Originally Posted by
FBinNY
IME it's pretty hare to break a cassette sprocket in normal use. They wear out. If teeth are breaking something is wrong. I suspect you're shifting under heavy power, especially since you describe yourself as a masher. Whatever cassette and chain you choose, go easy on the pedal pressure through shifts and you should be fine.
I should add that small sprockets never feel as smooth as larger ones, especially under load. Read up on
chordal action, and you'll see that it gets more pronounced with fewer teeth.
Wow I "feel" that graph exactly. Very interesting information.
I'm not shifting under heavy power, I've made that mistake in the past and its how I destroyed a cassette on my old mountain bike. However, the "resolution" to this has been to make less shifts when sprinting, and I sprint alot trying to keep up with city traffic (and generally I do keep up). So generally I start on a smallish cog (good to 18mph or so) to avoid the shift under power... this is how I bent my old bikes axle and ran through 4 sets of cheapy metal platform pedals, but other than switching under power/breaking teeth I can only guess its get better components or slow down... and I can't slow down
