meet one, I just hit it hard until it's over with.
I love it because it feels great once I'm done with it.
I don't know what my cadence is (low? high?).
Don't know what to compare it to. I don't race.

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