Roadbike gears

[Mongoose!]

Back in the day I had both 105 (5600 series) and Ultegra (6600) series.

The left shifters were both capable of a x2 and 3x setup - only adjusted the cable tension.

The next 10 speed generation : 700 series (internal cabling) ; (105 = 5700) / (Ultegra =6700) is not😎

But it was never cool to have 3 rings at the front...😜

[Jbr]

I think you must weight the difference in cost/complexity between the 34 front blade and the rear derailleur cage upgrade yes.

Because :

- 36 front / 28 rear is what I have, and it's spot on for me, but for someone who doesn't train as much as I do I suspect it will still not be easy enough for some steeper hills.

- going 28+ at the rear might likely cause issues with your derailleur cage length (maybe post a pic so that the experts here tell you what you have)

- going 34 at the front might be the easiest, not sure how easy to find those chainrings are, out of my head I would say they are probably easy to find and cheap, so probably a good idea.

34x28 should be a good enough ratio !

[Jewbacca]

Front chain rings new cost about 300 to 400 bucks. I just bought an ultegra rc8000 39 for 320zar. They are cheap.

A 34 should be easy to find.

An 11-28 x 10 speeds will also be cheap. 

34-28 will winch you over most things

[FootballingCyclist]

10 minutes ago, Jbr said:

I think you must weight the difference in cost/complexity between the 34 front blade and the rear derailleur cage upgrade yes.

Because :

- 36 front / 28 rear is what I have, and it's spot on for me, but for someone who doesn't train as much as I do I suspect it will still not be easy enough for some steeper hills.

- going 28+ at the rear might likely cause issues with your derailleur cage length (maybe post a pic so that the experts here tell you what you have)

- going 34 at the front might be the easiest, not sure how easy to find those chainrings are, out of my head I would say they are probably easy to find and cheap, so probably a good idea.

34x28 should be a good enough ratio !

With majority of bikes being sold stock now with 50/34 chainrings, They're quite easy to find. Quite a few in the classifieds and as you said above, quite cheap for the compact blades.

[Fat Boab]

54 minutes ago, David Marshall said:

Chances are that you have a short cage RD in which case the biggest ring on the cassette that your derailleur can handle will be 28 or max 29T.  This will make a massive difference compared to the current 23 and will probably solve your problem.  If not enough the next step would be to change the 36T chainring for a 34.

In the unlikely event of this not being enough you could try a derailleur extender and go to a maximum of 32T at the back. At this point I would not spend any more money.

Be careful of mixing new with old.  The current 10 speed Tiagra components are not compatible with the older 10 speeds.

Was just about to type this...sagely advice!

[Martin PJ]

Good advice about the 34 upfront and 28 at the back. I have a bike for my wife like this, this gear ratio works very well.

Something to consider if you go bigger than 28 at the back, a 9 speed MTB derailleur will work 10 speed on road bike. You would need to extend the chain a bit, then you can go up to 36 teeth at the back. I have this setup on a road bike with 1x10. The rear derailleur is XT 9 speed.

The derailleur extenders also work very well to convert a road derailleur to handle bigger cogs at the bag, I have used them for this purpose with great success.

[Abel Du Plessis]

Thanks everyone for the solid advice - I am learning a lot here.
Plus I am no longer feeling so bad about struggling up Bainskloof with my current setup 😆

[David Marshall]

Some quick calculations.

Current 36T ring  with 28 cassette gives an improvement of 18%, A 29 cassette up to 21%.

New 34T ring with 28 cassette gives an improvement of 22%, A 29 cassette up to 25%.

 

The maximum with a RD extender and 32T cassette would be in the region of 30%

[The Ouzo]

I did CTCT 2 years in a row with the gearing you have. Not sure how I turned those pedals with the levels of fitness I had back then. But I was young so I guess that worked in my favour.

 

Could never think of turning those now.

Edit to add.

I later changed the smaller chainring to a 34 and the larger gear on the cassette to something bigger that I cant remember now.

Edited June 10, 2022 by ouzo

[DieselnDust]

14 minutes ago, David Marshall said:

Some quick calculations.

Current 36T ring  with 28 cassette gives an improvement of 18%, A 29 cassette up to 21%.

New 34T ring with 28 cassette gives an improvement of 22%, A 29 cassette up to 25%.

 

The maximum with a RD extender and 32T cassette would be in the region of 30%

Unless he’s running Campagnolo the 11-29 cassette is not possible. Best to stick with 11-28 assumption.

5 bolt 9-10speed chainrings are dirt cheap and available from many brands including Shimano , SRAM , TA Specialities, wolf tooth. Absolute Crap, Qaxar. Campagnolo rings will not be compatible since the bolt circle diameter on those is 135mm and you need a 5 bolt 110mm 34T chainring.

on the cassette front you have options as Miche , sunrace  Andrew others offer low cost options besides SRAM and Shimano 

the cassette and chainring upgrade cost should be around R1200 tops

Post a  pic of the bike as some of those older 10speed bikes were specced with GS rear derailleur cages to allow functioning with a triple

[NotSoBigBen]

54 minutes ago, ouzo said:

I did CTCT 2 years in a row with the gearing you have. Not sure how I turned those pedals with the levels of fitness I had back then. But I was young so I guess that worked in my favour.

 

Could never think of turning those now.

Edit to add.

I later changed the smaller chainring to a 34 and the larger gear on the cassette to something bigger that I cant remember now.

Age is not an excuse 🤣

[The Ouzo]

1 minute ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Age is not an excuse 🤣

I'm fitter than I've ever been on the bike, but because cycling (and walking at work) is now the only exercise I get, I'm not as strong. I used to do lots of water skiing, had legs that would scare rugby players.

 

(or its just old age and self preservation. )

[love2fly]

15 hours ago, MongooseMan said:

I had an 11-25, upgraded to an 11-32. Then realised my derailleur couldn't handle that range, got a hanger extender, and now everything works great. 

Also using shimano ultegra. 

 

15 hours ago, MongooseMan said:

I had an 11-25, upgraded to an 11-32. Then realised my derailleur couldn't handle that range, got a hanger extender, and now everything works great. 

Also using shimano ultegra. 

Quite often there is no need to change RD cage. I run a 29/11 and when I fitted it we just tweaked the B screw to its maximum. 28/11 or as close as you can get should make a huge improvement. I think your front end is already what would be rated as " compact". Mine is 53/39. If you need any lower than that you're looking at an ebike 😀 Yriple conversion will cost too much and Shimano stock is very poor, and that's being kind, you'd have to hunt for used parts.

[MongooseMan]

My frontend is also 53/39.

I tried with adjusting the B-screw, couldn't get onto the top 2 sprockets of the 11-32.

Edited June 10, 2022 by MongooseMan

[Abel Du Plessis]

Photos of RD as requested.
Will this work with a 11/28?

Edited June 10, 2022 by Abel Du Plessis

[BigDL]

19 hours ago, Abel Du Plessis said:

Need some advice please.  My Fuji TeamSL has the Shimano Ultegra shifters. The crankset has 2 rings: 36/50 teeth.  The groupset is 10-speed, 11 - 23 teeth.

I am not as young and fit as when I brought it, and find that I am struggling with climbing. I would like to have some more, larger rings in the back, and a 3rd smaller ring in the front. 

Is this possible with the same Ultegra shifters?  What do you experts recommend I do?

 

Not sure about the front, but I converted my Ultegra back setup to 11-34 from 11-28 two weeks ago. Needed a longer cage derailleur (there was also a wolf-tooth adaptor available instead). This was because of a ride across England that I did last week. Genuinely made such a massive difference to my enjoyment of the ride. Front is 50/34 I think