Do cassettes have to match?

[Ootini]

Hi all,

I'm curious, if I were to buy a new set of wheels / tyres :http://www.wiggle.co.uk/fulcrum-racing-7-clincher-2013-wheel-and-tyre-set/ for my CX bike for road use, I'd obviously need a new cassette too. Now my Ridley CX bike currently has Shimano Tiagra STI brifters, an SRAM chainset and Shimano Tiagra dérailleurs. I've no idea on the cassette though, all I can tell is it's a ten speed.
If I were to buy the new wheels and was looking for a cassette, is there a particular manufacturer/model I'd have to buy? Would it have to be a Shimano Tiagra 10 speed in order to work correctly with the dérailleurs? Would it have to be a 10 speed? The description on the wheels states they're compatible with 11 speed cassettes but is the rest of my running gear compatible with an 11 speed cassette?
Sorry for all the newbie questions.

 

[vickster]

Need to get 10 speed wheels I believe, and a 10 speed cassette, sram or shimano with the correct number of teeth within the range that matches the rear derailleur. I don't think tiagra shifters work with 11 speed, but someone far more knowledgeable than me will be along to confirm or deny

By the way, those wheels with a 10 speed cassette will be fine as it actually says 10/11 speed compatible

 

[MikeW-71]

Any 10 speed Shimano or SRAM cassette will work (probably 30t max). You could not fit an 11 speed unless you changed shifters and deraileurs as well.

 

[HLaB]

If you are running 10 speed at the moment it'll have to be 10 speed but any SRAM/ Shimano cassette thats 10 speed will work. FWIW , I also hit a pothole last week and borrowed a 10sp campag rear wheel for a bit and it seemed to work 10sp shimano derailleur just fine so I guess you are not limited to SRAM/Shimano but I don't know about running campy/shimano long term.

 

[Old Plodder]

It is the amount of cable pulled by your gear changer for each change that is the real issue. The distance between the cog centre lines is what dictates the gear levers to be used, that is 9sp or 10sp, as they are set to different centres.
So yes, any 10sp block will work with 10sp levers.

 

[Ootini]

Just checked , my chainset is an SRAM Powerglide 48-34t if that makes a difference at all.
Both, front and rear dérailleurs are Shimano Tiagra. I still can't tell what cassette is on there at the mo, but it's definitely an 11 - XX (Need to count the bigger ring)

 

[boydj]

The chainset is pretty much irrelevant. The speed of the cassette has to match the shifters. Campag cassettes have a different spline pattern to that used by SRAM and Shimano. While Shimano 10sp shifters will work with a Campag 10sp wheel, they wont work well, since the pull ratios and spacing are subtly different. Interestingly, according to Lennard Zinn (Velonews), with 11sp the Shimano and Campag differences have disappeared.

 

[User33236]

Buy a 10 speed cassette and use the spacer supplied with your wheels when fitting it.