Bike build. Need help in components!

stumpjumper_1
stumpjumper_1 Posts: 15
edited January 2013 in Road buying advice
Hi everyone..

I'm looking to build my own road bike all be it my first.

I'm looking to get an sl4 s works frame with predominantly sram components.

I've seen a sram groupset which is what I'm looking for, however I need help in choosing what spec to go for.

I plan all doing general road biking covering straights, hills and downhills so a mixture of all.

The terminology of the cassettes I don't yet understand so could someone please give me some info on what I should be looking for to help understand what i need.

The link is below:

http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/r ... -2013.html

It would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Rob

Comments

  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    So as an example 170mm 39/53 11-25

    170mm is the crank arm length.
    39/53 is the small and large chain ring sizes of the front chainset (a standard double). A compact would e 34/50.
    11-25 means the rear cassette has an 11 smallest cog and 25 biggest cog (this is an average sized cassette) You can get upt a 30 in SRAM I think.
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • Thanks, so is the below correct?

    39/53 - 11/23 - slighty slower on the straight but easier on the hills than below
    39/53 - 11-25

    34/50 - 11/25 - better on the hills than above and same straight line speed
    34/50 - 11/28
  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    A 34/50 (compact) is easier for newer cyclists as it gives you a much easier time on the hills.

    11/23 is for flat terrain. If you want to have a good 'do it all' set up I would advise 34/50 with something like a 11/28 cassett as this will give you some real good 'bail out' gears for hills i.e 34/28, which you should pretty well manage any hill with bar 25% plus stuff.
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • Great thanks :D
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    Thanks, so is the below correct?

    39/53 - 11/23 - slighty slower on the straight but easier on the hills than below. No harder on hills than option of 11/25 below
    39/53 - 11-25

    34/50 - 11/25 - better on the hills than above and same straight line speed
    34/50 - 11/28

    39/53 coupled with an 11/23 cassette requires strong legs for any decent hills - not really a 'newbie' combination.

    Whilst the 34/50 compact coupled with an 11/28 cassette offers a 'bail-out' gear of 34/28 it has the disadvantage of relatively large gaps in gear ratios, which some people do not like. 34/25 is enough for all but the very steepest of slopes for most people.

    Building a bike up is not a difficult task as there is plenty of online help available but given where you are coming from in terms of knowledge, I'm not sure that building up your SL4 is necessarily the best idea (although we all have to start somewhere I suppose).
  • elderone
    elderone Posts: 1,410
    my sram has a 32 on the rear..super granny gear.
    Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
  • Would you advise a 34/25 would be better for the majority of riders?

    What are the main disadvantages of the larger gaps in gear ratio?
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    Would you advise a 34/25 would be better for the majority of riders?

    What are the main disadvantages of the larger gaps in gear ratio?

    34/25 was enough for me to get up Wrynose Pass in the Lake District (which I believe is 30%+ in places) and they don't come much worse than that, but then I do 150+ miles a week usually, so I've got a few miles in the legs - not that I'm a really strong climber as such. 34/25 is fine for the majority of riders (even newbies) unless you are looking to tackle really extreme stuff.

    Disadvantage with 11/32 cassette is that there are significant 'jumps' in some of the easier gear ratios which leaves riders struggling to find the 'right gear' at times.
  • smidsy
    smidsy Posts: 5,273
    I have been riding for a year now and I would struggle with 34/25 on some hills. Now that probably says more about my strength/fitness but I can not be alone in this.

    The larger gaps mentioned are not THAT large but what Nocheckmate is saying is true i.e an 11/28 cassette has a 4 tooth difference in the largest 2 cogs whereas an 11/25 one has 2.

    But you will not really notice if you are new to it all and I prefer to have the 28 (just in case) rather than not have it for the sake if a slightly larger gap in the final two gears.
    Yellow is the new Black.
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    Ypu know its going to cost you a lot more to build a bike that to buy it ready built
  • By buying the parts in the sale and new off ebay it will be half the price of a built one as I've already worked it out roughly speaking. So that's not true at all!

    There's always ups and downs of the both so will have to think what would be best for me.
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    how much is it going to cost you?
  • I'll let you know once all the parts are bought and built ;)
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/products.asp?partno=45675#.UOYFZnfhdIo

    If you do cheaper than that, you will have a good bike for the price
  • If all goes to plan it should be a little bit cheaper but not much. It's more for me about satisfaction and a bike with the spec for me top to bottom.
  • Evil Laugh
    Evil Laugh Posts: 1,412
    Be careful with the SRAM cranks. They are notoriously difficult to fit to osbb. I believe you need a bb30 crank and the SRAM pf30 bb. You'll get different answers from Spesh on the best way to fit depending on who you speak to, it's a minefield. The issue is with the spacing of the cranks. If you fit like a normal bb30 crank you will get lateral play.

    I don't know if you have your frame yet but Specialized in Kingston have a selection of SL4 frames at £1850. So £650 off.

    I have one and they are fantastic. I built mine up myself with ultegra di2. It went ok but you will need a bearing press. All the internal cabling is easy enough. I would check however that you are covered by warranty if you build yourself and I think yiu can only build with 30mm of headset spacers to be covered too so make sure it all fits.

    Good luck.

    If you need any help feel free to pm me.
  • ricky1980
    ricky1980 Posts: 891
    Interesting point about sram cranks on specialized osbb. I thought specialized made their bb different so that fitting other cranks is hard work or virtually not good idea, as opposed to the issue being sram. I would suspect FSA cranks will have same problems as the specialized bb just isn't a standard deaign
    Road - Cannondale CAAD 8 - 7.8kg
    Road - Chinese Carbon Diablo - 6.4kg
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    Re the cranks fitting OSBB, you can get specific bearings from this lot:

    http://www.c-bear.com/en/osbb-en/sram-b ... arings.php