Road bike gearing advice

[Mojonaut]

Hi

bit of a noob re gearing but I need to change the chain and cassette on my Trek alpha due to wear.

It's a Shimano 105 with a 10 speed 12-25 5600 cassette and 34-50 chainset.

Now I struggle a bit on hills (compared to my hybrid) with this and was thinking of changing the cassette for a 12-27 would this help? There is also some wear on the 50t gear which may need replacing as well though the 34t looks fine. Would you recommend any gearing changes at this end as well?

I'm just a casual cyclist so not looking for out and out speed.

thanks

Bob

 

[Herzog]

I'm pretty sure you could go up to 28T on the cassette, any bigger and you'd probably need a longer rear mech.

You would certainly notice a 2-3 tooth difference when climbing!

 

[Velo711]

Hi Bob. You already have what's called a compact chainring setup(34-50), so that's fine, and switching to the 27 tooth at the back should make it a little easier for you. The engine gets better the more miles you put in. Cheers.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

Ditto what they said but you will need to adjust the rear mech so when the chain is on the large ring on the cassette, it doesn't catch the mech (mate didn't adjust his at the weekend after fitting a 28 cassette and end up with a busted chain.
Many youtube vids to help you with this and it's relatively easy to do.

 

[Osh]

same here, i've been running a compact with 23 in the back - i keep reaching for a lower gear when i hit a steep hill, the empty 'click' is pretty demoralising.

 

[Mojonaut]

Thanks guys I'll change it but checkout the vids first

 

[wakou]

SRAM do a 12-28 cassette which will fit, and give you a better chance on them thar hills.....

 

[Venod]

I have run 12-30 10 speed Tiagra cassette with a short cage 6600 Ultegra derailleur, with a 50-34 compact chainset, you will have to lengthen the chain and adjust the mech as per TonyEnjoyD suggests.

The spec for the derailleur does not list this as possible but they can be pushed a bit.