Five single-tooth steps, and nothing below 28
SHIMANO CS-HG500-10, 10-speed, 12–28T, 300 g (10.6 oz)
A close-ratio 10-speed cassette, 12-28T at 300 g (10.6 oz), with five single-tooth steps for fine cadence control.
What you are getting
A Shimano CS-HG500-10 cassette: 10-speed, 12-28T, 300 g (10.6 oz), with cogs of 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28 and a light weight spider construction. DYNA-SYS compatible. $33.78.
Five single-tooth steps, which is the point of it
12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28. Four consecutive one-tooth jumps at the top, then one more, then twos and threes.
That is a close-ratio cassette, and the introduction to this shelf explains why it matters: “close ratio gearing allows a more efficient use of energy through finer cadence control”, in Shimano’s own words elsewhere on this page. On the flat, at speed, a one-tooth step keeps the legs at the same rhythm; a three-tooth step does not.
The XT M771 on this page is also 10-speed and goes 11-12-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32 — one single-tooth step, and a 32 at the bottom. These two cassettes have the same number of gears and almost nothing else in common.
And it stops at 28, which is the cost
A 2.33× spread, the narrowest on this page. No 32, no 34. On a steep hill with a road chainset, 28 teeth is the gear you wish were bigger.
So this is a cassette for rolling roads and trekking rather than for mountains — which is exactly what the description says it is: Deore M6000, 10-speed, 12-28.
A spider, and 300 g (10.6 oz)
“Light weight spider construction.”
The same technique as the XT M771: sprockets riveted to a carrier rather than individually splined. The XT manages 285 g (10.1 oz) with ten cogs across 11-32; this is 300 g (10.6 oz) with ten cogs across 12-28. The XT has the better construction and the alloy lock ring; this has the cheaper one and costs $25.22 less.
Three cassettes on this page weigh exactly 300 g (10.6 oz) — this, the CS-HG50 and the CS-HG51 — which is either a coincidence or a rounded figure used across the range.
DYNA-SYS, named once
“DYNA-SYS compatible system for smooth/stable shifting and driving.”
Shimano’s 10-speed mountain standard. Naming it tells you the chain and derailleur family, and the XT cassette on this page names the same one. What neither of the cheaper 8-speed cassettes names is any standard at all beyond “narrow 8-speed HG chains”.
The freehub body is not stated, which on a 10-speed cassette means the Shimano 9/10 and SRAM 8-10 body — the XT listing is the one that says so.
“High-efficiency drivetrain supports aggressive trail riding”
Fourth bullet, and it contradicts the gearing. A 12-28 close-ratio cassette is the opposite of a trail setup; the XT 11-32 on this page is the trail option. Read the cog list, not the adjective.
What is not published
No freehub body, no lock ring material, no ratio spread as a figure, and the listing gives only four bullets. The description field names the real group — Deore M6000 — which the title and bullets do not.
Availability
Read on the day this page was built: $34 at the American Amazon shop.
Read from Keepa on the day this page was last revised; stock and price both move without notice.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-06. The live price is at the top of the page.
