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Moving to 10-speed so buying a cassette. Is there any reason I wouldn't go for an 11-28 as it seems like it'd cover a wider spread. Is it just that with a wider spread the jump between gears is bigger or am I missing something important?
Cassette choice becomes either the range required or very specific gear gaps for a known event.
Basically an 11-28 is general purpose, heavy and may have 2-3T gaps in the middle where you would prefer 1-2T, so look carefully at the sprockets offered and work out what you actually need.
Over time I have moved from building my own (before spiders) to 11-34, then 11-32 and now 12-32 or 12-23 for different bikes/planned use.
PaulD
This is general use. There's a decent number of long (false) flat runs around here so I don't want to loose too much speed but also I really don't want to make the climbs too much harder as there's only so much I've got in my legs for some of the 13% hills around here.
For crits, 11-23 is perfect. For general use 11-25 is the normal choice. If you're not a big fan of hills, or are planning on doing big Alps rides and really steep hills, 11-28 is a decent choice too. Depends on what you've got in your legs though, and what you've got up front.
RealMan's advice is pretty sound.
I think I'd get annoyed with the gaps in an 11-28 (find a 12-27 alright). If you've got a compact the 11 can be nice for fast pedally descents, but not the be all and end all.