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12 spd with 11 speed cogs?

dr1445

New Rider
Hub Hero
Hello; 78 yr old rider, not much power left in the engine room, but still riding 16km 4 times a week. my bike could be called a city bike and currently running a 11spd [11-40] cassette, i also have a 11-36.. i would like to stick with 11-40 but not available with 12 speeds. if i buy a 12 spd cassette can use the 12spd spacers with 11speed cogs. my goal is closer ratios between gears. thanks
 
Solution
Hi,

I'll start with a disclaimer:
I've never tried that kind of mix-matching in practice, so take my answer with a grain of salt.

Answer:
If cassettes have largest sprockets placed on a single spider carrying them, then it would be practically impossible to disassemble them and swap any spacers.

If the sprockets are all "full size" (each sprocket reaching all the way to the freehub, directly), then you could just swap the largest sprocket (if the sprocket thickness is close enough, you could also swap more than one sprocket from an 11-speed cassette, while using the spacers of the 12-speed cassette).

A picture might help explain what I mean:

Cassette sprockets, carrying spider, and spacers displayed


Depending on how the cassettes you source are "stacked," you could...
Hi,

I'll start with a disclaimer:
I've never tried that kind of mix-matching in practice, so take my answer with a grain of salt.

Answer:
If cassettes have largest sprockets placed on a single spider carrying them, then it would be practically impossible to disassemble them and swap any spacers.

If the sprockets are all "full size" (each sprocket reaching all the way to the freehub, directly), then you could just swap the largest sprocket (if the sprocket thickness is close enough, you could also swap more than one sprocket from an 11-speed cassette, while using the spacers of the 12-speed cassette).

A picture might help explain what I mean:

Cassette sprockets, carrying spider, and spacers displayed


Depending on how the cassettes you source are "stacked," you could use the largest 3 sprockets from the 11-speed cassette (if the largest 3 are mounted on one spider, as shown in the picture above), and use the 12-speed cassette spacers and other sprockets. That might also just work. Perhaps not ideally, but it might (in that case, the largest 3 sprockets would be a bit more widely spaced).

Things to consider:
Noting this just to be on the safe side. Make sure your shifter and derailleur model can work with a 12-speed system.
If you use the largest 3 11-speed sprockets on a spider, you might have problems mounting the whole cassette on the freehub if it ends up being a tad too wide (I expect the difference to be negligible, if using 3 or fewer 11-speed sprockets, but I haven't done it so can't be 100% certain).

Note:
There is little to be gained in terms of gear "tightness" when going from 11-speeds to 12. Even the difference when swapping from 7 to 8, or even 9 is not really that noticeable, unless you need some particular gear ratio. But 11 to 12 gives very diminishing returns. It could be an interesting project though. :)

Hope I've explained this well-enough and that it helps. :)

P.S.
My cassette compatibility chart lacks the Shimano 12-speed cassette info - still haven't "played" with them. :(

Relja Improviser Novović
 
Solution
It is possible that the true meaning of the question escapes me because of the language barrier.

Perhaps I'm overcomplicating the situation, but I would solve it a little differently…
If you do not use a bicycle computer, try to take it for temporary use. Save the files of your typical trips for at least a month. Then analyze the speed of your trips. For example, I use Golden Cheetah for this purpose - you can output a graph of the speed distribution over time. This graph shows very clearly how fast you drive most often.
Then, using a calculator, such as this one, you can calculate the parameters of your transmission based on your speeds.

In this way, I set up the transmission on my bike and my wife's bike - an excellent result.
 
thanks for the replies. here in Dipolog City PH we are on the coast, so it is mostly flat round town but there is a climb as you head inland. since i have 2 bikes i think i will pull the 11-40 off one and put the 11-36 on. i might even try a 11-32 or 34, depending on the how the 11-36 works out.blvd.webp
 

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