crghill

I've been selling some spare parts on ebay and now have enough money to replace either my wheelset or to purchase a double crankset so I can get rid of my triple...which I absolutely hate. So, my question is...in your humble (and isn't that a quality that permeates BF) opinion, which would you do first? I've got crappy hubs and I hate the triple so I'll be thrilled to get rid of one of them.

wanders

I'd say the wheels will give you more of a thrill. What set/kind are you considering?

crghill

Nothing very fancy, Ultegra hubs with Mavic CXP 700C...although, I'm still kinda new at this stuff so I'm open to suggestions.

Surferbruce

if you hate the triple i'd swap the crank, unless your wheels are steel rimmed boat anchors.

crghill

The setup is 105 shifters, Ultegra FD, Ultegra RD, Truvativ triple on the front and 10spd cass on back. It shifts like crap and always has,

king-tony

Shifts badly in the front, back or both?

crghill

Both, the front consistently overshifts and the back consistently undershifts or won't shift and then shifts by two instead of one. I've had three different mechanics work on it and at this point I'm ready to start replacing parts.

rene_sc

^^^If it were my bike that shifted that poorly, I'd definitely go for the upgraded crankset.

CastIron

Hmmmm....

I'm sympathetic to wanting to toss a TruVativ triple (one is lying in the far reaches of my garage), but it shouldn't have any effect on rear shifting. It might make front shifting slower or clunky but should still get the job done. Your driveline has other more pressing problems.

Wheels are always a pretty solid upgrade, so I'd favor doing those after you sort the shifting issues. Since you're paying folks for poor results and ready to toss parts, it's a fine time to learn how do this stuff yourself. After all, you'll only botch parts you want to replace at the worst.

Start with new cables, chain, and cassette. Or find a different shop.

Bike enthusiast

^^^ Agreed, the crank shouldn't affect the rear shifting - double check your derailleur settings.

On ebay Ultegra cranks sell for about $100 new or less and DA for $180, which doesn't cost nearly as much as wheels..... Just can't afford the extra $80 or so to appeal both of your desires???

Cyclist01012

Along with the new cables, have them replace all of the shifter housings. You would be suprised what a little bit of rust in a housing or a poorly cut housing will do to your shifting.

Retro Grouch 

Replacing the crankset isn't going to improve your rear shifting. Honestly, in spite of the fact that you say three different people have worked on it, I think that you have a tuneing problem. If you brought that bike to me I'd throw away the existing shift cables, check the derailleur hanger and front derailleur alignment, and install brand new cables.

crghill

Thing is, we've replaced all the cables and housings. I had it tuned before the ms150 and I added a DA chain. It shifted great for awhile. Then, about mile 60 it began to come undone. By the end of the ride I had to stop, turn the bike over, shift the front and then continue on. I absolutely hate the drivetrain on my bike. Just to give a little background, I bought it new when I bought a 2006 year model trek pilot 2.1. It never shifted quite right on that bike. It's gotten worse since moving all the components over to my Salsa La Raza. Man, I'm so frustrated with it.

bbgobie

Congrats
You just described Cable stretch...

crghill

Cable stretch explains the sloppy shifting, I totally understand that. However, the cables had about 150 miles on them before the ride. I thought that most of the stretch would be out at that point. Also, the front shifter locked up on me and wouldn't shift at all. No matter how hard I pushed or pulled on it...nothing. Is that cable stretch also?

crghill

Any other thoughts...anyone?

c_bake

Check your cassette for excesive play? Never know. This past summer I had a 12-27 cassette put on a week before the Bicycle Tour of Colorado, new cable's aswell, rode bike around a week before tour to make sure everything was fine. 2 days into a 7 day ride my componets would not shift properly for anything, i would stop at the mechanics tent to get adjusted, i did this like 4 times, each time they would adjust it and it would shift fine for a while, usually till I set the bike over or whatever, i rode 4 days like this, constantly adjusting the barrell adjusters, I was totally hot. Then at a overnite stop I was cleaning my chain and with the bike still I shifted my Rear derailer to a bigger cog and saw the whole freakin cassette move. 4 mechanics never caught this. Somehow the cassette worked loose.
Just a thought. check it out.

Cyclist01012

I think I would check for a bent hanger.

CastIron

A good shop should at this point be willing to entertain virtually any theory. This means they slap a different crankset on and shop test it to see if the problem disappears. These systems can be bedeviling but aren't that complex.