Originally Posted by
BlazingPedals
Not quite true. Cogs smaller than 13 teeth suffer progressively more efficiency loss and higher wear. Also, you're talking about getting a one-of-a-kind hub and cassette. So they're harder to drive, more expensive to replace, and you replace them more often. Again, that only matters if you expect to go fast enough that you need gears over 80" or so. Slower than that and you don't need to normalize the gearing.
I recall in the late 1970's that 13t smallest cogs were crazy because of wear and efficiency. Nowadays it's hard to find a cassette with a smallest cog higher than 11t. Personally, I don't like the trend toward smaller cogs because I rarely use them. They are noisy and do seem harder to drive like you say. On my Ice Sprint I have a 9-32 9speed Capreo cassette with a 48t large ring so my top gear is close to 100 inches, which is way more than I can push on the flats. A 11t smallest cog would give me a more reasonable 80 inch top and would allow for a closer ratio 9 speed.
I posted so that the OP would be aware of the Capreo, but (and I hadn't thought about this before your comment) it would be nuts to acquire one for 20" wheels. Maybe 16" wheels, though.
Originally Posted by
Trsnrtr
And, isn’t the Capreo limited to 9 speed?
I believe there is a 10 speed version now.