Time to go carbon, thoughts on frames

[vvill]

Good to know about the shims. Seems weird that there’s no adjustment screw for anything under Dura Ace 7900 though… it’s not as if Ultegra is cheap.

But I still like Shimano a lot, and didn’t particularly enjoy the one SRAM test ride I had (although I would happily try SRAM again). I have one bike with Tiagra, one with Ultegra and two others with low-end Shimano, while my MTB back in Australia is LX/XT from the early 2000s.

[SteveTheTech]

@off2ride 25268 wrote:

Shimano levers have shims for reach adjustment. LBS have a bunch of these shims because they’re included in the build kit. The 7900 Dura Ace has a screw for reach adjustment on the L & R lever. Personally, if I was to buy a frame and built it slowly, I would choose Shimano first but Campy comes in not far behind. The Record 11 is just as shweet as Dura Ace although Shimano will be coming out with their 11 version this year. Not so impressed with Sram Red though. Not a natural feeling shift if you ask me plus it sounds clunky and cheap. So component selection is a preference. That’s just my opinion on those gruppo’s.

I like the low end Shimano shims, but they have their downsides. After half way through a 60 mile trip I peeled one off and dropped it somewhere. I had an extra at home but had to stop on the side of the road to adjust my brakes. The Adjustment on the Srams is also very simple and seems to have almost no way to fail. I like that the shifter and the brakes adjust differently to really dial it in to your preferences.

The Srams do seem to clunk more. I ride with a guy whos got a set of Profile Design carbon wheels and Reds on what looks like a $10k setup and it sounds like crap while shifting and stopping. I guess the sound of quality sounds rickity.

[consularrider]

@vvill 25270 wrote:

…But I still like Shimano a lot, and didn’t particularly enjoy the one SRAM test ride I had (although I would happily try SRAM again). I have one bike with Tiagra, one with Ultegra and two others with low-end Shimano, while my MTB back in Australia is LX/XT from the early 2000s.

When I was test riding road bikes, I tried several Shimano 105 and Ultegras and then a SRAM Rival and never could get the hang of it during a 45 minute ride. Then the next day I was testing another bike with the SRAM and it finally clicked with me, and that’s what I bought. Still took a little getting used to.

[jabberwocky]

@SteveTheTech 25507 wrote:

The Srams do seem to clunk more. I ride with a guy whos got a set of Profile Design carbon wheels and Reds on what looks like a $10k setup and it sounds like crap while shifting and stopping. I guess the sound of quality sounds rickity.

Srams road stuff does have a very definite mechanical clunk when shifting. Shimanos is smoother sounding. I don’t really care either way; my Red setup shifts accurately and quickly, but I can’t say I’ve ever had any issues with my Ultegra setup either. I just vastly prefer the Sram lever ergonomics, and having dealt with both companies on warranty issues, I would much prefer to buy from Sram anyway.

[DaveK]

@jabberwocky 25511 wrote:

Srams road stuff does have a very definite mechanical clunk when shifting. Shimanos is smoother sounding. I don’t really care either way; my Red setup shifts accurately and quickly, but I can’t say I’ve ever had any issues with my Ultegra setup either. I just vastly prefer the Sram lever ergonomics, and having dealt with both companies on warranty issues, I would much prefer to buy from Sram anyway.

Ditto for the above, completely. I even prefer the sound and feel of SRAM. Reminds me of a rifle bolt. If you have deep enough carbon wheels, even Shimano will give a mighty clunk when you shift.

[pfunkallstar]

@DaveK 24929 wrote:

Although the Litespeed looks aero, testing showed it to be less so than most other “aero bikes” when it comes to drag. Does that matter? Not a single bit. No one outside of a pro will ever notice.

I really like the Tarmac personally, the geometry is spot-on (for me, anyway) and it’s a proven frame. You really can’t go wrong with any of those frames. The recent Tarmac frames have a little higher head tube than the older ones so the difference to the Roubaix, especially in smaller frame sizes, isn’t as noticeable.

Bottom like though, those are all great and you should ride them all and pick the one that speaks to you.

If you’re on a budget, I promise you the bike manufacturers can buy components cheaper than you can. Just buy a complete bike.

If you are confident in your ability to build up a bike and get the fit right from afar – GEOMETRY SKILLS! Then I would add another option, direct-order frame build. I bought a carbon frame and fork combo off of http://www.e-hongfu-bikes.com/ and built it up with SRAM Rival, threw on some Rolf Vector Pros (yep they are still rocking it 10 years on) and have been loving it. It isn’t for the faint of heart, but I was able to get a beast of a bike for right around $1,300. Something to think about.

[jabberwocky]

@DaveK 25545 wrote:

I even prefer the sound and feel of SRAM. Reminds me of a rifle bolt.

Oh, I agree. Shimano feels mushy to me. I like that definite mechanical thunk.

[Author]

Posts