From a 18 speed to a 10 speed: My commuting dream.

SgtFinaldo

I currently traverse my commute on my beloved Ridely Eos. Its heavy, but planted, stiff and handles very well. It runs a Tiagra groupset 9 speed. I never, and I mean never, use the smaller ring up front, Im always on the 50 tooth as Im comfortable with the workload.
And so it got me thinking: Would making it a single speed upfront, with no front deralilluer, and therefore to Left STI leaver need, and ten speed at the back, betotally daft? And would it reduce weight? Ive been browsing eBay for a 6700 right hand shimano shifter and i already have a spare sl 10 speed cassette, and getting a rear 10 speed derailleur should be no problem.

What i mean to say, is, am i mad?

Oh and are there any smaller single speed chainrigs than a 50? A 46, 44, 42.5788465??
Anyone?

ride_whenever

you may well find that you need some form of chain device to prevent the chain derrailing at the extreme chain angles, otherwise it should work fine.

biondino

So you're going to ride with your right hand on the hood and your left hand on the flat/drop? Eh?

Honestly this seems more trouble than it's worth to downgrade your bike.

CarlosDSanchez

Try chainreactioncycles.com for the right hand brake lever/shifter, they normaly have some good deals on 105/Ultegra stuff. You will also get a none sti left hand lever from there as well. Your current rear derailer should work fine with 10 speed. I use a sora rear mech with 105 10 spd cassette and 770 flat bar shifters and it works a treat. Personaly I wouldn't bother going single speed up front, you're only loosing grams in weight so it's not really worth it.

wgwarburton

SgtFinaldo wrote:

.... Would making it a single speed upfront, with no front deralilluer, and therefore to Left STI leaver need, and ten speed at the back, betotally daft?

To be frank, I think it would. You wouldn't really gain anything.

...And would it reduce weight? ...

Not enough to be worth the hassle.

What I reckon might be worthwhile is to note that you don't need a huge range of gears and move to a more durable setup. I reckon drivetrain longevity (a Good Thing in a commuting bike) is closely linked to sprocket & chain width. Current 10-speed cassettes have sprockets around 1.6mm thick. Compare this to a traditional 3/32" derailleur setup (~1.85mm) and you'll see that it had more than 15% more metal on the wear faces.
Look at FGSS or hub gear drivetrains and you'll see 2mm or even 3mm sprockets.

Bear in mind, too, that this doesn't just mean that there's more metal to wear away, but also that the pressure on the wear face of a thin sprocket is higher because of the smaller area (chain tension being assumed constant), so the wear-rate is quicker, too.

If you do aim to simplify your drivetrain, look for an opportunity to reduce the sprocket count at the rear, rather than increasing it, and fit a wider (cheaper!) chain, too.

Cheers,
W.

SgtFinaldo

Hrmmm....
I'll try and bear all that in mind, im actually a bit put off by it now.....
I'll check out chain reaction tho for a new sti, so cheers!

The Rookie

My commuter is 1x9 (why go ten speed?) I use a SS specific chainwheel up front, currently I am using an old front mech locked off on the stops as a chain guide after having the chain come off, however I have just found that the rear mech jockey wheels are the wrong way round (bought mech used) which may have contributed to it by making the shifts rather 'snappy'.

Although I am on flats it's nice having the left bar clear of shift lever clutter and losing the weight of the shifter and cable etc.

If you are mechanically minded you may be able to remove the unnecesary bits from the left lever to clean it up in the short term at least, going to brake only later. (I have done this in the past with an MTB STI, cutting away redundant housing and filing and polishing it smooth)

Simon

SgtFinaldo

Ok thats an idea thanks.
Am now fooling around with the left sti, but to be honest, a front and rear brake IS a necessity.

The Rookie

Yes, I wasn't suggesting not having a rear brake, especially on a commuter, but it may be possible to remove the gear gubbins to make it neater.

Simon