Advice sought: Changing from a 46/36 to a 50/39/30
andUK
Posts: 85
Advice sought – I have acquired a CX bike and am aiming to change it from a double to a triple.
The original setup of 46/36 with 11-32 would not give me a low enough gear to comfortably ride some of our local hilly trails. Also as I would be using it as a winter road bike, a compact road triple seems to make sense.
The following are what I am considering putting on:
Shimano 105 5703 triple shifters
Shimano 105 FD Triple 5703
Shimano 105 Triple Crankset 5703 50/39/30
Shimano BBR60 Bottom Bracket
Shimano Deore 10sp RD M610 SGS
Shimano Deore 10sp CS-HG62 cassette 11-32
KMC X10-73 10sp chain
does anyone have experience of compatibility issues here between the road and mtb components? If so, any recommendations from mixed mtb/road setups you have experience of. Thanks!
The original setup of 46/36 with 11-32 would not give me a low enough gear to comfortably ride some of our local hilly trails. Also as I would be using it as a winter road bike, a compact road triple seems to make sense.
The following are what I am considering putting on:
Shimano 105 5703 triple shifters
Shimano 105 FD Triple 5703
Shimano 105 Triple Crankset 5703 50/39/30
Shimano BBR60 Bottom Bracket
Shimano Deore 10sp RD M610 SGS
Shimano Deore 10sp CS-HG62 cassette 11-32
KMC X10-73 10sp chain
does anyone have experience of compatibility issues here between the road and mtb components? If so, any recommendations from mixed mtb/road setups you have experience of. Thanks!
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Comments
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Why no just change chainrings to road compact, a long cage mech and an 11-36?0
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trek_dan, thanks for the suggestion of a compact road and 11-36.
I have tried out a compact double and 11-34 on my road bike, this works well for me on very hilly rides as coming from years of riding mtb I've yet to get used to getting a road bike up a steep hill on a 34T-28 gear, I prefer the high cadence of a 34T-34. The downside of a 50/34 with 11-34 is not being always able to find the right gear on faster road sections due to the large jump between gears on the cassette.
Therefore I thought with a triple I could use a more compact cassette on the back and I was going to have a try out of a custom cassette with 11-13-14-15-16-17-20-24-28-32 to have hill climbing/off-road gears on the 30T ring and a range of small step gears that would work well for steady riding on undulating roads on the 39T ring, with the 50T ring for faster road sections.0 -
Interestingly I have a 50/39/30 triple on the summer bike and a CX 46/36 double on the wet / winter bike, in each case coupled with a 12-27 cassette.
Occasionally on the winter bike I miss the lower 2 gears I have on the triple (steep hill / headwind / knackered) but generally round here I cope OK on either. If I lived in the Pennines say I think I'd be considering lower gearing options like you.
Not sure the 10 speed road shifters and MTB rear mech will play nicely together. Think I read somewhere that a 9 speed rear mech would work with an otherwise 10 speed road drivetrain.
E.T.A Looking on Spa Cycles website many of their touring / audax type triples have Sora 9 speed shifters with Deore mechs and a cassette up to 32t. The 10 speed 105 triples are 105 road throughout and have a max sprocket of 30t.
I'm 58 in a couple of weeks, and I'm noticing that as I age, the climbing seems to take a bit more effort than it used to. Rather than improving I think I'll be happy if I can delay the inevitable decline as much as possible.0 -
That is indeed interesting to see what Spa cycles put on their Audax bikes.
Regarding the 105 RD, I read that only it goes up to a 30T sprocket when used with a triple front hence why I thought a long cage Deore would be better. Interestingly my Sora RD is rated as only going up to 32T sprocket with a double, but I run a 34T sprocket with it with no problems whatsoever.
Regarding the relationship between shifter and RD, I'm under the impression that the shifter does the indexing and the RD moves in a passive fashion the distance that the cable has been pulled, thereby thinking that mtb RD or road RD would move the same amount if used with a given shifter. Can anyone enlighten me on this? It would be interesting to know if someone is successfully using road shifters and mtb RD.0 -
Just googled it; I was right and you need a 9 speed mtb rear mech to work with 10 speed road shifters. Cable pull is different for 10 speed mtb stuff.0
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Thanks for the info re: 9 sp mtb RD.
Seems that's the way to go then.0 -
I have a feeling the road 10-speed spacing is different to MTB 10-speed spacing for Shimano.- - - - - - - - - -
On Strava.{/url}0 -
Having a bit of a compromise from my original intentions:
- have picked up some used Ultegra 9sp triple shifters
- bought a new 105 triple FD
- ordered a new Sora triple chainset
going to see how that works out with the existing Sora medium cage RD and existing 12-32 cassette.0 -
Finally got there in the end after a bit of messing about: the 9 speed Ultegra shifters (used) I bought turned out to be 10 speed! So I opted to get a 10 speed chain and cassette to go with them.
So my working setup is:
10 speed Ultegra triple shifters 6603
105 Triple FD
Sora triple crankset 50/39/30
Sora 9 speed RD
HG81 10 speed cassette 11-32
KMC X10-73 10 speed chain0 -
So, I've now found out that changing from a Shimano 9 speed cassette to a Shimano 10 speed cassette entails the use of a 1mm spacer.
Seems illogical that a 10 speed cassette is 1mm less tall than the 9 speed.
But it all fits as to why the 10 speed wouldn't tighten down properly.0 -
Shimano 10speed cassettes need the 1mm spacer, apart from tiagra which bizarrely has it built in.0
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Tiagra cassette's aren't too clever with spacers as they are held together with a pin that runs through the biggest sprockets. Trouble is, on 11-speed freehubs you still need a spacer to use a 10-speed Tiagra cassette, but the pins will unevenly load the spacer and bend it; I have had to grind the tips of the pins off to use the cassettes.- - - - - - - - - -
On Strava.{/url}0 -
10 speed Ultegra triple shifters 6603
105 Triple FD
Sora triple crankset 50/39/30
Sora 9 speed RD
HG81 10 speed cassette 11-32
KMC X10-73 10 speed chain
Been out on a few long rides round the Cotswolds (ie, hilly) and am really pleased with the above set up.
The Ultegra shifters are smoother and less movement is required to effect a gear change in comparison to the Sora ones I'm used to.
Biggest advantage for myself is the 39T ring; I've found with the compact 50/34 on my road bike, I frequently change between these rings on our hilly terrain. With the above set up, the 39T with the 11-32 gives me all the gears I require when going up or down moderate hills and for riding flatter/undulating sections of road. For longer faster downhills I use the 50T and drop to the 30T to spin up steep hills.
Thanks to those who advised me on getting my bike set up.0
