drivetrain questions

urso

My beloved Fuji was stolen so while I'll never replace him, I am getting a new Ridley X-Trail c10. Laugh if you want but my Fuji starter bike with a Shimano Tiagra drivetrain shifted incredibly smooth and stood up over time - of course I never realized this until I rode some 'new' bikes and was shocked at how rough the shifting felt. (perhaps they just needed to be tuned or something)

The Ridley I'm buying has the following drivetrain:

Shifters: Shimano ST-RS685
Front Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra 6800
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra 6800
Crankset: 50 / 34 t Shimano Ultegra 6800
Bottom Bracket: BB86
Cassette: 11 - 32 t Shimano 105 CS-5800 11-speed
Chain: KMC X11

My questions -

I am considering an immediate upgrade to an 11 - 32 Ultegra 6800 cassette paired with a Shimano HG900-11 Chain.
I read that keeping the drivetrain all Shimano facilitates smooth shifting and the HG Chains and Cassettes pair for smooth and precise shifting due to the tooth profiles on the cassette and the narrow width of the chain.

Is this just hype, or is it true?

I also have a 52/36 Ultegra 6800 Crankset and will swap out the chain rings for the 50/34.

I shouldn't have problems with chain crossover with this configuration should I?
When I switched from cyclo-cross 32mm knobbys to 28mm gatorskins I started experiencing 'spin' on relatively flat or slight downgrades in the highest gear on my 10 spd Fuji with the compact and want those higher gears, I'm also thinking the 11th gear on the Ridley will give me a comparable low gear for climbing. Is my reasoning sound?

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Other than that I think I'm set.
I'll probably swap out the seat and put some aero bars on it, but those are more for comfort.
Long term I think I might ask Mrs. Clause for some Ultegra ST-RS785 Shifters this X-Mas, but thats an upgrade for next year.

I got my Fuji for just over $1K and had him less than three years so I'm still a newbie. My Ridley is a 3K investment (which is a lot on my budget) so any advice is sincerely appreciated.

Tnx

imposter2.0

Why don't you just buy a more expensive bike to start with?

Also 'upgrading' the 105 cassette to ultegra will be completely pointless. Just ride it.

Alex99

urso wrote:

My beloved Fuji was stolen so while I'll never replace him, I am getting a new Ridley X-Trail c10. Laugh if you want but my Fuji starter bike with a Shimano Tiagra drivetrain shifted incredibly smooth and stood up over time - of course I never realized this until I rode some 'new' bikes and was shocked at how rough the shifting felt. (perhaps they just needed to be tuned or something)

The Ridley I'm buying has the following drivetrain:

Shifters: Shimano ST-RS685
Front Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra 6800
Rear Derailleur: Shimano Ultegra 6800
Crankset: 50 / 34 t Shimano Ultegra 6800
Bottom Bracket: BB86
Cassette: 11 - 32 t Shimano 105 CS-5800 11-speed
Chain: KMC X11

My questions -

I am considering an immediate upgrade to an 11 - 32 Ultegra 6800 cassette paired with a Shimano HG900-11 Chain.
I read that keeping the drivetrain all Shimano facilitates smooth shifting and the HG Chains and Cassettes pair for smooth and precise shifting due to the tooth profiles on the cassette and the narrow width of the chain.

Is this just hype, or is it true?

I also have a 52/36 Ultegra 6800 Crankset and will swap out the chain rings for the 50/34.

I shouldn't have problems with chain crossover with this configuration should I?
When I switched from cyclo-cross 32mm knobbys to 28mm gatorskins I started experiencing 'spin' on relatively flat or slight downgrades in the highest gear on my 10 spd Fuji with the compact and want those higher gears, I'm also thinking the 11th gear on the Ridley will give me a comparable low gear for climbing. Is my reasoning sound?

============================================================

Other than that I think I'm set.
I'll probably swap out the seat and put some aero bars on it, but those are more for comfort.
Long term I think I might ask Mrs. Clause for some Ultegra ST-RS785 Shifters this X-Mas, but thats an upgrade for next year.

I got my Fuji for just over $1K and had him less than three years so I'm still a newbie. My Ridley is a 3K investment (which is a lot on my budget) so any advice is sincerely appreciated.

Tnx

As above, very little point in changing a brand new 105 cassette to an ultegra equivalent. But for future reference, yes, you would want a shimano cassette. You already will have a full shimano setup though.

"I started experiencing 'spin' " - not totally sure what you mean by this. I guess you think you're running out of gears. Your biggest gear was 50 x 11, right? That's a big gear already and 52 x 11 is a marginal change.

What was the smallest gear on your Fuji? 34 x ?

arlowood

Seems like a lot of unnecessary tinkering for not a lot of gain. Maybe you have deep pockets and just like dipping into them.

Firstly if you're spinning out on descents with a 50T chainring then swapping to a 52T is not going to improve things to any great extent. For my money on a trail/off-road specced bike I would prefer to have the 34/32 option available rather than a 36/32.

As Imposter states it is pointless swapping the cassette and chain. The 105 cassette and KMC chain are perfectly adequate. Have run that combo in 10 and 11-speed guise with no issues so can't see the point of spending money to change until the existing cassette and chain are due for replacement.

You Xmas idea of swapping the RS685 shifters for RS785 has puzzled me a bit (apart from the question as to why you think it's necessary). From my reading the RS785 shifters are designed for use with Di2 drivetrains so unless you plan to switch the rest of your Ultegra over to Di2 then I don't think they would work with your mechanical components. I may be wrong but I would suggest you double check before forking out any cash.

trailflow

Here's a good comparison of the cassettes.
http://handsonbike.blogspot.co.uk/2014/ ... -6800.html

I echo what everyone else says. Totally pointless upgrade.

And the KMC X11 chain is a great chain and will shift just as good as Shimano. Any difference in speed and smoothness will be almost indiscernible. You're talking milliseconds at best. The KMC chain wont exactly shift 'rough'.

The Ultegra ST-RS785 Shifters are Di2 shifters and will not work with mechanical 6800. So you'll need the Di2 upgrade kit.

urso

No deep pockets which is why I checked with the forum before doing any upgrades.
My second bike and my plan is to keep it for a looooonnnggggg time.

Thanks for the feedback to keep me from wasting $$$

svetty

Personally I prefer 52-36 chainrings so can understand this change, otherwise just ride it