WhyFi

I could certainly be wrong, but I'm thinking that the bolded bit is the most relevant. I'd wager that a little quality time and some new cables would have your bike shifting just as easily. That said, front shifting was noticeably improved moving from 5600 to 5700 (though I doubt that they would tweak FD mechanicals two generations in a row).

WalksOn2Wheels

Speaking of the Crockett, I've been feeling a little apathetic about riding with no immediate big ride goal in mind. I was supposed to wake up early yesterday and either ride my rollers or outside. I ended up sleeping in and having a mostly miserable day. Then I suddenly decided that if I ride in the dark in the morning, why not ride in the dark at night? So I got my lights together and took the Crockett out to some gravel roads for some late night stupidity. It was a blast.

I also was reminded that I don't need disc brakes. A cat was trying to cross the road as I came up on it in the dark. I grabbed the brakes and did quite an impressive skid on the pavement. And the bonus part was the sound of the skid scared the cat sufficiently enough that it decided not to run across my path.

And one of the people on the group ride last week had also come to the last two gravel events I had done on his CX bike. He went on to ride quite a bit more that day including some off road action. I think I'll ride the Crockett to the next Saturday group ride and tag along when he splits off at the end.

WalksOn2Wheels

For sure the quiet drivetrain is a maintenance issue. I clean the CX bike often enough that it regularly gets the chain lubed. I haven't touched the Domane's chain in forever and it is stupid loud because I've been too lazy to lube it.

But the front shifting between 5700 and 5800 is significant. The 5800 FD got the extra long lever arm from the 9000 and 6800 groups. I think the current 10 speed Tiagra even has the longer lever arm of the FD and would probably out perform the 5700 with fresh cables.

velociraptor

I'm in a paceline and the guy in front of me shifts into his big ring: 'clackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclackclack CLUNK! chingggg..."

I feather the brakes a little.

Give myself a few extra inches.

Just in case.

PepeM

You're always welcome over here.

Ramona_W

First one was a Devil's Ivy and now I am on my third dandelion. Turns out I was supposed to raise two more Devil's Ivies first but oh well. And, before anyone asks, I haven't seen a mod for Colorado/Washington/Alaska.

Short piece about Plant Nanny

Doug28450

I will not be going to the meet in Minneapolis. The next National meet I'm aiming for is in December in Columbus, Ohio.

Ramona_W

Pokemon Go might still be stupid even if it did save a kitty cat. Seriously though, if you're thirsty all the time and it isn't work related, you might want to go see your doctor to make sure you haven't become diabetic.

Ramona_W

This is probably heresy but I think I've only ever shifted a front derailleur about a half dozen times. I was on a pretty little women's Schwinn mountain bike trying to make it up a very steep hill which most people were smart enough to walk up. Eventually, I ran out of gears and had to walk the last two blocks.

I don't think I've ever done any front shifting on the Trek and for that matter I rarely use anything but 3, 4, or 5 on the rear. When should I be shifting the front? Am I doing terrible things to my bike without knowing it? (Pink pedals aside.)

rjones28 

You could go for a ride.

WalksOn2Wheels

I never did understand why so many people seem to struggle setting up an FD. 1) Get it straight (or line it up if you have SRAM yaw). 2) Set your high and low limits 3) adjust cable tension. As long as you get 1 and 2 right, it shouldn't fall off (you can drop a chain on the inside even if it's set up properly, but you have to try REALLY hard). Getting 3 right means an almost silent shift to the big ring. Yet I still see people dropping chains on the outside, having lots of rub, and really noisy shifts.

EDIT: Ok, so I forgot to mention setting the height. I guess I assumed it as part of step 1. That's actually the part I see done wrong on lots of bikes, including fresh out of the box builds.

Ramona_W

First lesson for today: If you're bus and bike commuting and your bus only runs once an hour, you do not have time to pick out the perfect earrings and also have time to realize your helmet is upstairs- so dogs don't eat the pads- and run back up to get it. You may have time to do one or the other but doing both will result in you watching your bus glide by while you're waiting for the traffic to clear.

Second lesson for today: If, instead of saying "Screw it" and going back home to wait for the next bus and being 20 minutes late, you keep riding along a very well-traveled street then there's a good chance a co-worker, who is also running late, will see you and offer you a ride and you will actually get to work 20 minutes before the bus would have got you there.

indyfabz

Thanks God that is over. City almost back to normal.

WalksOn2Wheels

Obviously not the same event, but I used to live like 5 miles north of AT&T stadium in Arlington. On top of all the football games and the seemingly endless baseball season (the ballpark is right next to the stadium) there were often other major events, including the CMA awards the last year I was there. Kind of a year round traffic nightmare.

WalksOn2Wheels

Depending on your riding style, that's probably totally fine. As long as you are spinning sufficiently as to not wreck your knees (80-90 rpm) you should be alright. I'm sure Lester would say something if he thought you were hurting/disadvantaging yourself on rides.

Ramona_W

Thanks. He hasn't said anything about shifting. Mostly he says I should raise my saddle and pick up the pace.

velociraptor

Yep, there's a YouTube video for that.

Or like, 3 bazillion...

Srsly tho, why do people think it's ok to ride around making so much racket? So easy to fix...

Dan333SP

I replaced cables and housings 2 weeks ago on my bike, plus the chain and cassette recently, it still doesn't feel as nice.

BillyD

Bite your tongue!



Yeah it flashed across my mind . . . . . and then it was gone. My cycling drive is totally dead this year, no interest, no motivation.

Maybe I should resign my moderator position.

BillyD

A Philly guy, huh?

BillyD

Naaaaaah that's just crazy talk.

rpenmanparker 

You shift, because you need to. You pick a front ring based on terrain or wind direction or both. The two sets of gears overlap, so you don't usually need to go back and forth on the front rings. I expect you could be on the smallmring almost al the time. If you want to go faster than about 23 mph, shift to the big ring. Otherwise, why bother?

velociraptor

I disagree, but then I'm one of those annoying sticklers about cross-chaining and such and so forth etc... Gawd, even I hate me sometimes.

Nah, not really....

SHIFT dammit!

WhyFi

I haven't looked in to the minutiae between 5700 and 5800 (really, I have no incentive/desire to), but a longer lever isn't, in and of itself, always an advantage. All other things equal, for a longer lever to result lower actuation force, it must necessarily travel a longer distance. I can't speak for others but, whether it's hand size, hood placement or whatever, I don't shift from the very end of the lever precisely because of the travel necessary to do so (and because I'm a burly man that can comfortably wrestle the lever at a higher point, I guess).

Don't get me wrong - I've never been known to stand between a person and their desire to spend money, but I don't think that the move to 5800 is some magic bullet; if 5700 ain't broke, it strikes me as an exceptionally poor value to move to 5800, considering all of the things that would need to be replaced, if shifting performance is the primary justification.

WhyFi

Well so much for that.