Dura-Ace Cassette: 11 Speed R9100 vs 12 Speed R9200

On the latest Shimano road 12 speed drivetrain, the 11-30T cassette is still the most common cassette used. With a good gear range and also enough closely spaced gears, it is suitable for all-round road use if you pair it with a front double crankset.

From 11 speed to 12 speed, the 11-30T cassette has gained a sprocket, although the range is still the same. This means a tighter gear step in the middle of the cassette, which I will elaborate on later.

Let's check out some of the physical differences between the 11 speed and 12 speed 11-30T cassettes.

11 speed R9100 cassette on the left, vs the new 12 speed R9200 cassette on the right.

The 5 largest sprockets are made of titanium for weight savings, and is why the Dura-Ace cassette costs 3 times more than the Ultegra cassette.

New cassette on the right has an additional sprocket in the middle.

Rear view shows a lot more rivets on the 12 speed cassette on the right.

Both use aluminium spiders for the largest sprockets, but the construction looks quite different.

Weight of 11 speed R9100 11-30T cassette is 207 grams.

Weight of 12 speed R9200 11-30T cassette is increased to 223 grams, due to the additional sprocket.

11 speed vs 12 speed cassette lock rings, both are made of aluminium. These are not interchangeable.

I noticed the differences in Dura-Ace font, especially around the letters A and E.

12 speed lock ring on the right is longer, as the smallest 11T sprocket protrudes a bit more from the freehub body.

11 speed lock ring is 5 grams

12 speed lock ring is also 5 grams despite being a bit longer.

There are 2 main differences to the sprocket design, between 11 speed and 12 speed. First, the 12 speed sprockets have HG+ function, which enable smoother and quicker outward shifts. This is a real benefit that can be felt, and it only works when you use a compatible Shimano 12 speed chain and rear derailleur.

Second difference is the internal spline pattern, where the sprockets engage the freehub body. The new 12 speed spline design can match both new 12 speed and older HG splines. In other words, the new 12 speed cassettes are compatible to older wheels with HG spline freehubs as well.

11T sprocket of old vs new (right side) cassettes.

New 11T sprocket has small splines that interlock with the 12T sprocket, this makes it look rather delicate.

Here are the 12T sprockets. On the left is the 11 speed version, while the 12 speed version looks complicated with many small splines.

The new 13T sprocket on the right is embossed in the middle, which will be paired to the 1 mm spacer later.

All the new 12 speed sprockets have a new internal spline pattern, as shown on this 14T sprocket. This is what makes it compatible to the new and also old freehubs.

Showing the overlap between the old and new spline patterns.

Here is the additional 16T sprocket in the 12 speed cassette that is not found in the 11 speed cassette.

This additional 16T sprocket weighs 16 grams, and is exactly the weight difference between the 11 and 12 speed cassettes.

This 16T sprocket is added to the middle of the gear range, to give a smaller gear step between the 15T and 17T sprockets. Check out the difference below.

11 Speed CS-R9100 11-30T

11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30

12 Speed CS-R9200 11-30T

11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27-30

Adding a 16T sprocket in between the 15T and 17T sprocket may not seem like much. For those who are not so sensitive to cadence, they can adapt to bigger gear steps without issue. However, for those who work best in a narrow cadence range, this additional 16T sprocket ensures that the perfect gear is always available, without being stuck between a gear that is slightly too high or too low.

When I was using the 11 speed cassette, I often find myself in between gears 6 and 7, which is the 17T and 15T sprocket. Using the 17T sprocket is too light, while the 15T sprocket is a bit too heavy. The gear difference between these two gears is 13%, which is not really big but annoys me sometimes.

After switching to the 12 speed cassette, I find myself using the 16T sprocket quite often. It is the sweet spot for me for comfortable cruising, and I can step it up or down slightly without a big jump in cadence or effort. It is a small improvement but something I can appreciate.

Layout of the 17T to 30T sprockets, with the 11 speed cassette on the left.

On the 11 speed cassette, the largest 2 titanium gears are riveted to a thin aluminium spider. The next 3 titanium gears are riveted to a carbon spider. Then, the steel 17T sprocket is a loose sprocket.

On the 12 speed cassette, the 4 largest titanium gears are riveted to a large aluminium spider. The titanium 19T sprocket and steel 17T sprocket are riveted to a smaller spider.

Unusual to see a titanium sprocket riveted to a steel sprocket.

6 large rivets join the 19T and 17T sprockets to an aluminium spider.

Stack of 17-30T sprockets on the 11 speed cassette is 142 grams.

Stack of 17-30T sprockets on the 12 speed cassette is 149 grams.

The new construction adds 7 grams to the larger sprocket set, and this does not even include the additional 16 grams from the additional 16T sprocket. This means that there are some weight savings from the smaller sprockets on the 12 speed cassette.

Finally, let's compare the spacer thickness. The thickness is critical to maintain the correct distance between the sprockets to ensure good shifting performance and no noise.

The spacers are helpfully labelled to avoid any mix up.

There are 2 different spacer thickness on the 12 speed cassette, which confuses things a bit.

11 speed spacer is about 2.2 mm thick.

12 speed spacer is about 1.95 mm thick, about 0.25 mm thinner than the 11 speed version.

The thinner 12 speed spacer is just 1 mm thick. This is matched with the 13T sprocket to achieve the correct sprocket spacing.

There are many differences between the 11 speed and 12 speed cassettes, from the sprocket spacing, to the spider construction, and the spline pattern. This is good info if you ever need to identify any loose sprockets or check cross compatibility.