Cassettes

Cassettes

According to Velomio, a cassette in the bicycle world refers to the cluster of sprockets that are mounted on the rear hub of the bicycle. As part of the drivetrain, the sprockets slide onto the ratchet system controlling your bike's drive when you pedal. This ratchet system is known as the freehub. The cassette bike can have different speeds ranging from 5 to 12. However, cassettes with speeds of 9, 10, and 11 are the most common. 

What do Cassettes do?

As part of your drivetrain, cassettes are essential for every rider. They have a significant influence on your cadence. This is the tempo of the revolutions per minute your legs spin when you pedal. For instance, when you switch your chain onto a larger sprocket with more teeth, pedaling becomes easier.

Switching your chain to a sprocket with a lesser number of teeth achieves the opposite of the above. However, this will result in higher speeds without the risk of spinning out. Therefore, a bike system giving a cassette 12-speed ranges gives you several options for optimal riding in different terrains. 

Choosing the Right Bike Cassette

At first glance, choosing the perfect cassette for your bike can seem quite daunting. Many different sprockets are suitable for diverse terrains, disciplines, and individual tastes. You should be well-informed on the cassette that suits your needs. For instance, there is a major difference between a cassette for mountain bikes and a cassette for triathlons. 

One of the most important points to factor in is the gear spread on the desired cassette. If the gear cassette spreading between the highest and the lowest sprocket is low, you will achieve smoother gear switches. Yet, this will result in a smaller size for the largest sprocket, making the gear ratio less suitable for tough terrains and climbing.

Road Bike versus Mountain Bike Cassettes

Due to the vastly diverse gradients that mountain bikes have to endure on and off the trail, their cassettes have a wider range of sprocket sizes. To accommodate this wide range, the comfort of smooth gear changing is forgone. On the other hand, even the largest sprocket on a road bike’s cassette is smaller than those on a mountain bike. While its largest sprocket can have between 21 and 32 teeth, the ones on a mountain bike can reach up to between 10 and 51 teeth for a 12-speed bike. In your search for genuine bike parts, we at Velomio have the perfect bike cassettes for you to compare.