Replacing an 11-28t cassette with an 11-42t cassette on a 10-speed road bike with 50/34 chainrings and a Shimano road derailleur. See below for links to needed parts and tools.
I am converting this road bike to an asphalt touring bike with bikepacking gear. To better handle the hills with touring gear loaded on the bike, I will need the ability to reduce gear inches.
Currently, in the lowest gear, the 34/28 combination gets me 31.6 gear inches. But with the 42 tooth gear in place of the 28 it goes down to 21 gear inches, almost as good as my mountain bike, which is at 19 gear inches.
I made a couple of mistakes in the video. One is where I state that the reason a roadlink isn't recommended with a 42-tooth cassette is that the chain ends up being too short to be in that gear while also in the large chainring. That really has nothing to do with the roadlink, it's just a matter of my derailleur not having the chain wrap capacity to handle that much chain. The second mistake is where I state that my RD-5700-ss derailleur has a 39-tooth chain wrap capacity. It is actually 33. The long cage version of that derailleur (the gs model) has a 39-tooth capacity.
I expect I will rarely need this kind of climbing ratio, except with touring gear loaded and only on the steepest hills. [UPDATE Sept. 2021 - after completing a 600 mile self-supported tour with a lot of climbing, I found this big cassette to be a huge benefit. Very glad I had it.]
On my latest tour I had some knee issues while riding my mountain bike (converted for touring) which had a total weight, including gear, of 90 pounds. This has always worked for me in the past but I'm getting older, and I now think going to a lightweight touring setup is a good idea. I'm hoping to bring that 90 pounds down to about 40 to 45 by using the road bike with bikepacking gear.
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WHERE TO BUY - As an Amazon Associate i earn from qualifying purchases.
11-42 Cassette - [ Ссылка ]
Wolf Tooth Roadlink - [ Ссылка ]
116-tooth Shimano CN-HG54 Deore Chain (10 Speed) - [ Ссылка ]
Park Tool FR-5G Lockring Removal Tool - [ Ссылка ]
Park Tool SR-12.2 Chain Whip (Sprocket Remover) - [ Ссылка ]
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