What Are The Drawbacks Of An 11-34 Cassette? | GCN Tech Clinic  

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The only drawback from an 11-34 cassette are riding mates getting angry at me for not suffering as much as them on climbs. lol

“I’m so glad that I don’t have an extra gear” ...said no-one ever.

I’ll take an 11-34 any day, living in a hilly part of Scotland with plenty of 10 to 20% ers around.

Hey Alex, I've got some input regarding the leg length discrepancy (LLD) and crank length question. For reference, I'm a Doctor of Physical Therapy here in the US, an avid multi-discipline bike racer, and I consult with fellow athletes each year for bike fit/training/racing issues. Also, I deal with LLD on the bike myself. Short answer is, it really depends. Long answer is as follows: When considering how to address LLD via bike fit, it's important to consider 3 factors. First, how long is the discrepency? For LLD under 1 cm difference, shims are typically used to correct the difference, due to the ease of application as well as the level of resolution possible (down to 1 mm). For LLD over 1 cm difference, it's practical to consider using different crank arm lengths to treat, based on the other 2 factors. The second factor to consider is, where is the LLD coming from? If the difference is coming from the lower leg (tibia/fibula complex), shims are the appropriate method of treatment because they effectively increase the length of the lower leg. However, when the difference is coming from the upper leg (femur), the LLD will now affect the pedal stroke at the 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock positions, and a shorter crank arm on the shorter leg will help to mechanically compensate for that entire half turn. This is still a simplified answer, as there are more mechanics to consider regarding joint position and torque development, but it remains to be the best solution generally speaking. The third factor to consider is, what is the type of cycling that will be performed? For athletes spending all of their time on the bike, several mm's of shims between the shoe and the cleat will likely be very beneficial in correcting for LLD with little negative impact. However, for athletes who spend time traversing significant distance walking or running with their bikes (MTB and CX), a hefty length of shim under the shoe can cause more problems (walking/running/clipping-in) than it's worth. In this case, opt for a change in crank arm length instead. In summary, shims are more appropriate for shorter LLD, LLD occurring at the lower leg, and for athletes spending all of their time on the bike. A shorter crank arm is typically more appropriate for larger LLD, LLD occurring at the upper leg, and for athletes spending some of their time walking or running with their bikes during activity. In reality, I usually recommend a combination of crank and shim to treat athletes with a large LLD. For example, I have a LLD of 2 cm shorter on my left side, and to treat, I use a shorter crank arm by .75 to 1 cm on the left side, with a 3 mm shim under my L shoe as well. Note that this only corrects my LLD by up to 1.3 cm; I typically dont recommend to attempt to correct the entire LLD as the body has typically already learned to compensate for the shorter leg already with an ipsilateral pelvic drop, and attempting to correct for the full length of the difference may actually cause more pain in other places. Feel free to reach out with any questions, and feel free to disseminate this information to the listeners :)

I’ve been riding an 11-34 (10sp) cassette for about ten years now. Love love love it. Coupled with a 50/34 front pairing, I can cruise along in the mid-20mph range or crawl up a bridge when loaded for touring. Super versatile setup!

11 - 34 is great, and mine is only ten speed! The point is that's it's been well designed so that the jumps down at the business end of the cassette are all only two teeth and only get larger at the top end (11-13-15-17-19-21-24-27-30-34). This means getting a cassette with a 34 sprocket is really not an issue...do it definitely.

"Sorry, it's still me" ... yeah, I had to use that on a date last week.

Don't you apologize Alex! It's great to have your perspective on all the tech questions

I'm a rider with a leg length discrepancy of about 12mm, my left leg being shorter. I've been using shims for a while but always wondered about using a short crank on the non drive side. After doing some research I found that a lot of bike fitters recommend shims if your problem is in the lower leg but shorter cranks if the difference in length is in the upper leg. I've recently tried a 165mm crank on my left side to go with my 172.5mm on my right, it's been brilliant so far for me, I now have much more use from my left leg, and no cramps / straining that I was getting before.

I live in the Alps and run 10-42. My average cadence is 95-100. This cassette allows me to maintain my preferred cadence for gradients up to 9%. Gearing gaps are not an issue here as there’s almost no flat. An 11-28 cassette (where I started) would be a knee killer for me.

Just had an 11-34 installed yesterday and this showed up in my feed today. Scary.

Original CX bikes have mountings for cantilever brakes which have the same mountings for v brakes, the problem is that the pull ratio from a modern brake lever means that the lever travels much further and makes them very hard to set up.

Great job for the first tech clinic!Looking forward to seeing more of you on the future!

Why does anyone need an 11 if they're not racing? Losing the 11 (and maybe even the 12) means you can have a smaller gear and closer ratio. But Shiman0 don't want to sell me cassettes so I have to buy Miche ...

A great first gcn clinic Alex .. thanks for answering my question Keep up the great work GCN

On the 11/34 cassette : personal opinion here. riders who are very experienced with many thousands of miles would likely prefer closer ratios (11/28) and will have the legs to climb on a 28 sprocket. I personally have an 11/40 (with a derailleur extension) : I couldn’t care less about wide ratios as I prefer to have more easy gears just in case I need to continue my long and hard climbs (eg. Galibier).

Ollie brings the hair drama and Alex just invented stache drama. :)

I have been using 11-34 for ages. I am 90kg and I really need that ratio on looong climbs where gradient hits over 8% .... it allows me to keep spinning at 90rpm and keep the speed on rather than grinding. I am also a mountain biker riding a 12 speed 1 x system .... so am very used to being slightly over or under the exact gear needed. Also, if you have a 11-28 cassette fitted you will probably need a longer cage rear derailleur fitted if you want to change to 11-34 l, which cost money and is a bit less aero. Finally, with an 11-34 bigger guys can use a 52-36 front chain ring combo and this has benefits with top end speed rather than using the 50-34 and 11-30 combo most endurance bikes come with. Hope that helps!

I Always use a 11-32 with a 54-42 and I love it even being a 9 speed sprocket. The only drawbacks that I find is that first is just a little grams more weight and second you need a long cage rear mech to accommodate that 34, other than that I think someone with a 10-11 speed cassette combined with a 53-39 crankset is the ideal great ratio for all scenarios like Hill and flat

Nice job Alex! Can’t wait to see what bike you ride.

11-34 is great in a hilly area, with an Ultegra medium cage, and when it gets really hilly you can run an 11-40 cassette on an Ultegra rear mech quite happily if you wind out the b screw.

Thankx Alex, another good video which you've been doing a lot of them lately, did the rest of GCN go on Holiday?

separate brake and shift levers WERE a thing until about 1987 with the introduction of the STI / integrated shift and brake system. so, it's less a matter of seeing then introduced as being RE-introduced... I still have a old steel bike with stem-mount shift levers and bar mount brake levers.

I just put the Litepro long V brakes with their cable pull adapter on my 1990 Cannondale MTB, with Durace Ace 9 speed levers. They work really well!! It's now my urban adventure/commuting bike. 11 Speed next up.

Changing crank lenght is a terrible idea. Say you choose a short crank for your shorter leg, makes sense because you don't have to reach that for. But, now turn your crankset 180 degrees. Now the pedal on you shorter leg, is going less high than the pedal on the other side will. Making the assymetry only worse.

I have fit a 11-36 on mine, making use of a 105-GS as part of a bodged gravel set up. (w/35c tires), and I have found nothing lacking. As I often bridge road segments with a bit of trail, which typically is a mix of hilly, rooty and/or rocky, I find I can make good use of this wider range.

A great solo starter video Alex. Good luck with the GCN team.

The mini v brakes on the original giant propel are great, I love my bike. It doesn't have the modulation of a hydro disc, but I think it has more power than disc, it is using a 622mm rotor after all haha.

Me with 11-46 mtb cassete 😑

Personally I like to change all my 11-28s out for 11-32/34 as the 11-28s spacing is so close that I find I'm changing 2 gears at a time so often.

I love my 11-32 for my heavy old a**

Loving my Semi Compact with 11-34

For the V-Brake answer I used an old mtb frame and I converted it to a gravel style bike with drops, but in order to use v-brakes with road shifters you need to purchase problem solvers travel agents in order to resolve the cable pull differences.

Well, if the V-brakes made sense for a road bike, the mounts would have been adopted to that. But the whole story is somewhat the other way round. It is not feasible to make a caliper brake that would fit a MTB wide tire. So the cantilever/V-brakes had to be developed (and the mounts). A large caliper that would fit a 2" tire would loose its mechanical advantage it has on a road bike. On the other hand cantilever brakes mak(d)e sense on a cyclocross bike where a better mud cleaning properties are desirable.

Semi compact with 12/25. Perfect set-up for flat/ hilly areas.

Regarding the separate shifters/brakes. Back in the old days we had downtube shifters. Integration in the shifters was easier to use. Separate shifters are still available. Di2 remote shifters sw-r9150, etap blips, mechanical 105 series sl-rs700.

I actually ride a 46/36 crank with a 36 cassette with a 10-Speed setup on my Gravelbike with a mishmash of Tiagra, GRX and 105 components. Nice overall compromise between top speed (when I use it as a roadbike) and low gearing. Also shifts reeeaaally smoothly.

thanks Alex. great production.

Regarding V-brakes, are the seat stays and fork really built for those lateral forces, even on gravel/cyclocross bikes? I recall even a few more robust every-day bikes I had suffering from flexing when braking.

Running 11/42 10 speed cassette and 34/44 chainring in front on my road bike. I guess more of a cyclocross/adventure setup but works well as is don't always use the 42 but, comes in handy on windy, steep, long, and/or tired climbs.

Been riding a 34t cassette for over a year now and wouldn't go back to my 30t or 28t. I guess it all comes down to what type of cycling you're into but, personally, I have never run out of big gears but I use the small ratios all the time on climbs. I find that, paired with a semi-compact chainring, the 34t works great for me.

When I bought my 2000 Kona Jake the Snake new, I immediately slapped road tires on it, and swapped the 9-speed 105 rear mech for an XT, with an 11-34 cogset. Then I went everywhere on that bike, never a downside (I had a 48/38 crank). Now I've rebuilt that bike, still my favorite of a fleet of 13, and other than wider tires and a 50/34 crank...and a wider flared handlebar, I haven't changed it much.

I live in Bogotá Colombia, nothing but hills in here. I've found the 11-28T to be a killer for my knees. I'm making the change to save my knees and to switch gears less, since I've noticed that more often than not, I switch two gears at a time with my 50-34, 12-28T, 10 speed combination, so the two teeth difference in the 11-34T is welcomed.

Confused about the hard no on V-brakes. We have regularly retroffited them to our non disc road & gravel bikes with good results. I understand they may be too powerful for the road bosses in some extreme use cases, but they do work, and we have not yet seen a failure.

I'm waiting for you to time stamp these like gmbn tech does, please :) We had that gorilla quote on our team track and field t-shirts one year back in high school haha.

I have a taxc bushido and run 110psi, the specific Vittorio tyre say 90-120. It has to be said that the pressure doesn't matter that much if it is calibrated. Just keep it the same for every ride you do and recalibrate just for safety every month or so

15 years ago, People saids "Climbling with 39x27T!" Now, Even top pro doesn't use these gears on hillclimb. What an improvement!

An 11-32 is great on me defy, can go anywhere (except the steepest terrain in Thailand etc). Just a mucho thing saying it's too small a gear, but better than blowing out your knees and losing speed, cadence is king!

Minor annoyance, but swapping between a wheel with 11-34 and something smaller will require a bit of limit screw finagling if you're running the Shimano MTB range cassettes. Probably not a big deal for most people, but as someone who swaps between 32t and 34t wheelsets in CX, it's something to consider.

Klein attitude and adroit had internal cable routing 30 years ago, along with the mission control bar and stem combination.

Good work Alex! 👏👍👍

This guy it's super professional, and looks like he's a very good mechanic, but he always has a "oh nooooooooo" expression...

It's very easy to get rim brakes on a gravel bike : take a surly cross-check and tektro RL520 brake levers for exemple, you mostly find this combination on touring bikes.

Thanks for your excellent video! Very helpful! I have a Quintana Roo PR3 tri-bike. The bike came stock with a 52/36 front chainring and 11-28 cassette. I want to make 2 changes: 1) install a 11-34 cassette; 2) install a Ceramic Speed OSPW. I have a Shimano RD9100 rear derailleur. The RD9100 capacity is 30t. The Ceramic Speed OSPW capacity is 32t. Do you think it would be possible to run the CS OSPW with the 11-34 combination? I don’t want to void any warranties or destroy my derailleur or CS OSPW. Any thoughts?

#askgcntech would be great if you could do a program re does/don’t for us ‘grande’ riders (135+ kg body weight). So many things are different I.e. frame, wheel set strength, spokes numbers, reach, flexibility, where to invest, etc. can be for gravel, MTB or road. Very difficult to find really good expert advice.

Well, ever since electronic shifting you've got separate shift and break levers - at least with the additional sprinters shifters. And with TT bikes I actually see it the other way round - break levers of TT bikes get additional shifting buttons...

Something similar to V-Brakes actually exists on road bikes. You can search for Fouriers Aero v-Brakes. Saw that on some Giant and Liv Bikes :). But of course, the frame and fork need specific mounting points.

even on an 11x28 vs a 11x25, the 28 has a skip right in the middle of the cassette. Very annoying sometimes but I do enjoy the larger gear when it gets super windy out here. I'm running a 53/39 in front

I have a Shimano 34_11 cassette. I checked the teeth numbers while cleaning yesterday and they go up by 2 from 11 for 5 or 6 gears or so. It's only at the top where the jumps get bigger. From memory it went something like 34, 30, 28 when looking at those. Not sure if the more compact cassettes only go up by one but unless they do then the coarseness argument doesn't really hold.

My old Ridley X-Ride cross bike did a zillion road miles with V-brakes, just fine--along with a few cross seasons. It's now a singlespeed cross bike. Surly, Soma or All City might still make a gravel friendly frame with canti bosses that will fit v-brakes. Cross bikes with canti bosses and big tire clearance aren't too common. Those stopped production a couple of years ago, as cross bikes all went with disc brakes. Also, road levers don necessarily work well with v-brakes. The pull ratios can be different. I made up for it on mine by using a noodle with a barrel adjuster built into it. There's another pull ratio adapter out there that works well, too--I can't remember the name.

Regarding drawbacks of an 11-34 cassette, pretty sure Ollie would have said: The Weight.

#askgcntech Hi guys! When looking for broader tires for winter, or maybe some gravel, after measuring the frame, how much 'play room' should you account for to accommodate the expanding of the tyre when riding over humps in rougher terrain. F.e. the space between my seat stays is 43mm, would a 32mm be the max with 1cm room, or could I go up to 38mm, with 5mm room? Thanks!

Great job Alex!

I have an Ebike with Shimano gears. I installed the 11-34T to gain an advantage on hills and it works great. I would like to increase my top-end speed. I think installing a 58T crankset would give me more top end, are there any downsides to this and would that work?

Casually rocking 11-25 in the Netherlands

#askgcntech fairly new to road cycling and bought a direct mount turbo trainer for winter. When I put my bike on the trainer the gears don’t seem to line up with the chain well and I can’t shift to the easiest gear. There’s not enough play left on the barrel adjuster to correct this so should I adjust the limit screws? I use the same 105 11-34 cassette on the trainer that’s on my wheel.

Biggest drawback for me with an 11-34 cassette was the missing 12t cog - it really sucked with sprints going from a 13t to an 11t (especially up an incline when I was spinning out the 13t but bogged down with the 11t).

I have a new pair of Bontrager Aeolus pro 37 wheels fitted with a DT Swiss hubs on my road bike. I am thinking of changing the 28 tooth ratchet in the free hub for a 54 tooth ratchet in order to improve engagement. Do you think this would make a noticeable difference or should I not bother.

Separate brake and shift levers are used on flat bar road bikes. If the rider was talking about this setup on a road specific bar, and brake setup. It would have to be a custom build on a wider drop bar. So the rapid fire shifters were spaced out properly.

#AskGCNTech Just got the Mavic Cosmic SL Ultimate Shoes and after 20km the left shoe starter to squeak. I figured it may have been because they are new and posibly eventually it will stop, however any suggestions to stop the squeaking now?

I changed a CX bike with cantilever brakes to BMX V brakes (shorter arms), and there was an immediate improvement. I elected not to use the full MTB V brakes because road bike brake levers pull less brake cable than MTB brake levers, so setting up MTB V brakes would have been more difficult. I only used 32mm tires on the bike, and I cannot remember how low the joining cable on the BMX V brakes was, but I think its pretty close to the tire.

Tryed every combo over the years for me Qrings 52/42 11/32 haven't found a climb can't get up with 42 inner you actually go faster and could happily use all day if you want.

#AskGCNTech Hi Ollie and Alex! I wanted to know if changing my Ultegra 6700 (or 6800 I'm not sure, it's a 10 speed from 2014) to the newer version of the 105 group set would be an upgrade more than a downgrade? Thank you!

I put a smaller front chainring(s) for climbing. And use 11-28 cassettes for the smaller gaps so I can find the right cadence or rhythm for pedaling.

#AskGCNTech. Hi Alex. I want to upgrade my Shimano1O5 hydraulic group set to Di2. As the shifters are the most expensive parts, can I just disconnect the gear wires and operate the Di2 with SW-R610 switches programmed in the fully synchronous mode? If so I suppose one could easily then modify a drop bar to flat bar with the SW-R610 switches and separate brake levers?

i once bought a 2nd hand bike that had been used mostly on an indoor trainer and when I removed the old bar tape the aluminium bars underneath were more white powder ( rust ) than metal - they totally corroded through from sweat in places and would have been a total disaster to ride outside! now I check under the bar tape on all used bikes just to be sure.

#AskGCNTech hi Gcn Tech, I have recently changed my front derailleur cable after fitting a pair of integrated bars. Before changing the front derailleur shifted easily into the big ring and down again to the low ring. However after fitting the new cable and tightening the cable enough to get it to shift from small ring to big ring it now feels very very stiff compared to before. Changing from the big ring to the small ring also happens with quite a ping. Have I done something wrong as I'm sure it shouldn't be a finger workout to change to the big gear!

I'm wanting to buy my first road bike (I only had MTB before). Should I go to an aero bike or an endurance bike ? I prefer the looks of aero bikes but I'm really really stiff (I can only reach thee mid point of my tibia with straight legs) Thanks for the help #AskGCNTech

Wow that was quite a miss, not used to that from you guys. Of course the most obvious difference on the big ring on the cassette, 28/34 is your ability to climb! That seems to be much greater impact than the minor ratio difference between 10 or 11 gears

Why to use 39/35 when it's possible to get the same from 30/25 with a triple cranckset and fine step casette? or e.g. make a custom assembled 11-13-14-15-16-18-21-24-27-30-34 with fine steps in the range where needed?

#AskGCNtech Hi GCN, love the show, Whats the best lube for an indoor trainer? I cleaned my bike the other day (first time in a while) and the lube seemed to be caked on. I have both wet and dry lube, but just use whats ever to hand, how can I avoid the lube getting caked? (I store the bike in a garden shed not sure if this makes any difference?)

#AskGCNTech I'm planning on getting a new power meter which comes with brand new chainrings. I'm putting it on my new bike which has a chain on it that's about 600km old (according to Strava), but I'm estimating by the time it arrives the chain will be about 2000km old. Would it pay to wait until I have to replace the chain to install the new power meter, or would I be able to get away with putting it on with a used chain if it's still coming in under 0.5 on a chain checker?

keeping your bike clean on the turbo trainer i suggest to use sweat cover to protect the frame and use wet wipes in the end of the ride and dry them out with kitchen towel

please dont be sorry fr not being ollie, you have just as good adivices as ollie

Cinelli Tutto Plus is quite a good base for building a gravel bike with V brakes.

#askgcntech I have a 2010 SRAM red group set that the front derailleur will or stay in the big ring. When I swing the shifter, it will go to the big ring, but when I let go, it immediately falls back to the small ring. I already checked the set screws, cable tension, cleaned all parts, including the shifter, but nothing worked. What could be causing this issue?

#AskGCNTech after suffering a disastrous cross thread incident between my pedal and the drive side crank of my FSA Gossamer chainset, I need to fit a replacement. Can I fit Shimano 105 r7000 chainset to my existing bottom bracket - FSA CF86/CZ??

The only potential downside to an 11-34 cassette is that your rear mech might find it difficult to stretch to the largest cog. The bigger jumps theory only happens in the last 2 or three cogs not in the middle or small cogs, where the majority of competitive cyclists push out the Watts.

Separate brake n shift will be achieved by the use of buttons on electronic shifters. Either under the tape as already available, or on a small stem for your thumb or fingers to operate while on the hoods. I’m surprised we haven’t seen any 3D printed ones yet.

Additional drawback of 11-34 vs 11-28: you need the GS (medium leg) deraileur for 34t, which is a bit more expensive and also not standard on many bikes.

The Giant Trinity and propel both use V-brakes. They are not the full size V-brakes that were on mountain bikes, but they are shorter ones that are tucked behind the fork and bottom bracket. As far as wide range cassette, I have a cross bike that is used as a road bike and gravel bike. The cassette? A 9-42 with a 44t chainring. The gaps in gears don't bother me since I also ride mountain bikes actually giving me smaller gaps than MTB.

I had separate shifters and brake levers on my old '80s road bike. I am trying to figure out the logic of why I would want to go back to that and can't think of a good reason. What am I missing?

Excellent tech clinic

11-34 is bad for those who are trying to sell you a 2000 $/£/€ wheelset and a 6000$/£/€ frame to "help" climb those mountains

#AskGCNTech Hi, question. Im currently running 10 speed 105 but my crank, still 9 speed sora, cant find a 10 speed 105 to match what im currently running is it ok to just buy a 11 speed 105 crank are they compatible?

I just bought an 11/34 for my gravel bike, but my chainrings are 36/46 so looking forward to seeing how the gravel climbs work out.

Follow up to that V-brake question #askGCNTech - I have an old mountain bike with V-brakes that I've been planning to swap drop-bars and a road groupset onto in order to transition it to a gravel and bikepacking bike. I've been given to understand my options are to either get an adapter for the V-brakes or to switch to cantilever brakes. I'd like to keep the V-brakes as I find the stopping power comparable to the disc brakes on my road bike, but are there any positive arguments to be made for the canties? Or is there a way to use the V-brakes without an adapter to account for the travel distance between a traditional brake lever vs an integrated brake lever?

I have 2x8 compact 48/36 11-34 8sp I purchased 10-42 sram 11sp I will get sram 12 or 11 sp mtb long derailluer. What do think of my mullet build.

Which is a better upgrade ultegra Di2 or Carbon wheels on a 2020 Trek Domane SL6? Typically 20-30 miles a day in very hilly Pennsylvania, USA. #ASKGCNTech