New bike for the other half

Twelly

Ribble 7005 frame 45cm
Alexrims S480 on Shimano hubs (had them spare in the shed)
Bars, stem, post and 2300 groupset from her old Triban 3

Made the swap for two reasons:
1. She doesn't like red..
2. The Triban 3 had 650C wheels because of the small frame size which made wheel and tyre replacement a PITA.

From this (but smaller)


To this



Of course, she didn't like the light, fast, grippy, black Schwalbe Ultremos I put on so some cheap, heavy blue tyres had to be ordered immediately...



Blue bar tape will be on soon as will the rest of the drivetrain.

I have a choice to make on the drivetrain..
1. Buy a new square taper BB and fit her old triple chainset. Problem is, the triple mech is a band on whereas the only braze on mech I have is a double..so would also need to buy a braze on triple mech also which makes it almost as costly as...
2. New compact Tiagra HT2 chainset and BB - Question - Does anyone know if MTB HT2 BB's are the same as the road ones? I have a spare XT BB, could I use that with a Tiagra chainset?
3. Whole new groupset, probably 105. Would bring her into the 10 speed world and make her bike more interchangeable with my bike.

ride_whenever

I'm fairly sure the mtb BB work, you have to remove the spacer tube (or use a road one) and run spacers as per road.

I wouldn't buy a new groupset at the moment unless it was ultegra or duraace.

Twelly

ride_whenever wrote:

I'm fairly sure the mtb BB work, you have to remove the spacer tube (or use a road one) and run spacers as per road.

Nice one thanks.

I wouldn't buy a new groupset at the moment unless it was ultegra or duraace.

Why not? new 105 looks good and can be had for under £300. Genuinely curious btw, not sarcastic. I am more up to date on MTB stuff than road!

ride_whenever

I thought the new 105 (5800) wasn't available quite yet, which is what I'd wait for... Been blown away by the improvements with 6800 and 9000 so wouldn't want to go back to the older style.

However I play with it all everyday, so for me I care more about the feel than the VFM.

Twelly

Yeah I saw the new 11s 105, looks like Ultegra with different stickers! and a few hundred quid cheaper. I'd probably stick with the older 10s though so she is running similar to my bike. Hopefully I can get 10s stuff cheap now its all gone to 11. The frustrating thing with her old bike was that nothing was compatible with mine, so if I upgrade wheels, tyres, drivetrain, I end up with a load of spares rather than making her bike better.

ride_whenever

Many 10spd wheels are also 11spd compatible... If you get her an 11 speed groupset then you can justify getting DA for yourself...

Twelly

ride_whenever wrote:

Many 10spd wheels are also 11spd compatible... If you get her an 11 speed groupset then you can justify getting DA for yourself...

Haha I like that idea

Twelly

Steerer has been chopped and we took it out for its first ride today. One very happy girlfriend. Lots of brownie points in the bank.