Why don't we get cassettes that are optimized for riding on flat dirt paths?

[genealogyxie]

It seems that for all the MTB rear cassettes that I see online, the number of sprockets on the top gears seem to jump by two every time, as opposed to road cassettes that jump by just one for maybe half of the gears.

Why can't someone make an MTB cassette that has finer gear control for things like straight, level dirt roads, and for the occasional asphalt ride when training or just commuting?

[carbonazza]

Maybe be because at some point you'll end with a very big jump.
With only 12 speed, some compromise are needed.

You could try to run a road derailleur instead.
However rear derailleur cable gets out differently on a road frame( end of the chainstay/seatstay ) than a MTB ( 3/4 of the chainstay )
An electronic transmission would be easier than trying the kind of adapters that exists for hybrid cabling.

[mirphak]

It seems that for all the MTB rear cassettes that I see online, the number of sprockets on the top gears seem to jump by two every time, as opposed to road cassettes that jump by just one for maybe half of the gears.

Why can't someone make an MTB cassette that has finer gear control for things like straight, level dirt roads, and for the occasional asphalt ride when training or just commuting?

SRAM kind of does that to a point, and then you get that jump from 42 to 52 that everyone complains about.

[genealogyxie]

SRAM kind of does that to a point, and then you get that jump from 42 to 52 that everyone complains about.

Maybe if SRAM/Shimano made a 13 or 14 speed cassette like Sensah ARX, then we could have better gears. Personally, I think I would rather have bigger jumps on the climbing gears, as I don't need to fine-tune the gear ratio for something that would only last 15 seconds anyway

[Unsworn5836]

Well, shimano 10-45 is with smaller gaps, as well as sram 10-44 rival xplr.
If it’s not enough, you have to go 2x in the front.