Older wheelsets with 10-speed freehub bodies typically get left behind when you upgrade to 11-speed, but the CS-HG700 solves that problem. Shimano machined the back of the cassette spider with an inset that lets it slide onto narrower 10-speed freehubs without modification. The cassette includes a 1.85mm spacer you install when running 11-speed road freehub bodies, which means one cassette covers both standards. If you've got a set of wheels in the garage that haven't seen use since your last drivetrain upgrade, this cassette puts them back into rotation.

The CS-HG700 sits outside Shimano's numbered groupset hierarchy, but the construction matches the 105 CS-R7000 in every functional respect. Nickel-plated steel cogs handle shifting loads and resist corrosion, while the three largest sprockets mount to an aluminum spider for stiffness and weight reduction. The Hyperglide tooth profiles and shift gates deliver the same crisp chain engagement you'd get from any current Shimano 11-speed road cassette. The only difference is the expanded compatibility and the single gear ratio option.

That ratio is 11-34T, which makes this the widest-range cassette in Shimano's road 11-speed lineup. The 34-tooth climbing cog opens up terrain that would otherwise require grinding or walking, particularly when paired with a compact 50/34 crankset. The gear steps run 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-27-30-34T, which spaces the jumps evenly across the range rather than clustering tight ratios at one end. You'll notice slightly larger gaps between gears compared to an 11-28T cassette, but the trade-off is access to that bail-out gear when the gradient kicks up.... Read More