Finally purchased the 2010 Trek 2.5 Ultegra

Soni

After much debating over the CAAD9/Trek 2.5, i decided on the Trek.....

The CAAD9 would have been far too aggressive riding position for me, i prefer the more upright spotif fit of the Trek and also after owning the Trek 1.5 2009 for 18 months with no comfort issues, decided the Trek would be the one to go for.

I've so far done 2 x 20 mile rides and hoping to do 2 x club rides of 50-60 miles over the weekend and im really happy with it, the frame looks the same as the 1.5 2009, however its apparently a different grade/quality of aluninium.

It seems to be a lot more responsive on pickup than the 1.5 2009, and also the Ultegra groupset is far more superior to the Tiagra/Sora mix of the 1.5 2009.

I was initially concerned over my choice to opt for Compact chainset as opposed to the Tripple of the 1.5 2009 i owned, however i've been up some very steep hill climbs on this new bike and the Compact Chainset has been fine, i still had 2 x rear sprockets left on the rear when i got to the top!

I seem to be spending a lot of time on the drops on this bike, whereas i never used the drops on the 1.5, didn't feel comfortable, i don't think its the fact it has Ultegra and therefore gear changing can be performed in the drops, it seems to be just more comfortable riding position.

However, I have some questions which i would be grateful if some of you could answer.

1. The 2010 Ultegra shifters are Flight Deck, on the inside of the shifters (both) you can see all of the mechanics of the shifter, is this correct? Is there something missing that hasn't been put on when they've built the bike? Please refer to the photos below.

2. The stock wheels are Bontrager Lite, they seem fine, however i have another set of 2010 Mavic Aksiums and also Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires which are really good at puncture protection but slowed my last bike down, therefore the plan is to use these tires on one set of wheels for training, and then the stock Race Lite tires on another set of wheels for club runs, as they seem pretty zippy! Which wheels would you think would be the best for training and which would be the fastest?

Percy Vera

The Shifters are fine - that's the way they are

Soni

Percy Vera wrote:

The Shifters are fine - that's the way they are

Even on the inside of the levers? I checked out some photos on Google images and couldn't find any looking like that....

guilliano

The shifters are "open plan" to save weight. No need to cover what's showing so they don't. If it works then no need to question it. You have a good bike with a VERY good alloy frame (Alpha Black?) with hydroformed tubes which means that they can use less metal by using the shape of the tubes to provide the strength and stiffness and a brilliant groupset.

If you plan to swap the wheels around you will need to buy a 10 speed cassette for the old wheels. Go with a 105 of the same ratio as the new one (12-25?). As for tyres, I'd get a set of Conti Gatorskin or 4 seasons for the old wheels and use them for training.

bexley5200

nice bike with ultegra

Soni

guilliano wrote:

The shifters are "open plan" to save weight. No need to cover what's showing so they don't. If it works then no need to question it. You have a good bike with a VERY good alloy frame (Alpha Black?) with hydroformed tubes which means that they can use less metal by using the shape of the tubes to provide the strength and stiffness and a brilliant groupset.

If you plan to swap the wheels around you will need to buy a 10 speed cassette for the old wheels. Go with a 105 of the same ratio as the new one (12-25?). As for tyres, I'd get a set of Conti Gatorskin or 4 seasons for the old wheels and use them for training.

Hi Guilliano,

Thanks for the clarification mate, I just wasn't sure if the bike shop had left something off the shifters!

Yes its the Alpha Black Aluminium mate, really happy with the bike, did an 83 mile club ride yesterday and the Ultegra groupset and especially the Ultegra brakes are superb, its really quick on decents and gives real confidence, and i seem to be spending more time on the drops on this bike, something which i have never felt comfortable or liked doing on my previous bike.

The fit is spot on also, not an ache in my body despite the mileage covered yesterday. All the bike shops i visited told me i was a 56, as i'm 5ft 10", however the previous Trek was a 58 and i was measured on a computer and jig for that bike, and much to the surprise of that shop owner (as he also said initially that i would be a 56), he said its coming out with a 58, and when he looked closer it was due to my longer than average upper torso. I checked the geometery against my old Trek and this new bike and they were the same, hence the reason why i ignored Evans advise on the 56 and went with the 58...glad i did.

The guys in the club ride yesterday were running Gatorskins and swore by them, although the Bontrager Race Lites i have on the bike as stock items seem to be great, they look the spitting image of Bontrager Hard Cases i had on my previous bike for a while - but aren't labelled up as such on the sides....

When i purchased the Mavic Aksiums i also purchased a new chain and a 10sp cassette, not sure if its the same gear ratio though - haven't used them yet as they are still hanging up on the wall of the garage. The plan was to run a seperate chain with each set of wheels/cassette to avoid chain slippage, however the chain on this bike is also Shimano Ultegra, and as such doesn't have a quick release link, so bang goes that theory, i can't justify replacing the chain for an SRAM with quick release due to it being a brand new chain - cost i understand is £35.00, so will wait until the chain wears and replace then.

guilliano

Remove an outer link and put in a KMC missing link. They'll cost about £8 for 2.

The SRAM 10 speed links are not re-usable so don't get them.

Homer J

You might want to get some pedals first

freehub

Love those Ultegra chainsets, look awesome just like the Dura-Ace, make the old 105/Ultegra chainsets look cack.

Soni

guilliano wrote:

Remove an outer link and put in a KMC missing link. They'll cost about £8 for 2.

The SRAM 10 speed links are not re-usable so don't get them.

Oh god, i've re-used SRAM powerlinks all the time on SRAM chains, the only reason i didn't use one this time was because i heard that the SRAM powerlinks can't be used on Shimano chains.

Those KMC missing links, are they used the same as the SRAM powerlinks? When you mention about removing an outer link, just the same as shortening an SRAM chain so that the two studs from the SRAM powerlink can be inserted into two holes?

guilliano

SRAM Powerlinks can be re-used and are fine on Shimano chains. The 10sp links (black ones) are not Powerlinks though..... they are Snap-Locks. They are designed to be a one use thing in exactly the same method as a Powerlink is used to join a chain. The KMC missing links are like a 10sp version on the Powerlink, only easier to pull apart by hand, so use them in exactly the same way.

Soni

guilliano wrote:

SRAM Powerlinks can be re-used and are fine on Shimano chains. The 10sp links (black ones) are not Powerlinks though..... they are Snap-Locks. They are designed to be a one use thing in exactly the same method as a Powerlink is used to join a chain. The KMC missing links are like a 10sp version on the Powerlink, only easier to pull apart by hand, so use them in exactly the same way.

Hi mate, thanks for the response, however can i just please clarify one thing?

The existing SRAM powerlinks/quick links i have used are gold and were with a 9sp chain, however i've now got a 10 sp bike and i purchased a new 10sp sram chain and it came with a power link in the box - so is this an sram 10sp powerlink? Even if its gold?

Can i therefore use this gold powerlink that came in the sram 10sp chain box with the shimano ultegra 10sp chain that came as stock on my bike?