In the process of upgrading my gravel bike which I also use on the road.

I’ve got a second, lighter set of wheels on the way which means I can just swap wheels depending on the need for on or off road.

The group is currently 8 speed Claris based (inc a cheap FSA chainset) with Spyre discs. Wheels are 135mm rear hub which means 10 speed as the limit for an upgrade. Having had a scout around buying new it seems I am better off buying a full group and selling the brake calipers (Tiagra) and buying a second cassette (for the other wheels – or is it better for wear to swap cassette over with the wheels?) as this is cheaper than piecing it together. Is Tiagra the best bang for buck, or am I just as well looking out for a higher spec NOS group or secondhand?

Any other suggestions?

SRAM force 10 speed, I’ve got it on my X10 speed cross bike and it’s great

I bought some hardly used ultegra 10 speed bits and bobs very cheaply…Apparently everyone is buying11 speed…
In my mind ,I’m now 5% faster. 🙂

11 speed 105, cheap, reliable and not that bad looking imo

If 11 speed 105 is in budget then it’s a no-brainer.

Way better than 10 speed sram or shimano.

11 speed means new wheels as different sized driver do I am led to believe, otherwise I’d have snapped up the 105 group in the classifieds.

just go 11 speed and only fit 10 cogs……

Shimano are due to release a gravel specific Di2 groupset in January. Pretty sure it’ll trickle down to Ultegra fairly quickly.

Davidtatlforth joking right?

an 11 speed cassette with one cog removed should work fine just don’t mess with the spacing between the cogs.
Or build a 1×11 with a mtb casstette as the 11 speed mtb cassettes fit 8,9,10 speed hubs as the larger top cog clear the spokes

But for bargains 10 speed ultegara

Used stuff is a gamble my most used road bike has an older dura ace 10 speed group I got off ebay. So far ive put about 2500 miles on it and it’s fine. I did for a new chain and casette though. Think it was about £200 from ebay

You can dremel the stops on a ten speed hub to make it fit 11 speed – I’ve done it twice.

105 is ace and good value 10 speed tiagra is perfectly serviceable

I’m running a 11 speed cassette with one removed, seems to work OK.

Having said that, interesting to know I can fit a 11 speed mountain bike cassette on my 10 speed wheels as I’ll need to replace it soon.

Just be careful with road mechs and mtb cassettes. Somtimes you won’t know if it works till you try it
Seems less of on issue with 1x set ups.

My cross bike has a ultegra mech with a 11-40 xt cassette and works fine

From memory its 1.8 mm you need to remove from a free hub but do check

i looked at a 10speed Tiagra bike the other day that local shop had on offer as a 2016 model – not surprisingly for shimano newish (last year? 4700 series) Tiagra looks identical to 5 year old 10speed 105 on mrs antigee’s old bike except according to one review (which I can’t find now) the internal cable routing is actually better – looked great value to me, it came with spyre disks so can’t say what the standard brakes are like

10 from 11 works and is a good stop gap before new wheels. Which you may not need. 10 speed free hubs can be machined to take 11.

Wife has new 105 on one bike and Tiagra on another. Obviously one is 11 speed & the other 10 but there is little functional difference between the two, 105 is just a little slicker shifting and lighter. I would just get a Tiagra groupset for the price they a available from the likes of Merlin it’s a bargain.

And you may find you’ve got an 11 speed hub with a spacer for 10 at the moment.

but this is unlikely if you’ve changed cassettes a few times and you know you definitely haven’t.

Definitely a 10 speed hub. It’s a 135mm rear (mtb) so I’m limited to that. Don’t want to get into trying to machine hubs etc so I’ll keep my eyes on the second hand market for nearly new bits and use a new 10 speed group as a fall back.

If just gravel would’ve considered a single ring up front, but as dual duty bike I really need the range of a double.

Sorry, confused. Why does 135mm limit you to 10 speed?

Shimano road disc and mountain 11-speed hubs fit 135mm frames, as as does SRAM 11-speed disc road. SRAM 11-speed 1x mountain does as well (doesn’t it?) but you need an XD driver hub.

Or do you mean you have 10-speed hubs on your wheelsets?

I’d have said 11spd Shimano 105 too.
Works well, reliable and reasonably durable.
Also won’t cost the earth to replace bits as they wear out, or in the event of getting damaged in a crash.

10 of 11 how to

Or do you mean you have 10-speed hubs on your wheelsets?

Yes, sorry, wasn’t clear about that. 10 speed mtb hubs. 11 speed road hubs have different sized freewheel.

Thanks for the link tomthumb, that’s created some food for thought! If it’s as simple as removing a cog from the cassette then it seems a good futureproofing solution.