Woopsie-dasies.
Everyone knows it’s a great idea to change out pieces of equipment the day before a group ride, especially an honorary Ronde van Vlaanderen Cogal involving steep, cobblestone climbs. There is obviously also no need to test-ride the equipment after making said change.
I remark at this point that it is rather unexpected to find an 11 speed chain inside a box labeled as being 10 speed. I also note that an 11 speed chain is not obviously narrower than its 10 speed counterpart. Once installed, it even seems to operate normally, happily jumping from one cog to the next, up and down the cassette, as you click away at it on the work stand. It gives the strong impression of being a happy chain.
This is a ruse. It is not a happy chain. In fact, it is a borderline malicious chain; it lulls the rider into a false sense of security, right until the moment that enough pressure is applied to the pedals, at which point the chain will rudely skip. The amount of pressure required to make the chain skip is dependent upon in which gear you are riding; some skip easily, some (seemingly) not at all. The ones that seemed like they didn’t skip at all were the two lowest gears. Comforting, knowing the steep cobbled climbs that were to be gobbled up towards the end of the ride, where they would be most instrumental.
As it turns out, the amount of pressure required to skip the chain is the amount applied at roughly 20% and the rider has risen out of the saddle in search of extra power. This came as quite a surprise to me, the rider, and also to those riding behind me, who used words like “ejected” and “like you hit an invisible car” to describe what they saw.
So, I can make with certainty the following observation: a 10 speed chain and 11 speed chain might not have any outward trappings of distinction between them but they are indeed very different. This difference manifests itself by one functioning as expected and the other having the capacity to eject a rider when combined with a 10 speed drivetrain. It all seems very obvious, but that doesn’t make it less true.*
There are many other examples of this I’m sure; I remember having quite a job of properly connecting my Cinelli stem to my Scott Drop-In handlebars because the diameters did not quite match. That one also resulted in some high speed handling anomalies.
There are two morals to this story. First, it matters whether your equipment is interoperable. Second, if you make a change to your gear before a big ride, for the love of Merckx, take it on a test drive.
*As it turns out, it does in fact make it less true; this should function flawlessly but it was a worn(ish) cassette that held the secret to the bikes newly discovered ejection function.
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View Comments
@litvi
Why does everyone think I'm grumpy for pointing this out? I'm not, it just didn't occur to me to think of a humorous way to say what I wanted to say! I'm a bike mechanic so when I see utter crap being said I can't help but point it out.
Also, spelling.
And happy, see?
@litvi
pretty much sums it up really, oh, and did I mention the sign in the title picture ? Because that's a shit sign.
@Oli
Did you turn around and ask those people behind you if their bikes were broken ?
Any time i fit a new chain without changing the cassette I'm really tentative first time out as I load it up wondering whether the cassette may have bridged that critical wear point when it will skip with a new chain.
Worth noting too that the new chain will wear (stretch) faster on an old cassette as it nears the point when it won't wear it at all. If you see what I mean.
And vice versa for that matter.
@Oli
Taken just after flaming Frank = Happy.
We love it really Oli. You're the poor Velominati's Jobst Brandt.
My Cycling Sensei said - "change chain, change cassette". It's true!
Last time I changed chain/cassette I bought an Ultegra cassette as I was advised they lasted longer.
When my chain was ready to replace, the cassette also ended up needing replacing (skipping on a couple of cogs with the new chain). False economy?
@RobSandy
I have found that a good chain and good cassette last longer but a cheap chain / good cassette is a false economy (or vice versa). Whether a cassette / chain at twice the price (say) lasts twice as long would be hard to prove. Plus it's not just about durability but shifting efficiency tends to improve with price. Though again, when that is noticeable is subjective.
In the end we are slaves to our vanity and the marketing blurb!
@Teocalli
I can tell the difference in shifting between the Ultegra cassette I did have and the Tiagra cassette I've put on my turbo wheel (it's a £12 experiment, we'll see how it goes), but I'm not so convinced I'd tell the difference between the 105 cassettes I usually use and either the Tiagra or the Ultegra.
The reason the Ultegra cassette died may have been that I pushed the chain just that bit far before I replaced it. But I was surprised how quickly it wore out, but then I ride in all sorts of shit weather and do a fair amount of sprinting/hard intervals/steep hills, all of which are hard work on a chain.