Originally Posted by irablumberg
I have no idea what a "four-piece Ultegra conversion" would be, however, today's price of an ultegra triple at performance.com is $207, an ultegra triple FD is $49, a long cage ultegra rear der. is $99 and ultegra triple brifters are $410.
...but don't start throwing around bogus cost numbers to justify you opinion.
BOGUS? Here, eat some words!
Here's my most recent purchases:
CS-6503 crank $80, BB-6500 (118mm) $36, FD-6503 (used) $35, RD-6500-GS (used) $26. With
three shipping charges
a bit over $200.
Now let's price 150 components:
Cambria: CS-5505 $70, BB-5500 (118mm) $35, FD-5504 $40, RD-5501 $40 or RD-4400-GS $25. One shipping charge, and Cambria is having a 15% sale so about
$155 all brand new parts. With used and/or Tiagra components, the cost could be much less.
Shimano R700 compact, btw, is $214 at Cambria. They do have an FSA compact for $100, but it would need an ISIS BB - cheapest is $45.
None of that looks cheap or particularly simple (for a novice) to install.
Yet you're advocating that he install a crank (and BB?) and cassette. Not that much different, but a fair point nonetheless. I'd reply that he *should* learn this stuff and now's as good a time as any.
You claim all these advantages for compacts - reliability, cost, weight - but the differences are negligible. Meanwhile the compact
does not provide the full range of gearing the OP seems to need. What good are
any advantages if it doesn't meet his need??