Harris Custom Cyclotouriste 13 13-34 9-speed Cassette

Comments:

I had this on a Fuji Touring bike with a triple crank. What I really like about it is the wide range of gears including the 34, and that they are very consistent jumps of effort between gears. I live in Seattle where 10-15% grade hills are common, and use the 34 often. But when the road flattens out, you want a good choice of gears too, and this cassette has them. Other stock cassettes of 11-34 range wind up with too much space between gears in the middle and it's hard to find one "just right" sometimes.

Comments:

This cassette paired with a compact crank effectively gives you the gearing of a triple crank without the expense. Works perfectly with my shimano ultega short cage derailure.

Comments:

After beating Lymphoma and surviving 6 cycles of chemo, I converted one of my rides (Titanium Litespeed Vortex) into a performance "cafe" touring bike. I lost much of my fitness and muscle mass and basically had to re-train from scratch. The 12-27 cassette I had on there was perfect when I could hammer up the hills at a cadence of 80-85, but now, I struggle and even have to stop midway on some of the climbs around where I live. I thought about converting my 39-53 crankset to a "compact" 34-50 but it looked like too expensive a solution. My research led me to the Harris' Cyclery site and Sheldon's 13-34 "cyclotouriste" cogset was the answer. I test-rode it today and the gearing was perfect for the undulating, rolling terrain we have around here. The 34 did the trick on a couple of 8-9% grade hills on my regular route. I did not change the chain on my Dura Ace gear train and noticed rhythmic clicking when I was on the 3 lowest cogs. It seemed to get better after 25 miles. I think I will polish the teeth on my power wire brush and see if that solves the problem. Other than that, I think this cogset will prevent knee injury while I'm training to get back into shape.