Most direct-drive smart trainers on the market are designed for road bikes with anywhere from 8 to 11 speed gear cassette on the wheel. With 12 speed drivetrains occupying the top tier of the bike industry, I thought I’d add this post on how to select cassettes. Here is our guide to Direct Drive Tr…

Hi Shuji. I use my 12 speed mountainbike on a Taxc flux s smarttrainer. This is connected to a 12 speed 11-50" cassette where the first 8 rings match the range 11-28 teeth. Within those 8 first rings the trainer performe quite ok(I still reach quite a unrealistic high speed compared to real life). T…

Hi @Tommy_Roenningen Some of that is expected relative to a road bike. Just as when you ride your mountain bike outside on flat pavement - your lowest gears will be too low to be practical, and when you’re going fast on the flats you’ll spin out your highest gear of 32x11. First - I’d recommend ca…

I came across aftermarket 12 speed cassette which is compatible with existing Shimano 11 speed spline. Maybe that might help preserve the existing Shimano 11 speed freehub for trainers using 12 speed drivetrains. [Screenshot_20200410-052316_AliExpress]

Interesting. I’ve never heard of this brand or product. Can’t speak to how well it may or may not shift with 12 speed SRAM or Campagnolo road drivetrains. Cramming 12 cogs on the freehub body may leave very little clearance between the derailleur cage and the spokes of your wheel (if you’re mountin…

I am 2 months into using their 11speed (11-28T) SLR cassette 205gm vs Ultegra 235gm. The cog engagement is near Ultegra but not as fast though it eventually worked. I am looking at a Sensah Empire Pro 12 speed groupset that looked promising. Until I do, can’t say anything more about 12 speed traine…

Brand new to Zwift and have a question about cassettes and this thread seems on point. Tomorrow I am getting a new KICKR with attached 11-speed cassette. I had thought about dedicating an old road bike I have that I don’t ride anymore but it has a 7-speed rear cassette with 3-speed front cassette.…

@Robert_Patton The short answer is it depends on how old this 3x7 drivetrain is. If it was made in the past 10 years, it’ll probably work fine. If it’s 1980’s vintage, then probably no.

It’s from 2003. At worst, it just won’t change gears correctly, right? Can I hurt anything by giving it a try? I won’t damage the trainer/cassette I hope! I might just carefully try to set it up and see what happens. Not sure how easily it would be to get someone at Wahoo to talk to about this. …

If 2003, you should be ok. Stack both a 1.8mm and a 1.0mm spacer behind the 7 speed cassette to take up the extra width on the freehub body.

12 speed cassettes on direct drive trainers

General Discussion

Tommy_Roenningen (Tommy) April 12, 2020, 11:46am 16

Thanks for the reply Shuji.

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12 speed cassettes on direct drive trainers

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