Drive train dilemmas

[accordioneur]

@ginacico 162026 wrote:

it looks like the Ultegra 10-spd triple is officially obsolete……sigh.

Thumbs up for sticking with the triple. I don’t know why triples went out of vogue. I really like them.

[hozn]

@accordioneur 162071 wrote:

Thumbs up for sticking with the triple. I don’t know why triples went out of vogue. I really like them.

I imagine that when 10sp and then 11sp rear cassettes became a thing it was hard to justify having such tiny graduations in gearing — i.e. can now get the same range from a compact double with a wider range cassette that probably (I haven’t done the calculations) has similar gear steps to a 7 or 8sp rear cassette with a triple?

If you are often in search of the perfect cadence, it is hard to argue against more granular gearing. Even with a tight spaced 11sp rear cassette. For my style of riding I find it really doesn’t matter, so I like the simplicity of no FD at all.

[ginacico]

Sticking with the triple is a decent and practical answer, for now. It gets me a range of about 22-124 gear inches with lots of little steps in between, and without spending a bomb. With my not-so-great knees it’s more than a luxury to always land in the perfect cadence. We have tentative plans for bike touring the Adirondacks later this summer, I’ll report back on whether I went far enough!

Gearing for touring bikes has long been a dilemma. In fact this prompted a long discussion with bluerider (another Vaya owner) awhile back. He went with a 1×11 which, amazingly, wasn’t even a thing when I bought mine. I can see the appeal of 1x for sure, but reviews from people I know have been mixed enough that I’m not ready for it on my primary go-everywhere bike.

The default for Salsa now is a SRAM setup, probably because they can achieve a wide gear range with SRAM’s intercompatibility of parts. Surly’s Long Haul Trucker comes with a Shimano triple. Co-Motion gives us the choice between Shimano mountain triples and Rohloff or Pinion (which I was just introduced to last year) internal drives. There’s lots of argument for Di2 (another new one to me). Things could evolve by leaps in another three years. Adventure Cycling mag does a good job of keeping up with trends.

Or, maybe next time we’ll take DismalScientist’s heckling seriously and all go back to Suntour barcons. :rolleyes:

[accordioneur]

@hozn 162072 wrote:

I imagine that when 10sp and then 11sp rear cassettes became a thing it was hard to justify having such tiny graduations in gearing

So, what can I infer about my wife’s personality from the fact that she complains that her 3X10 setup doesn’t give her enough gears? :rolleyes:

I just like being able to make the quantum jumps in gearing up front rather than having to constantly step through multiple gears on the cassette … though I will admit it’s harder to keep 3X derailleurs aligned.

[bentbike33]

@accordioneur 162074 wrote:

… though I will admit it’s harder to keep 3X derailleurs aligned.

This is why we have friction shifters.

[Vicegrip]

@bentbike33 162075 wrote:

This is why we have friction shifters.

..and black gloves and black bib and shorts. Got to have somewhere to wipe the chain lube off after using that one finger to reset a chain drop.

I kid I kid! I like down tube and love barcons.

[anomad]

hozn and I had a discussion about drivetrains just yesterday. In fact, I showed him I have a larger third chainring that I never ever use (except on tailwind assisted downhill areas while trying to ride along with a guy like him). Humbling to think when I bought that bike in ~99 I could actually push the 52… Oh well.

I have triple cranks on both of my regular commuters and they are great. I almost never use the large chainring though. I would be just fine with a mountain double up front and an 8 speed rear. If they ever make a narrow 6 speed rear and compact or mountain double up front that would fit me well. Easy easy climbing gear for a heavy bike and top speed of about 20 mph would be fine with me. I’ve only ridden a rohloff 14 a couple times, but it was amazing. I could gear that low in front and be very very happy.

@ginacico 162073 wrote:

Sticking with the triple is a decent and practical answer, for now. It gets me a range of about 22-124 gear inches with lots of little steps in between, and without spending a bomb. With my not-so-great knees it’s more than a luxury to always land in the perfect cadence. We have tentative plans for bike touring the Adirondacks later this summer, I’ll report back on whether I went far enough!

Gearing for touring bikes has long been a dilemma. In fact this prompted a long discussion with bluerider (another Vaya owner) awhile back. He went with a 1×11 which, amazingly, wasn’t even a thing when I bought mine. I can see the appeal of 1x for sure, but reviews from people I know have been mixed enough that I’m not ready for it on my primary go-everywhere bike.

The default for Salsa now is a SRAM setup, probably because they can achieve a wide gear range with SRAM’s intercompatibility of parts. Surly’s Long Haul Trucker comes with a Shimano triple. Co-Motion gives us the choice between Shimano mountain triples and Rohloff or Pinion (which I was just introduced to last year) internal drives. There’s lots of argument for Di2 (another new one to me). Things could evolve by leaps in another three years. Adventure Cycling mag does a good job of keeping up with trends.

Or, maybe next time we’ll take DismalScientist’s heckling seriously and all go back to Suntour barcons. :rolleyes:

[dkel]

@anomad 162103 wrote:

I’ve only ridden a rohloff 14 a couple times, but it was amazing. I could gear that low in front and be very very happy.

Except that the hub costs about $100 per speed, which would make you unhappy.

I am running a Shimano Alfine 8 on one of my commuting bikes, and it’s just great. I come close to spinning out on some of the downhills around here, but for commuting, who cares? The low end is good for climbing with a pile of work stuff on the bike. The range is about 28gi to 85gi. I don’t think the hub cost even $300, which is a lot less than the Rohloff. The Alfine 11 has an even larger range, and is still pretty cheap. You should get one and let me build the wheel for you, since that’s my new hobby!

[anomad]

The Shimano and sram hubs are interesting. I could never justify spending for the rohloff. It costs almost as much as any 2 of my bikes.

[n18]

Rohloff Speedhub 14 patent would expire on either May 15, 2018, or Oct 4, 2019(Not sure which, based on this online expiration date calculator).

[EasyRider]

@anomad 162103 wrote:

I would be just fine with a mountain double up front and an 8 speed rear.

I love small rings. All the rings on my commuter’s parts bin triple are “little” rings. 26/34/40

[Judd]

@EasyRider 162130 wrote:

I love small rings. All the rings on my commuter’s parts bin triple are “little” rings. 26/34/40

A 26/34/40 for someone named EasyRider? Unexpected!

[anomad]

Huh.

I just looked at an overseas dealer that ships to the states and they sell the 11 and 8 speed Alfine hub for 53 dollars. I know its “only” 11 speeds vs. the Rohlof’s 14, but I think I could get by. And, dynamo hubs for 35 dollars… Shit. I may have to build dynamo wheels for all our commuting bikes for next winter.

[dkel]

@anomad 162138 wrote:

Huh.

I just looked at an overseas dealer that ships to the states and they sell the 11 and 8 speed Alfine hub for 53 dollars. I know its “only” 11 speeds vs. the Rohlof’s 14, but I think I could get by. And, dynamo hubs for 35 dollars… Shit. I may have to build dynamo wheels for all our commuting bikes for next winter.

That’s stupidly cheap! You should do that. Let me know if you need a wheel builder.

[dkel]

@anomad 162138 wrote:

I just looked at an overseas dealer that ships to the states and they sell the 11 and 8 speed Alfine hub for 53 dollars. I know its “only” 11 speeds vs. the Rohlof’s 14, but I think I could get by.

If you were to do the standard Alfine IGH on a drop bar bike, you would need a third-party shifter like Jtek’s bar end model, since Shimano doesn’t make a drop bar shifter for those. There is a Di2 version that would probably work with road levers, though.

[Author]

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