Originally Posted by
magohn
Thanks Camilo - $125 does seem more reasonable. I will go hunting on eBay. My main concern was that things would "shift" as they do now.
ultraman6970 - yes I suck as a climber. But I do notice a real difference when riding the Trek versus the Roubaix. I just want to get the most bang for my energy-buck. You can count me as a "clyde" rider (proudly) but its not for want for trying. In the last 18 months I have dropped 30+lbs and ridden 3000+ miles (including multiple back to back century weekends). So I think my fitness is there its just when I hit the 10%+ grade hills, I notice how well-equipped the Trek is to tackle them.
Thanks again all.
The shifting should be just like it is now. I've used MTB rear derailleurs and cassettes w/ road shifters on a couple of occassions, and I've never noticed any meaningful change in the shifting - except there will be larger gaps between the rear gears. I haven't done it with Sram, only Shimano 8 and 9 speed. But it's one of the "selling points" of Sram 10 speed vs. Shimano: all the Sram10 speed drive train parts, whether they are MTB or Road, will work with each other while Shimano 10 speed shifters won't work well with Shimano 10 speed MTB RD (or it takes a lot of fiddling to make them work OK).
Good luck. More lower gears are a good thing if you need them, and you're the one and only judge of that. But the conversation always seems to bring in the oh so helpful advice to get stronger as if it's somehow we (who are looking for lower gears) have never thought of it or are just lazy.
I say: make the bike work the way it will make riding more fun for you. It's fairly cheap and easy. I've done it to two bikes this summer and it really made the bikes more fun, and the rider stronger because of more and funner riding!