hhk25

Looking at ordering a new 10 speed cassette for my hybrid. It currently has a Deore rear derailleur so I naturally thought I should order the 10 speed Deore cassette (M770). But then I noticed the road cassette (HG500) with exactly the same tooth count. It's a couple bucks cheaper. Just wondering - what's the difference? The Deore looks like it has more spacing around the cogs. Perhaps for mud shedding? Would either one fit on my HG freehub?

LesterOfPuppets

The M770 (which I think is Deore XT, whereas plain Deore is 5xx series) cassette has a carrier for the larger cogs so wont dig in to your freehub body as much as the road cassette's cogs will. Could be a slight weight difference also

soyabean

MTB stuff is usually made for torque and is beefier, and as said above, that tradeoff is weight.

LesterOfPuppets

I'd guess the XT to be lighter than the lowend road unit. I think that's a Claris level road cassette.

Hmm M770 searches I do come up as 9-speed...
771 appears to be 10-sp

hhk25

I think I screwed up on the model numbers. Thanks for the correction.

Kontact 

It isn't MTB vs road. It's nicer vs basic. That's all.

HillRider

If there is any difference it is that MTB cassettes tend to have a wider range and a larger biggest cog. Say 11x34 for an MTB cassette and 11x25 for a road cassette. Otherwise they are interchangeable as long as your rear derailleur has the ability to handle the largest cog.

Iride01 

11-25 for a road cassette! HillRider Certainly you are showing your age here!

veganbikes

In this case it comes down to quality. But the difference is some of the 11 speed mountain cassettes can fit on 10 speed free hub bodies whereas the 11 speed road will not. Of course range and such but you can find say an Ultegra road cassette in 11-34 and an XT in the same I cannot recall if all the cogs are the same but fitment would be different.

If you are good with chain replacement get the higher quality unit and replace chains a little more often and if you don't maintain your bikes and replace chains often get on that it will make your bike perform better and save you some money but if you aren't willing to do that than you can just go with the cheaper unit and replace both chain and cassette at the same time which is generally what I would recommend at the shop because of people's maintenance habits and people wanting the best out of their shifting but someone who is doing the work and can monitor it more closely you can get 1-3 chains on a cassette (and I am sure some people will say more but I wouldn't go above that).

HillRider

Yeah, well, I have plenty of age to show. Anyway, I recall when a 7 or 8-speed 12x23 cassette paired with a 52/42 crank was common OEMs on new road bikes. The recent fitting of 11x32 or 34 road cassettes was made practical by 11 or 12-speed cassettes as the gearing gaps remain acceptable while the demise of triple cranks has made them necessary for us mere mortals.

t2p

not famil with M771 - ? - but do know M780 is XT 10 speed ...

t2p

very few parts I won’t keep around - but a 12-23 cassette is one of them

one of the first things I would do if I got a 8 spd road bike with 12-23 would be to replace the cassette with a 12-28 XTR cassette (or similar) ... and the XTR 12-28 weighed less than the 12-23 ... on some bikes also replaced the 39t front ring with a 38t

that gearing got me up many of the toughest climbs in HillRider ( HillRider ) territory - including a number of the Dirty Dozen climbs, the big climb out of Brownsville during the Mon Valley Century, and the big climb out of Brush Creek Park during the Wheelman Century

the XTR 12-28 8 spd cassette actually works well on 7 spd bikes also - just remove the 13t cog ... (spacing is almost identical)

a few other guys in our group began to use compact MTB cranks (without small chainring) when they arrived early / mid 90’s

maddog34

my Mitzutani SuperLite came with a 13-19x6 and 53-48, stock. I was in hog heaven when i set my Trek up with a 12-23x6 and 52-39.....i tried a 7 sp. on the Trek a few years back.. it hit the chainstay... ...

HillRider

Ahh, the memories. I haven't ridden the Dirty Dozen but I rode a bunch of Mon Valley Centuries and about every iteration of the Wheelmen's Centuries. Albany Hill out of Brownville was indeed a tough one and I rode past many a rider who was walking when their 42x23 wasn't enough.

My first bike was an '85 Bridgestone 400 and came geared 52/42 with a Sun Tour 14-32 6-speed freewheel. The 32T cog was nice but that gearing had huge gaps. I substituted a 13-28 6-speed Shimano freewheel and added a 26T granny chainring to the SR crank that had a 72mm bolt circle Bridgestone didn't utilize in stock form.

maddog34

Actual Road v. MTB cassette differences i've noted..... the higher end MTB cassettes have a feature that helps clear built up debris off the cogs... Higher end Road cassettes are designed to run Quieter... these features are not present on the lower end cassettes, and both are very subtle.

Mikey58 

Agree with @veganbikes and this diagram attached to the side of an Ultegra 11-spd road cassette that I recently purchased might shed some light on the OP's question. It appears as though, if you tried to mount the road bike cassette onto the MTB freehub, it would be a no-go. I'm guessing that the threads of the cassette lockring would barely engage with the freehub body and also the relationship of the cassette with respect to the derailleur would be incorrect.

Ron Damon

Indeed. An 11-speed Road cogset is narrower than an MTB 11-speed cogset, thereby necessitating a spacer when installed on the wheel freehub carrier.