BikeBiz

Why?

Shimano have long been rumoured to have had prototype 12 & 14s road systems running ... and the geater precision of shift and the way that the delivery of force to the chain by the front gear and the accuracy of shift incriment of the rear gear can be regulated in an electronic or electro-mechanical system makes the adoption of more sprockets at the rear a more viable proposition. As to why - well, if you can increase the number of sprockets and in doing so eliminate "gaps" in the range as well as make it more likely that a single casette will be a "do everything" option, that means less SKUs for manufacturers and assemblers, and ultimately, better economies of scale, so increased nett profits for manufacturers or (more likely in this age of anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-cheaper) lower end-user pricing. That's part of the reason why as 8 and 9s cassettes came in, the shift towards "fixed" casette combinations began (if you'll forgive the pun) and the use of loose, mix and match cassette sprockets died away almost overnight - Campag's system of lettered sprockets was pretty much the last hurrah of systems with loose cogs. Certainly for the road, there was little need of custom combinations. What appears to be happening now though, is that as gear systems get more sophisticated, race organisers are starting to put elements into races that they would not have done so previously - so compact gear systems and short cage rear gears able to handle up to 32T (in the case of SRAM) allow climbs like the Zoncolan - unthinkable in the days of 6 speed and a lowest bottom gear of 39 x 26. Because what becomes desirable in the consumer road bike market is so closely tied to what the pros need (that's marketing for you), so all this kit trickles down, regardless of whether the consumer market needs it or not - unless it's to keep "innovation" going, as an engine of economic growth. Just don't start me on the Consumer Society ...

more like change for change sake and marketing nonsense, no one is asking for this. Its a new product to sell and an excuse to be better? DH guys are running 4 speed now, its not necessary for this "elimination of gaps", we need gear ratio jumps as the terrain changes more rapidly than gradual changes in elevation.

Every discipline has it's special needs, BUT you have to think like a manufacturer ... consider: 1.You are right - it brings new product to market, regardless of whether it's needed or not - that is kind of the subtext of what I was saying when I typed "regardless of whether the consumer market needs it or not - unless it's to keep "innovation" going, as an engine of economic growth. Just don't start me on the Consumer Society ..." 2.DH may well only need 4 sprockets in some cases - see my opening comment - but look at it this way - in the microscopically small world of pro-level road racing, there has been a demand for the elimination of gaps in gear ratios available on the wheel as it makes it easier for riders, mechanics, neutral service - everyone. A lot of recent converts to road riding / new cyclists are buying into using the same kit as the pros - convinced that they "need" it. Ergo, they may want to buy a single cassette that does everything they want to do, from tooling along on the flat to climbing 20% gradients in sportifs, and they want to be in the right gear, preferably using the same kit as the riders that they follow - so from those guys, who make up a bigger sector of the market, there is a demand. 3. If you are Shimano, or SRAM or Campag or A.N.Other and you have the choice of whether to design, cause to be made the parts of, assemble, code, package, ship & track say 2 SKUs and all of their constituent parts or 5, which are you going to do? 4. If you are a wholesaler and you want to analyse your sales or again, simply track SKUs, for you, less is definitely more. So - we may not like it, we may see it as consumerism for it's own sake but that doesn't necessarily mean that there is no logic to it. For sure exceptions can be made in certain niches - to carry your example of DH to it's logical conclusion, there are riders out there who only want / need a single cog, and in some cases, they don't even want / need a freewheel - but the vast majority are interested in having as flexible system as possible as far as their kit is concerned, and certainly on the road, and I suspect in XC, too, that will mean that there will be a market for these products even if a true "need" is absent.

I think youre way off the mark, and the industry has run out of ideas. Just adding anothere sprocket every few years in nonsense and pure marketing bull. with the removal of older kit it is forcing the public along with it, and it shows how the industry is losing touch with its own market, what people want is six or seven speed, made to XT standards and far more reliable. If what you are saying is correct, why didnt they just jump from six speed to 12 speed, why every year an extra gear. Its pure nonsense. And pro's arent even asking for this crap either.

I've recently gone from 8 speed to 10 speed. I now only use one ring on my XC bike compared to 3 rings before . I used to run a road cassette as I liked the closeness of the ratios (hence needing 3 rings ) . Now that the 10speed cassette has pretty much covered the ratios I needed I've ditched the granny and big ring and using just a 36th front . As for the industry running out of Ideas that must have happened in the early 90's then as that's when disc brakes , suspension , carbon and all the other "new" ideas came about. This is more about evolution of Ideas.

forgive me for playing devils advocate here nathan, but having made the jump from 8 to 10 speed, can I ask are you now feeling that, what you should have done is wait for a new 11, 12 or 14 speed rear cassette. or are you happy you have ten, it seems odd that you are settling for an inferior product having just switched. Are the ten gears you have inefficient or are they not shifting well, or is there a gap in the ratio's and your thinking damn I want another closer ratio in there.

After talking to KCNC a few weeks ago it would seem it would be at least a year before it is in production . Personally I find the ratios I now have are acceptable . There are riders that do want more closer ratios. Price is the biggest deciding factor into what gear system a person will run. Also I don't feel put out that there will be 11 or 12 speed in the future . I'll just run with my 10sp as it suits me . I may not want it myself but I can see the advantages it could hold . You could have a road bike that uses only one front ring instead of two using a 11 - 36th or even 38th spread . This linked with a 46th front ring would give you a good range for a course with lots of long shallow hills or shorter faster climbs (like tour of Flanders ). Or as mentioned you don't have to make so many different cassettes you can just have 3 or 4 models for different price categories . Far from playing devils advocate you sound more like you are just being cynical for the sake of it . may I ask you why not make a wider spread cassette with closer ratios ?

"we need gear ratio jumps as the terrain changes more rapidly than gradual changes in elevation." Not so true , Why do you think Rohloff make a 14 speed hub ( equivalent to the ratios on a 3 X 8 MTB) ? some times you need that in-between gear other wise your spinning to slow or next to fast .

the more you add to the rear cassette, you need to either reduce the flange widths on the rear hub, or make narrower chains and thinner teeth on the cassette, or both narrower flanges on the hub reduces lateral strength on the wheel, narrower chains and closer spaced, narrower teeth become more prone to damage and wear and require far tighter control on set up, or put it another way dont work for long in the real world of muddy knock about mountain biking. With 8 speed for example a knock to the mech wont necessarily put the indexing completely out, on 10 speed or heavens forbeid 11, 12 or 14 speed, you have tighter tolerances on gear set up, and less allowance for dirt ingress and less ability to work in poor conditions, you end up with a more fragile set up that has no real worth in the UK especially, maybe where the user dosent get muddy, or wet, and dosent come close to damaging the mech etc then it might work, but why bother. in a typical bike ride in the dales, on road or mountain bike, there are very few times where incremental shifts to maintain cadence are required, its more mashing two or three gears as the terrain changes rapidly. there are very few rides or riders where incremental shifts to maintain cadence are required. Even in the delicate world of road racing its not necessary, possibly in time trial, but then TT's dont need that many gears anyway, certainly not 12 or 14 on a single. possibly six or 8. I dont buy in to a lot of the crap that this industry is producing and I buy products selectively and have to constantly battle with reps to stop them trying to sell me the latest tat that will sit on the shelf, or will be sold online at half the price I can buy it for. I think its an industry that is listening to the wrong people and not delivering products that are of real worth, or dare I say it producing products designed to fail, and certainly not designed to last. Soryy but having been in the industry over twenty years, the main thing I have seen is the deterioration of product longevity.