Convert 11-32 to 11-42 cassette on a Road Bike = Monster Gearing
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ม.ค. 2025
- I was finding that climbing grades greater than 15% were too much for me with my compact 50/34 x 11-32 gearing. I tried using a Wolf Tooth Road Link to enable an 11-42 cassette, and it almost worked but didn't have enough chain take-up capacity to keep the chain from sagging in a few gear combinations (34 - 11, 12, 13, 14). This sent me searching the internet without much success for options to make the larger cassette work with my Ultegra shifters.
Here I show how the 50/34 x 11-42 worked (sort of) with the Ultegra GS rear derailleur modified with a Wolf Tooth Road Link, and the option I went to with the 50/34 x 11-42 and an XT SGS rear derailleur. Remember to add a 1.85mm spacer on the freehub body before converting from a road cassette to a mountain bike one.
Many will say this gearing is extremely low and I should get a new set of legs and/or lungs. Below, is my excuse for this extremely low gearing. Others might find such low gearing is good for less extreme climbing, so hopefully, it will be helpful.
On my last bike tour in Cuba, I had to walk up parts of the Gran Piedra climb in the Sierra Maestra mountains (14km long/1,200m high with frequent 10-20% grades). I decided that lower gearing would enhance my cycling by letting me spin up the steeper grades. Cuba's terrain is generally flat to rolling hills until you get into the mountain ranges such as the Sierra Maestra, Sierra Cristal, Sierra Escambray, or Sierra del Rosario. Even in these mountain ranges you can generally skirt around the steeper roads, and our tour routes opt for this strategy, but it can be fun and challenging to occasionally take the road less traveled and attack the mountains straight on. The steeper roads have grades of 10-30% often for a kilometre or more at a time and generally on a less than perfect surface. At 30% the roads are corrugated concrete to avoid being washed out during rainstorms. The steepest road I know of reaches grades over 40%, with corrugated concrete paving, on the way to Fidel's command post during the revolution at la Comandancia de la Plata near the highest mountain in Cuba "Pico Turquino" at 1,970 metres above sea level. Only jeeps are allowed on that road.
Best wishes for your cycling adventures, and check out my other videos of cycling in Cuba.
Lee Orphan
Tour Leader with www.bicyclebreeze.net
#cuba
#adventurecycling
#bicyclebreeze
#gravelbike
#biggercassette
I’ve been a bike mechanic in an amateur capacity for 10 years and engineer for 10 years and I am impressed by your video sir. Thank you for all the hard work and especially the clear documentation. If our paths ever cross I owe you a beer
Thanks 👍
Just a quick note for anyone using Shimano with *9-speed* shifters and drivetrain -
Cable pull is the same for road and MTB derailleurs/shifters, so the Tanpan is not needed. It is only required if you have a 10- or 11-speed system.
Yep, I didn't think to mention other systems. I wish Shimano wouldn't keep making things incompatible like this - different cable pull between road and mtb - they are not consumer-friendly.
I must say a light road bike with gears more like a mountain bike looks very appealing. Great video thank you. Hmm.
I can ride some pretty nasty rough roads with this set-up. I'll post a video of the road to Mil Cumbres one day, its a doozy.
Here in Chile we have slopes like you describes in Cuba, and my Trek have Ultegra too, then you made the exact solution that I was looking for. Thanks you!
I didn't have to walk any hills with this gearing.
I swapped my 11-32 cassette (11-speed 105 system with 50/34T chainrings) and tried using a Deore derailleur but the 105's shifter pulls weren't matching it. So I got the Roadlink and went back to the 105 derailleur. I didn't use any spacers on the freehub. Everything works fine except, there's a slight chain rub noise when I start going into the smallest cogs on the cassette with the 34T chainring. If I loosen the barrel adjuster for the cassette the noise goes away but then it struggles to climb the 42T cog. My 'solution' is when it starts to make noise it's time to switch up to 50T chainring. I wish I'd gotten a 40T or a 38T cassette for the 12% grades I encounter occasionally but couldn't find a Shimano one in stock.
Glad you mentioned the extended link that shipped with the replacement RD. I made the mistake of adding a link next to an existing one, with Shimano 105 midrange RD.
My older road bike (10 spd Tiagra 4600 STI's with a 10 spd 105 FD and a 9 spd Deore M592 RD) is getting geared down. I already have it with 12-36 cassette but don't want to end up with wide ratios so have tonight put on a "test" Tourney 30/46 crankset as I'm doing the infamous "Bealach Na Ba" here in Scotland this week (hopefully, unchartered territory with this gearing)- sea level to 2000ft in just over 5 miles and 2.5 of those are over 10%, half a mile at 13% and some 20% bends.... I'm considering though, if this works out, reducing it even further to maybe a 26/42 crankset so I can get some use out of the 11-13 cogs as well as usefully lowered gears at the other end. Road bikes (especially beginner/entry level) are stupidly overgeared, even coming off of the Cairngorm Mountain I never got into the 50/11, I was going as fast as I comfortably wanted (30mph) given the patches of gravel and odd potholes and I snuck it into this gear and was doing a stupid slow 65-70rpm... Manufacturers are clearly idiots who don't consider the people who buy these race replicas and the terrain they often live in!! I'd argue that most of us would rather have a bike that gets us up a hill than comes down it at 50mph+....
Thanks for a interesting and useful video.
Another option crossed my mind while watching.
As the 50/11 top gear is very high and likely rarely used by most non-racers, if such a high gear wasn't needed, a 46 or even a 44T could replace the 50T chainring.
A 46/11 is still a high gear ratio by non racing standards, and this would lessen the chain take-up required of the rear derailleur as well as making for an easier front derailleur shift.
I'm no racer, nor do I want to ride especially fast. I'm more than happy coasting or soft pedalling when my speed outruns my 46/13 high gear.
And as a bicycle rider in my seventh decade, I'm totally on board with low gear options. For my last bike build, a hilly and rough road tourer, I fitted a 30/48 low gear. I barely needed it on my last overnight ride, but I sure was happy that it was available.
I agree that you could reduce the front chain ring. Personally, I like to go fast (on the downhills) so I appreciate the 50 tooth chainring, and sometimes miss the 53T from my road bike 🙂
I did get to try the 11-42 cassette on some extended rides in Cuba this January. I certainly appreciated the lower gears for climbing. I did notice the larger jump between cogs, but overall it didn't bother me as much as I had feared, instead, it gave me a chance to use varied cadence as a training opportunity. Likely, i would not feel the same if I was struggling to stay with strong riders in a group.
Thanks, we are just finishing one tour in Cuba and about to begin a second one. It's a great time to be here.
I converted mine from 12-28 up to the way superior 11-42. It's amazing.
Just wish I had a triple front 52-42-32. Currently have compact 50-34
What rear derailleur are you using
@@ui7183 use Any long cage and buy a roadlink extender just in case you need it.
Perfect gearing for Taiwan KOM challenge or Hardnott Challenge in the UK.
Thank you for your short video, it will be a great help to me. I have two bicycles, both have 2x drive trains and of course one is Shimano road and the other Sram mtb. If the subject comes up with my roadie friends, BicycleBreeze will be mentioned. Cheers
I just noticed by moving a 11-42 cassette between my roadbike and gravelbike that the grx rear deraileur (RD-RX810) has much more capacity than the ultegra rx di2 (RD-RX805). on paper its 39 vs 40 tooth but the ultegra derailleur is on its limit in the big/big combo where the GRX one still has some room. i sized both chains to still have some tension in the small small combination.
the ultegra di2 even blocks the smallest two cogs to be used with the small chainring so the chain is even longer than it would need to be if those could be used.
i use a roadlink dm on both bikes and both have 16 tooth jumps on the crankset. so if you have some real world use problems with the tanpan setup, the grx derailleur might be a good alternative.
Very informative and well arranged video. Love it!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Well done Lee 👍
Interessting. I also got a 34-50. With a 11-36 cassette on a Road Link. 2x10. Thinking of upgrading to 2x11. Same gear ratio
Well Lee, the Cannondale had a 30 tooth chainring and a 34 tooth cassette and Grand Piedre took all I had to ascend. Your set-up improves that ratio by 10%. But I am sure there were a lot of 20% climbs on that ascent.
Hi Phil, for sure a triple chainring set-up is another solution. You were one of only 2 riders to make it up Gran Piedra without walking - well done.
Hi, I run a 40 - 11 using a medium cage Di 2 rear mech and wolf tooth it works fine. On my trek Domäne. I
It's worth trying simpler solutions first as you did, specific situations will play out differently. As you saw the 11-42 didn't work for me with a medium cage Ultegra road derailleur. it may have been better if I had an 11-40 but they were not available due to the global supply chain thingy.
Glad your setup works.
Btw the chain take-up can be fixed by fiddling the b screw instead of using a diff derailleur.
There was not enough b-screw range to take up the chain with the original Ultegra derailleur and the 11-42 cassette. I tried that first, and when it didn't work, I went with the XT derailleur and the Wolf Tooth Tarpan adapter.
Wondering if its still working or if any extra wear and tear on the spring mechanisms or hanger?
The setup is great, no issues at all after about 6,000 km. I love the wide range and low gears.
you can try the rx812, it's technically the m8000 gs with road bike cable pull raito, and you can change the gs cage as the m8000 sgs cage to climb bigger cog.
Hi. Just found your video because I’m planning to change my 11-32 to 11-42 like you did. My question is, does the 11-42 cogs fit the road free hub without any problem or do you have to place a spacer? I’m running shimano gears. What brand of 11-42 cogs did you use? Will appreciate your response, thanks.
You may need a 1.85mm spacer to put an 11 speed mtb cassette on and 11-speed road hub. If when you install the mtb cassette and put the lockring on results in any play in the cassette on the hub try the spacer, they are cheap
I went from Shimano Ultegra 11-32 to XT 11-42. I'm not sure about other combinations, but I do not expect it to be an issue as long as the cassette is compatible with the splines on the hub..
I've been trying to find an SGS cage to replace the GS cage on my Ultegra R8000 derailleur but have been unsuccessful. I run a 50-34 and 11-40 11-spd and the chain barely rubs on itself in small-small. I'd like to change to 11-42 with a longer cage.
what is the right way of doing it? does one use another derailleur?
Why not just run a triple crankset? Are there major advantages to this setup you have as opposed to a triple? I run 52/42/30 with 11-25 but considering this as an option.
Good question. Triple is a good option, not as popular these days due to complexity, weight and dropped chains. Still I like it.
For this bike and many others, the shifters do not accommodate triple gearing, so forced to go double, plus chainline constraints, and constrained to 50/30 up front, my best best option was to go 40/42 as the biggest cassette cog.
Hope that helps.
How do you rate the shifting using the tanpan after it gets covered in mud and filth? Very curious about this!
I don't use this for CX racing so it's not an issue for me. I do agree, that everything you add to the shifting system is another potential issue, but I don't think (and no issues for me) that it's a big risk using the tanpan.
@@leeorphan thanks mate!
Always good to get people's opinions.
I'm on the fence between doing this vs a grx rear derailleur and adding garbaruk cage mod if I decide to go 1x.
Hello Lee, I have purchased Sprocket 11-42, RD Deore RL-M5120SGS, Shifter Deore SL-M5100L and SL-M4100, Chain CN-HG54 10S from Shimano for my MTB with 24 inch tire; which Crank should I choose ? I live in the area with hilly road. I almost 63 this year
A 42T front ring gets you a 1:1 ratio. By 28T you are well beyond what is effective
I have tried to find the availability of Crank with 42-28 chainring ratio in Indonesia, but only GRX 46-30 available which close to 42-28.
what brifter do you use sir?
I have Ultegra 6800, this bike is 2016 vintage, with lots of miles.
@@leeorphan thank you sir 🙏🙏
Hi Lee, is your bike a 10 speed or 11 speed? Thanks.
Mine is 11-speed.
Thanks. Btw, your video was the tutorial I needed to figure this out :)@@leeorphan
I'm pleased that it helped. @@MattGundersen
Needs a long cage
Para subir el Himalaya ...
Your bike is too pretty to ride gravel, dirt, water and mud.
It's seen it all. It's a tough bike, but still light and agile. I think for my current riding needs a gravel bike would be better as this cyclocross frame is made for tight turns and acceleration vs. holding a straight line in gravel and on potholed roads.
Why don't you just take out the slack in the chain by taking out some link's....
It would reduce gear range... As explained, the limitation was chain take up