Hi I’m waiting on an Elite Suito in the mail and I’m trying to get prepared. My road bike has a 9-speed cassette on the back, I think it’s an 11-30, so I’ll need to replace the 11-speed cassette that is coming on the Suito. I have been shopping online and it’s tough to find a 9-speed Shimano Ultegra or 105 anywhere.
Can I just as well go with ANY style of 9-speed cassette, mountain OR road? There are for example some 9-speed Shimano Alivios and Altus available in 11-28, 11-32 and 11-34, as well as SRAM PG-950 in 11-28. It’s not clear to me whether the SRAM is mountain or road but I think I can put either on. There are some SRAM PG970 (Road) but they are 30-40$ more and they are 11-23s.
So a few questions: Can I do the mtb cassettes? Can I get away with spending $50 as opposed to $90? Also will I notice a big difference between 11-23 as opposed to 11-34?
It more depends on the “range” your current derailleur can handle. The larger the range of gears you have, the larger the cage you’ll need. Range is the difference between your biggest and smallest cog. Going up to a 34 in the rear might require a long cage derailleur.
You’ll also need to think about spacing when you mount a 9 speed cassette on an 11 speed hub.
I’m in the same spot at Dana. Bought an Elite Suito. It came with an 11 gear cassette. The bike I want to put on the trainer has a 9 gear cassette. Can I just replace the 11 gear cassette with the 9 gear cassette… and if so what parts might I need? I’m guessing I’ll need some sort of spacer(s).
Most of the time the cassette comes with a spacer. As most hubs are 11/12 speed these days it’s unlikely you’ll be fitting a 9 speed cassette to a 9 speed freehub so they bundle spacers in with the package.
You can pretty much use any name cassette as long as it’s not Campag.
I use cheap Chinese ones from Aliexpress or Ebay.
Most of the time the cassette comes with a spacer. As most hubs are 11/12 speed these days it’s unlikely you’ll be fitting a 9 speed cassette to a 9 speed freehub so they bundle spacers in with the package.
I am almost sure that my Wahoo Kickr came with a spacer, which you’d use for 8-10s cassettes and 11s MTB spacing cassettes (including the Shimano HG800 and HG700 cassettes). Thus, it’s possible the OP would get the right spacer.
I only run 11s, so I’m not sure if Shimano or third party 9s cassettes will come with the spacers. I would guess that Shimano would likely supply the spacers with new 9s cassettes.
One option is to ask a local bike shop for help, because it’s possible they’ll have a bunch of these spacers left over.