biketobefree

Hello! I am new here.

I have a 58cm titanium seven bike that I need to rebuild. Currently, it has di2 6070 10-speed shifting but the system has failed and it's basically done for according to all the bike shops I've brought it to.

I want to rebuild it and I know it's an unpopular opinion but I want to go back to mechanical. I didn't pay for this system, got the bike used on craiglist so can't really afford di2. I'll be taking it to a shop but but because parts are difficult to find I need to buy them myself.

Anywho, thinking of replacing all my parts with R8000 11-speed Ultegra groupset from eurobikeparts? Any thoughts or recommendations? Anything I might be missing? I am open to sram but don't know much.

Things I'm trying to figure out as a newbie:
- The right crankset size, I'm 6ft, inseam 83.82cm, 180lbs female. One method says I should get 172, the other 170. Leaning towards 170 34/50 because I have trouble uphill.
- The right Cassette 11/32 with GS cage. I have trouble uphill. I do it right now with 10/28 but it's tough.
- Unsure on the right front derailleur
- Rear derailleur I'm pretty sure I'll get the one compatible with 11/32

Any help is very much appreciated!


I'm a casual endurance cyclist who is training for AIDS/Lifecycle and got into cycling to commute. Used to be a collegiate athlete. I do roughly 100-150 miles a week right now.

Tourist in MSN

I had no idea what the goal was here, so did a quick google search. Is this what you are doing? (Pasted):
AIDS/LifeCycle is a 7 day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, co-produced by and benefiting San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

If so, that sounds like up to maybe 100 miles a day for a week. Probably on roads with a maximum uphill slope of 8 percent grade. But you might want to contact the ride coordinator and ask what the steepest hills are. You do not want to have gearing for 8 percent if you have 12 percent grade hills.

Before you start thinking of an 11 speed system, find out if your rear hub can take an 11 speed cassette. You might want to stick with a 10 speed system if your rear wheel is good but can't take an 11.

Do you need to change your crankset or not? If your shifters and derailleurs are shot, your crankset might be fine or it might only need new chainrings. I have a compact double 50/34 on my road bike, those are very common. But some are moving to smaller rings like 46/30. Best to know which crankset you will want before you decide which cassette you will have. And if your crankset is fine, no reason to change that. That said, if your crankset has a 39T smallest chainring, then maybe you want a new one for lower gearing?

And if you do not have any knee problems with your current crankset, is there a reason that you might want to switch to different crank arm lengths? You did not say what your crank arm lengths are.

I am about 6 foot, inseam similar to yours, I use 175 mm on most of my bikes, one bike has 170mm.

I know I did not answer a single one of your questions, but if you want good advice, that advice has to be tailored to your situation.

GhostRider62

Rear derailleur 11 speed wide Ultegra $100

Front derailleur Ultegra $50

Ultegra R8000 shifters $350 (could also use 105 shifters to save a little, I wouldn't myself)

Chain $50

Cassette 11-32 Ultegra $90

Cabling $50

You should not need new brake calipers or crankset ubless the rings are worn, then maybe do the whole groupset. So, maybe $700 in parts and maybe 2 hours labor.

I'm 6'4'' and mostly use 172.5 cranks. I have used 200, 180, 177.5, 175 and 170 in the past. Somehow, I like 172.5.

antimonysarah

There’s also the fact that you can Frankenstein Shimano ten-speed road front derailleur+a long cage rear 9-speed shimano mountain derailleur and go to 11-36 on the rear. (That’s what I have — I’d have to look up the exact parts but it was a common hack.)

adamrice 

I'm a proponent of subcompact chainrings and a tighter cassette. On my bike, I've got 46/30 in front and 11-30 in the rear. This gives me a lower low end and better spacing between gears. Very rarely, I wish I had a higher gear.

You could do this with a Shimano GRX crankset—Ultegra/105 cranks won't take a 30-t ring, although there is a special aftermarket 46/30 that will fit (there's been some discussion of this product on Bikeforums). There are other options from smaller component brands.

Crankarm length is one of those religious-war topics. You can find evidence to support any position.

GhostRider62

OP: don't forget to make sure your current wheels can take 11 speed. Some cannot. I've successfully converted two sets with a new freehub body, very easy and about $80 IIRC

Classtime 

Is your current set up 6770 di2?
Shimano Ultegra 6770 10 Speed Di2 Upgrade Kit

microcord

(My own legs are long enough for 175 mm or longer to be the normal recommendation. For a couple of months I alternated between one bike with 170 mm and another with 172.5 mm: I didn't notice any difference.)

Why I'd never buy a new/recent Ultegra or Dura-Ace crankset:
(You may wish to skip the first 2 minutes 20 seconds or so: this opening section won't tell you anything about cranksets, and will give you a mistaken impression of Hambini.)

ThermionicScott 

Why? Is he uncharacteristically polite and deferential in this video?

microcord

Um, no he isn't; he's true to his inimitable personality.

What he rants about merits the rants; and OK, the ear-splitting "Hello Hambini fans and welcome" is his "signature" intro -- but the stuff about what his pen is [Geddit?] doing, etc, has long become boring for me. Which is a great pity, because he knows his stuff.

unterhausen

It's not going to give you a mistaken impression of Hambini, he really does have the social skills of a 5 year old and the mentality of a teenager.
He's a bit late on the shimano crank cracking story though, people have been talking about it for years. I agree he usually knows what he's talking about, but I didn't find this particular video to be particularly enlightening. Will be interesting if shimano feels compelled to respond to a 5 year old engineer.

clasher

Hambini is a piece of **** human, I don't care if he's a good engineer or not.

https://ridewriterepeat.com/2022/01/...ling-industry/
https://road.cc/content/news/shockjo...rces-it-272869

microcord

Yes, that Hambini eruption was (is) bad.

OK then: Peak Torque on the newer, more expensive of Shimano's cranksets:


People have indeed been talking about this matter for years, but I get the impression that they've been greatly outnumbered by the people who've either been unaware of this talk or who have anyway bought the things (or who have attempted to do so).

TPL

ShimaNO parts not working ?

That's unusual !
'
Contact ShimaNO directly for easy assistance

kingston 

I'd go with Chorus 12 (48/32) and a Miche Jr. or Recon 12-29 cassette if I were in your situation. You'll need a campy freehub obviously.

clasher

I picked up an FSA energy 46/30 for my new rando/gravel build... a hollow forged aluminum crankset, nothing glued together. All my shimano cranks are from the days when they were just hollow forged instead of being glued together. Not sure I'd pick a modern shimano crank given the chance of failure, though I've yet to meet anyone that has had that problem locally.

unterhausen

You would think randonneurs would have the problem a lot, because it seems to be promoted by wet weather.

I have one of the 5 arm ultegra cranks, which may be too old to have this problem? I haven't used them because you can't use other companies chain rings without modification. And then there are funny gaps. I also have cx-70 cranks, I'll have to look for glue lines.

clasher

Ya, I've heard that humidity seemed to be part of the problem but I haven't really read too much about it, did see one article on road.cc where shimano still insists it isn't a flaw in the design... but given how widespread it appears to be I hope they've tried something to make them stronger. My partner has a 6800 but she's not big on sprinting or standing/mashing but we still check the cranks fairly often.

I had a 5 arm ultegra too and I don't think they are built the same as the more modern 4-arm hollow cranks.

GhostRider62

Not too many randonneurs are on 11 and 12 speed. The 4 arm Shimano would be the 9000, 9100, and 9200 Dura Ace (11 and 12S)

It looks like the separation of the two bonded halves is a failsafe mode, the crank, BB and pedal are not separated...?? I do have 9000 crank with lots of miles in all sort of condition, there are no apparent separations in the bonding. Not comfortable yet with my decision not to replace.

CliffordK

Have you looked at cable stops on your frame?

Hydraulic or mechanical brakes?

If the frame was designed for Di2, it is possible it was designed for different wire routing than it would have had with mechanical derailleurs.

There may be ways around it, for example sourcing vintage clamps, or using full length cable housing.

tiCycles in Portland likely could add/modify cable stops, as well as potentially your bike's manufacturer. However, the cost of modifying your frame could exceed the cost difference in groupsets.

clasher

Shimano 11 speed will be 10 years old this year! I see a fair amount of 11 speed stuff on our club rides, certainly a lot more 11 speed and carbon than steel and DT shifters.

GhostRider62

It can be localized. I see a lot of steel, wool, 36H and 32H alu rims, and 8-10 speed drivetrains in many areas. I have not had DT since 1985 Campy C record, STI starting in around 1992. Pretty much everyone has left downtube shifters although one can still see them here and there. I was berated at PBP for using etap. I have been criticised for using low spoke count carbon wheels. So, I tend to casually survey who rides what. I do not see a lot of 11 and 12 speed on longer brevets. 200k brings out a lot of new randos and lots of gear.

When you say club rides, I assume you are not referring to randonneurs? Like local cycling club riders?

One thing is sure, surveying gear on a 400k or longer and one sees all sorts of preferences that work just fine.

clasher

I meant the Ontario rando club, my local bike club is is almost all people on bikes from the last 1-15 years, though they do a few vintage rides too. I'd say from my own observations that on 200/300s there's a lot more modern road bikes, with an even split of newer 11 speeds and older 10/9/8 speed stuff. Not too many folks running older shimano brifters with external cables anymore. On my 400K this summer, I was the only one on carbon, but the two others were on newer titanium with 11 speed and hydro discs, another was on an early 2000s Litespeed, the other was on a 1985 Miyata with a 6 speed frewheel... they were all faster than me I'm still on 10 speed because I like my triple and it's cheap to replace the drivetrain. My new gravel/rando build is my first foray into 11 speed. My partner does most her 200s on her 11 speed carbon roadie. Wool is fairly popular though, our club did a wool jersey and riders on carbon rock the wool too.

I've always been a fan of "run what ya brung", I think modern road bikes, especially the endurance type, are pretty decent for rando. I started on vintage steel with brifters, tried another bike with downtubes and fenders, but ended up like my carbon roubaix the best. I can't stand gear snobbery even when it comes from the steel & wool crowd. I'll probably be on electronic shifting in a few years.

Tourist in MSN

The bike I built up six years ago, Campy brifter for rear but I was not sure what I would use for front shifter with a triple and mis-matched front derailleur. Temporarily used a vintage down tube shifter. That is becoming closer to being the permanent shifter, as it is still there. But I have never been a trend follower. That said, I hate non-indexed down tube shifters for rear shifting, that option was never considered.



I do not think the OP is coming back.

GhostRider62

I love with an N = 1 Poster asks for advice and then disappears.

OP did get a lot of good advice. Probably the 46/30 cranks would be what he needs and just be done with the hill problem. Personally, I find the 46t a bit too short. I am on a 48T 1X with 11-36 12 speed right now and the jury is out if it will work.