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#1
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Building a touring drivetrain
I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer,
pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. So does anyone have any recommendations for an (relatively) inexpensive 8-speed drivetrain set-up that could take me happily through my trip? I've never built a drivetrain before, so I'm sure there a number of smaller components in it that I've failed to list; what are all the parts I would need to replace moving from the current 600 set-up (including the brake/shifters) to a touring triple cranket? |
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#2
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Building a touring drivetrain
Dave Carroll wrote:
I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. 11-32 cassette has great big jumps between gears for road riding, and a 52T ring is far too big for that cassette for touring (52x11 is a monster gear). I suggest fitting a "touring double" or a triple crankset first with something like 34/50 or 26/39/50 rings, then later change cassette if necessary to 13-28 or 13-30 or similar. Of course, exact choice of rings and cassette depends on your speed/cadence/gradients, etc. It's certainly worth experimenting with different gears as much as you can afford to. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. Most of that will depend on choice of crankset - so I suggest deciding on that and all ratios first, then come back and ask what parts best suit. Hopefully, some or most of what you have already will. ~PB |
#3
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Building a touring drivetrain
I'd look at a Sugino XCD triple crank, and consider Ultegra 8 bar end
shifters. look for used brake levers. Gary Jacobson Rosendale, NY "Pete Biggs" wrote in message ... Dave Carroll wrote: I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. 11-32 cassette has great big jumps between gears for road riding, and a 52T ring is far too big for that cassette for touring (52x11 is a monster gear). I suggest fitting a "touring double" or a triple crankset first with something like 34/50 or 26/39/50 rings, then later change cassette if necessary to 13-28 or 13-30 or similar. Of course, exact choice of rings and cassette depends on your speed/cadence/gradients, etc. It's certainly worth experimenting with different gears as much as you can afford to. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. Most of that will depend on choice of crankset - so I suggest deciding on that and all ratios first, then come back and ask what parts best suit. Hopefully, some or most of what you have already will. ~PB |
#4
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Building a touring drivetrain
Dave Carroll wrote:
I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, There is no difference in reliability or maintenance between 8-speed and 9-speed. If you're going to replace the shifters, I'd definitely recommend going with 9. and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. All "road" derailers are bottom pull, so that's a non-issue. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. That's not a terrific choice for touring. You're wasting gears on super-high gears you'll get little use out of, and giving up useful intermediate cogs that will give you closer spacing in the cruising range. Also, it doesn't go down all that low, though if you're strong enough and travelling light enough it may work for you. If you're going with a 52 in front, there's no reson for anything smaller than a 13 in back. I'd recommend something like my "Century Special" (13-30) or "Cyclotouriste 13" (13-34) cassettes. I also offer these ranges in 8-speed, but, of course, with wider gaps. See: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/k7.html I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. I'd go with 105 if you decide to stay with Shimano, though if it were my own bike I'd go for Campagnolo Ergo brifters and some sort of Campagnolo rear derailer, at least if I wasn't going bigger than about 30 in back. Also, the 30 tooth small chainring is not wonderful for touring. We commonly upgrade touring bikes with something smaller, most often a 26, sometimes 24. Sheldon "Not By The Book" Brown +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Oh, my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways, | | And deep ways and steep ways and high ways and low, | | I'm at home and at ease on a track that I know not, | | And restless and lost on a road that I know. | | --Henry Lawson | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com |
#5
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Building a touring drivetrain
11-32 cassette has great big jumps between gears for road riding, and a 52T ring is far too big for that cassette for touring (52x11 is a monster gear). I suggest fitting a "touring double" or a triple crankset first with something like 34/50 or 26/39/50 rings, then later change cassette if necessary to 13-28 or 13-30 or similar. Of course, exact choice of rings and cassette depends on your speed/cadence/gradients, etc. It's certainly worth experimenting with different gears as much as you can afford to. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. Most of that will depend on choice of crankset - so I suggest deciding on that and all ratios first, then come back and ask what parts best suit. Hopefully, some or most of what you have already will. ~PB Who makes a good touring triple crankset? I don't want to pay a premium for performance parts, I just need a good one for touring. Does the 105 come in that arrangement, or is there a good SRAM or Sugino one? I don't have the cash th try out a bunch of these, so I'm looking for something that one might find standard on a well-equipped touring bike. The 105 crankset that I was thinking about is on the trek touring bike, but I don't want to get it if the 52-42-30 is too big. |
#6
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Building a touring drivetrain
"Dave Carroll" wrote in message I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, (Snip) Ditto Sheldon's comments about going to 9, it really isn't any less durable, though he can get you a custom 8 spd. 13-30 which will work well when pulling a load. Aim for a gearing range of 20 gear inches at a low to a 100 high. Sheldon's site has a great gear chart to let you key in the variables in ring sizes and cassette combo's to see what will work. Sheldon's thought about Campy Ergo 9 spd. levers with a Campy R derailer will work great, but may be a bit more expensive if you already own a set of brake levers and don't need to buy another set. In that case, Ultegra 8 spd. barcons are the cheapest (and most reliable) solution. Going to a Sugino 110/74 BCD triple crank is also a good solution and when mated to a set of 24/36/46 rings and Sheldon's 8 spd. 13-30 cassette gets you a 21 to 99 gear inch range, which would be perfect. You might need a new rear derailer to handle the additional chain and the larger 30 tooth cog, but my advice would be to call/e-mail Sheldon directly for some very good advice. Steve B. |
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Building a touring drivetrain
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#8
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Building a touring drivetrain
Dave Carroll wrote:
I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8- speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. So does anyone have any recommendations for an (relatively) inexpensive 8- speed drivetrain set-up that could take me happily through my trip? I've never built a drivetrain before, so I'm sure there a number of smaller components in it that I've failed to list; what are all the parts I would need to replace moving from the current 600 set-up (including the brake/shifters) to a touring triple cranket? You may want to visit the Rec.bicycles.touring forum. I suggest mountain triple crank and a front derailer that has the arc that matche the largest chain ring and a range that will handle the smallest chai ring. A "matched set" of Front Derailer and Crank seem to give the bes shifts under load. I woudn't go larger than 48; and I would like to g down to 24 or 22. Cranks like Sugino XD2 46/36/24 or Shimano LX 44/32/2 work well when climbing with a touring load. You will need to get th correct length Bottom Bracket for your Crank and Frame to give the bes chain line. I would use Shimano bar end shifters for their simplicit and ability to be used in the friction mode. The range of the cassett you mentioned 11 - 32 should be fine with a LX rear derailer. 11 - 34 i also good. I think that 9 speed is OK too, if you find that acquirin parts is less expensive. Visit some of the sites that have tourin information at URLs: http://sheldonbrown.com/touring/index.html and th many links he lists http://www.bgcycles.com/ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF 8&q=%22bicycle+touring+Spain%22 Also check out the little gadget I hav found helpful of triple bicycles at URL: http://www.gvtc.com/~ngear/ Yo mentioned REI in your post. A good shop with touring experience can als guide you in your choices and make sure that things will work and hol up well. Sheldon Brown's site has many great articles. Check the one o cables at URL: http://sheldonbrown.com/cables.html I have no connection with anything I mentioned here, except as a satisfied customer - |
#9
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Building a touring drivetrain
Dave Carroll wrote:
I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8- speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. So does anyone have any recommendations for an (relatively) inexpensive 8- speed drivetrain set-up that could take me happily through my trip? I've never built a drivetrain before, so I'm sure there a number of smaller components in it that I've failed to list; what are all the parts I would need to replace moving from the current 600 set-up (including the brake/shifters) to a touring triple cranket? Sounds like you are asking for more ratiometric range for mountains The 11/34 and MTB der will be a little better but slightly mor expensive Low cost crankset approach: Replace the 39T with a Willow Tripleizer hang a granny, try it with you existing fder first but you probably nee to go to triple fder If you replace the crankset, consider a Schlumpf MT drive BB interna gear hub- mounts 2 sprockets and has a 2.5:1 reduction low gear. Havin a portion of your geartrain shiftable while stopped could be hand touring, especially with a trailer If the climbs are steep enough you need sub 25 g.i. ratios, the drop are probably steep enough you need consider at least one hub based brak with that trailer weight-plus it gives you a good rain brake - |
#10
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Building a touring drivetrain
"Sheldon Brown" wrote in message ... Dave Carroll wrote: I have a Gunnar Crosshairs that will be on touring duty this summer, pulling a Burley Nomad trailer thru Spain. Right now, I have a Shimano 600 series gruppo on the bike, with a 48-39 crankset up front and an 8-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette in the back, all road parts. At first, on the advice of a friend, I was planning on simply swapping the rear cassette for a MTB cassette, perhaps an LX or XT one, and getting a long cage rear derailleur. I talked to a guy at REI who has a lot of touring experience about this, and he seemed pretty sure that I should also change to a triple in the front. I don't have much money for parts--I'm saving for this trip!--but I don't want to be SOL while on tour in unfamiliar territory. So I'm considering buying piecemeal a whole new drivetrain, including new shifters/brakes. I was wondering what would be a good set-up, piece by piece? I want to remain at 8 speed, I've heard it's a little more reliable and less maintenance than 9 speed, There is no difference in reliability or maintenance between 8-speed and 9-speed. If you're going to replace the shifters, I'd definitely recommend going with 9. and I need to have a bottom pull front derailleur for the cross frame. All "road" derailers are bottom pull, so that's a non-issue. So far, I've been thinking about something like: SRAM 5.0 11-32 cassette, Deore LX or XT rear derailleur, Shimano 105 52-42-30 crankset. That's not a terrific choice for touring. You're wasting gears on super-high gears you'll get little use out of, and giving up useful intermediate cogs that will give you closer spacing in the cruising range. Also, it doesn't go down all that low, though if you're strong enough and travelling light enough it may work for you. If you're going with a 52 in front, there's no reson for anything smaller than a 13 in back. I'd recommend something like my "Century Special" (13-30) or "Cyclotouriste 13" (13-34) cassettes. I also offer these ranges in 8-speed, but, of course, with wider gaps. See: http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/k7.html I don't really know what bottom bracket/shifters/otheraccessories I need to get. I'd go with 105 if you decide to stay with Shimano, though if it were my own bike I'd go for Campagnolo Ergo brifters and some sort of Campagnolo rear derailer, at least if I wasn't going bigger than about 30 in back. Also, the 30 tooth small chainring is not wonderful for touring. We commonly upgrade touring bikes with something smaller, most often a 26, sometimes 24. Sheldon "Not By The Book" Brown +-----------------------------------------------------------+ | Oh, my ways are strange ways and new ways and old ways, | | And deep ways and steep ways and high ways and low, | | I'm at home and at ease on a track that I know not, | | And restless and lost on a road that I know. | | --Henry Lawson | +-----------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com If he might be replacing the whole drivetrain, what do you think of Dura Ace bar ends with a friction option? That way the front can be set as friction always and he has the ability to use friction for the rear should the need occur. Assuming he may buy all new, what do you think is the ideal touring set up of gear sizes and equipment Sheldon? |
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