I need an 8 speed road cassette

[megaphone]

I'm rebuilding an old Bianchi road bike c1997. Front chain set is a 52T & 39T double. Looking at SRAM but do I go for a 12-23T or a 12-26T?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sram-pg850-8-sp...

Bargain at £12.99!

This is my first road bike for 35 years, have been an MTBer for 25 years.

[CaptainSlow]

There's a reason they are a "bargain". I'd want a 28 especially with a standard chainset.

[Justin S]

Cheaper at Ribbles !! Although not a 12.
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/mtb-bmx-bike/cass...

[Disco You]

Find out how many teeth your rear dérailleur can cope with, and then get the maximum. Your gearing at the front is pretty high by modern standards (most people use a compact which is 50/34). As someone who is coming back to cycling, you'll want as low a gear as possible, trust me!

[megaphone]

Disco You said:

Find out how many teeth your rear dérailleur can cope with, and then get the maximum. Your gearing at the front is pretty high by modern standards (most people use a compact which is 50/34). As someone who is coming back to cycling, you'll want as low a gear as possible, trust me!

Okay that makes sense, I'll have to do a bit of research, it's a Campagnolo Athena dérailleur, not sure what that will accommodate.

ETA. Looking at the specs I can find from around the time, it looks like 26T is the biggest that was fitted, the dérailleur looks like it has a short cage.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 1st January 14:31

[Disco You]

megaphone said:

Okay that makes sense, I'll have to do a bit of research, it's a Campagnolo Athena dérailleur, not sure what that will accommodate.

ETA. Looking at the specs I can find from around the time, it looks like 26T is the biggest that was fitted, the dérailleur looks like it has a short cage.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 1st January 14:31

A 39-26 is about the same as 34-23. So it's pretty short, but manageable.

Also, campag and shimano(/SRAM) aren't 100% interchangeable. I'm not 100% as to what is and isn't, but an 8 speed campag rear hub won't take a shimano cassette I don't imagine. That is assuming that you have a campag cassette on at the moment (I would imagine that you do). I don't think a shimano cassette would work with a campy dérailleur anyway...

Edited by Disco You on Wednesday 1st January 14:40

[CaptainSlow]

You may want to check to see if your hub is Shimano/SRAM compatible.

[gazza285]

Disco You said:

I don't think a shimano cassette would work with a campy dérailleur anyway...

I've got 105 hubs on my Vitus, which has a Campag 8 speed groupset, the gears index just fine on the Shimano cassette. Irrelevant if it's a Campag splined hub though.

[megaphone]

CaptainSlow said:

You may want to check to see if your hub is Shimano/SRAM compatible.

No problems there, the wheels and hub are not original, came off a 2006 bike, SRAM compatible.

[Fastpedeller]

CaptainSlow said:

There's a reason they are a "bargain". I'd want a 28 especially with a standard chainset.

Why? The OP has a 39T inner ring: Even with the 23 tooth sprocket the lowest gear is 46 inches - I don't think I'm very strong, but on the road I could get up most hills in UK with that low a gear!

[Disco You]

Fastpedeller said:

Why? The OP has a 39T inner ring: Even with the 23 tooth sprocket the lowest gear is 46 inches - I don't think I'm very strong, but on the road I could get up most hills in UK with that low a gear!

Without wanting to start a compact vs double debate, there is getting up, then there is getting up most efficiently. You don't really want to be grinding up big climbs because it is normally less efficient and does your knees no favours.

[Barchettaman]

woah, what's going on here? campy drivetrain with a rear sram/shimano freehub? it should work but be careful setting it all up, you might need to align to the 4th sprocket of the cassette.

[Justin S]

Mates old Cougar bike is Veloce 8 sp with Mavic hubs and screw on sachs freewheel. All works fine.

[gazza285]

Barchettaman said:

woah, what's going on here? campy drivetrain with a rear sram/shimano freehub? it should work but be careful setting it all up, you might need to align to the 4th sprocket of the cassette.

Worked straight out of the box on mine, but I was building from a bare frame so I could fit the bottom bracket I needed without any fuss.

[CaptainSlow]

Fastpedeller said:

CaptainSlow said:

There's a reason they are a "bargain". I'd want a 28 especially with a standard chainset.

Why? The OP has a 39T inner ring: Even with the 23 tooth sprocket the lowest gear is 46 inches - I don't think I'm very strong, but on the road I could get up most hills in UK with that low a gear!

I could get up most hills, but when I'm out for a ride I want to get up all the hills.