9sp to 10sp - options?

[pbarlow0032]

Hi All,
Hoping someone can give me some advice please? I have a Monoc road bike of a 2004 vintage, full 9sp Shimano 105, all original from the day of purchase. I haven't used it much over the last 8 years as I started MTBing and the road bike sat in the garage. I finally started doing some miles on it this summer (covered about 800 miles in the last 3 months) bringing the lifetime total miles to ~1500. The cassette now seems to be slipping, and while looking at a replacement cassette I've realised that the bike is really not suited to where I live (hilly County Durham). It has a 52-39 chain set, 23-11 cassette, and I'm struggling with some of the hills (plenty of >15% hills) to the point where I am being put off.

So the debate is:
- replace with 9 speed Tiagra cassette (no 9 speed 105 any more!) probably 11-30 to give me the extra climbing range. Don't know if I will need a new rear mech?again, if so would probably have to be Tiagra as 105 is now 10 speed. Total cost would be ~£70 for cassette, rear mech and chain.
- upgrade to 10 sp. What would be needed for this? I think I would need a 10sp cassette, 10 sp chain, 10 sp chain set, new STI? I think a new 105 chain set is about £100, BB about £15, cassette and chain would be another £50, and then one STI is £60, total cost ~£225.

Obviously a big difference in cost, but I don't know if I'm missing something?

Sorry for the essay, but any advice welcomed

[nammynake]

The cassette should last more than 1500 miles. It might just be a stretched chain - they tend to go first before the cassette. Try a new chain - they are only £15 or so.

[DBSV8]

plenty on ebay 11-32 shimano 9 speed



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shimano-9-speed-Road-Mou...

[CaptainSlow]

nammynake said:

The cassette should last more than 1500 miles. It might just be a stretched chain - they tend to go first before the cassette. Try a new chain - they are only £15 or so.

This, but more likely the cable has stretched.

OP, try turning the barrel adjuster next to the rear mech half a turn anti-clockwise.

[Barchettaman]

Try a new chain and a 12-28 9-speed cassette.
If you still need lower gearing you can put a 38 tooth inner chainring on or swap your crankset for a compact.

I love compact cranksets.

[upsidedownmark]

I'm guessing you'll have a short-cage road mech at the back. That'll cope with up to about a 28, but not a 32. Two limiting factors are the absolute size of the biggest sprocket (has to clear the mech), and the gear difference/range. The first you have to observe; I'm running a 28 with a 9sp 105 short mech (now on 10sp shifters), but I had to flip the B screw and put it in from the frame side to get a little extra clearance..

The gear difference you can push a tooth or 3 from the shimano specs if you're sensible 'cos shimano assume you're going to be a numpty and cross chain completely at either end. Save a cog both ways and you'll do fine.

Frankly, unless you really want 10sp, I'd got the way of a compact crank.

[pbarlow0032]

Thanks for responses. It slips only in certain gears, which is why I thought it must be the cassette which was knackered, but I'll give the barrel adjuster a tweak to see if that helps. Definitely need to add some slacker gears for hills, I have the flightdeck computer which shows a virtual cadence, and I'm pushing 40rpm up the 15% gradients, which is not ideal......

To the poster who suggests a compact crank, I think my only option would be a Tiagra 9sp? Would this be a down grade from a 2004 105 crank, or have things moved on considerably in the last 9 years?

Also considering buying a caad10 in spring so just want something to keep me interested until then (and may end up keeping the Monoc as a winter bike), so would prefer to spend as little as possible!

[pbarlow0032]

Just realised Tiagra crank sets are 10 speed too! Am I right in saying I couldn't use a 10 sp Tiagra compact chain set with a 9 sp 105 cassette (say a 12-28) as the chain would be incompatible between the two?

[uncinqsix]

When looking for an 8 speed cassette for the old road bike I was rebuilding, I found that Sram seemed to have a much better range than Shimano, who seemed to have given up on supporting 8 and 9 speed at anything but the low end.

see http://www.wiggle.com/sram-pg950-9-speed-cassette/ or http://www.wiggle.com/sram-pg980-9-speed-cassette/

[pbarlow0032]

Thanks 156, hadn't even considered SRAM but will have a look. Am I right in saying that a SRAM cassette would need a SRAM chain for better shifting? Not a problem as need a new chain anyway.....

[uncinqsix]

I don't think chain compatibility is worth worrying about. I have KMC chains on both the hybrid with a 9 speed shimano cassette, and the road bike with a SRAM cassette. Both shift flawlessly .

Actually, the road bike has an old Sugino crankset, a 105 front mech, a KMC chain, a shimano RX100 rear mech and a SRAM cassette. Everything works in perfect harmony

[Rocksteadyeddie]

You will struggle with the rear mech and a 30 tooth rear unless it is a mid or long cage mech. If you want to change the gearing change your chain set for a compact 50/34. You can sell the old one on Ebay. Probably only cost you £50 to change and will give a much wider range of gearing. Don't worry too much if its a 9 or 10 speed chain set as it'll all work together fine.

Probably needs a tweak to sort the gear slipping issue, as described above.

[upsidedownmark]

All the groupsets evolve, I reckon anything 'new' will be better than near 10yo 105. Cranks wise the differences are mainly in weight, a few grams will make naff all difference, don't sweat it. Most of the 'feel' of a groupset comes from the STI's. I've run both ultegra and 105 cranks on my bike for various reasons, can barely tell the difference.

You shoul'd still be able to buy new-old series bits (such as 9sp tiagra etc)

You can mix shimano/sram at will so long as you pair mechs with levers (different cable pull ratios)

You can mix 9/10sp. The cranks differ slightly in that 10sp spaces the rings a smidge closer - you may get a little chain rub when fully cross chained on the granny ring, but shouldn't be doing that anyway. Shifting might be a little below par, again it's a small difference.

Frankly OP, I'm inclined to suggest you're overthinking it - there's no alchemy about this stuff. In your case, I'd replace the chain, cassette, and slap in the cheapest compact crank I could find, then go enjoy!

[scubadude]

pbarlow0032 said:

- replace with 9 speed Tiagra cassette (no 9 speed 105 any more!) probably 11-30 to give me the extra climbing range. Don't know if I will need a new rear mech?again, if so would probably have to be Tiagra as 105 is now 10 speed. Total cost would be ~£70 for cassette, rear mech and chain.

I put a new cassette on my 105 equiped bike just this summer, brand new parts from Wiggle, went from 12-25 to 12-27 IIRC, might not have been a 105 cassette, think it was ultegra but totally compatible... FWIW its now on 11sp hub with an adapter, all works perfectly. Total cost was £35 and its even lighter than the old/better one :-)
There are probably combo's that don't work but in my brief experience there isn't much 9-10 stuff that can't be made to work.

[pbarlow0032]

Thanks for all wisdom imparted so far! Sorry if this is a daft question: could I just replace the 39 tooth cog on my chain set with a 34 tooth cog? CRC have a 34t 105 cog (FC5650) for £20, would this work as it would save me paying ~£120 for a new compact chain set and BB? Is a 9sp chain a different width to a 10sp chain and therefore it wouldn't work?

[Barchettaman]

No, that 34 chainring has a different BCD, it's 110, the smallest you can go on your current crankset is 38. Make sure if you go this route the 38 chainring is BCD 130.

What bottom bracket does your current crankset use? I'd wager it's Shimano Octalink, and if so you may be able to pick up a used compact crank (or even NOS) on the cheap as these are considered 'obsolete'.

CRC has the new Claris Octalink in compact size for £40.


But, as previously mentioned, 38 up front and 28 on the back should get you up most things.

RE chains - a 10 speed chain will work on your 9-speed set up.
A 9-speed chain WON'T work on a 10-speed drivetrain.

[uncinqsix]

Swapping the 39 for a 38 is a hell of a lot of effort and expense for a 1 tooth advantage. Just find a suitable compact.

[Barchettaman]

It depends on how much the 38 th chainring costs, and whether the chainring bolts are seized.
I recently replaced a worn out 42 inner ring with a 38. Cost - €7, ebay. Time : 10 mins.

[Dr Imran T]

pbarlow0032 said:

Thanks for all wisdom imparted so far! Sorry if this is a daft question: could I just replace the 39 tooth cog on my chain set with a 34 tooth cog? CRC have a 34t 105 cog (FC5650) for £20, would this work as it would save me paying ~£120 for a new compact chain set and BB? Is a 9sp chain a different width to a 10sp chain and therefore it wouldn't work?

you can get a compact for less than that. I got an SRAM chainset with BB for about £90. There are loads on ebay just have a look and you can pick up some super bargains.

There has been some excellent advice thus far on here.

Agree with others that a compact plus a cassette with a 12-28 will be fine for getting up the hills.

Coming to think of it I have a SRAM 12-28 9sp cassette and chain I will be getting rid of

drop me a PM if you are interested.

I have switched to 10sp using a combo of ultegra bits and SRAM bits. if you have the money get a KMC chain, they are the best imho.

Also have a look on sheldon brown and compare ratios.

HTH

[richardxjr]

Going from 23 to 28 will be quite a big help on hills

I'm on 8-speed and get up everything including 20%+ on 40x28. So try an 11-28 or 12-28 first with your 39T, with a new chain of course, for not very much cash at all.