Switch to 10 Speed Underway
 

I decided not to wait for daVinci's modified SRAM RD and ordered the bits and pieces to convert from 9 to 10 speed: 2 chains (yes, I need two chains!), inexpensive Deore RD (I'll maybe shop used for a fancier RD), Jtek Shiftmate (Campy to Shimano) and 11-32 10 spd. cassette. The 10 spd. eliminates a few of the large jumps in the 9 spd which are bothersome since our cadences don't have a large overlap. Jetks are being pretty widely used so I'm not anticipating any issues. I should be done this am, but it's (heaven forbid) actually raining so might not get to road test today. Will post my impressions.

I noted in another thread that the Rohloff IGH has a constant 13.6% spacing. IGH looks very attractive for some applications, but my limited tandem experience says that unless the team are really well matched 13.6% seems like a big jump. I'm comfortable 87-100 and I would say my wife runs out of gas at 92 or so. I am working on leg strength which will help in the lower cadences when climbing.

One way to deal with different preferred cadences is to adjust the crank lengths. Going to a shorter crank will automatically lead to an increase in the preferred cadence since it's easier to spin if your feet are going in smaller circles.

So if you and your wife haven't been able to adjust to a compatible cadence range through training and familiarization you might try giving her shorter cranks or getting longer ones for yourself.

My main worry about going 10 speed used to be chains. I break 9 speed chains and they are Shimano XT so it is just the power going in that breaks them on the Offroad uphills. But I would be loath to use ultegra 10 spd chains offroad.

Mountain Bikes are starting to see 10spd now and I noticed that the 10spd are now being done in XT- so Can't see a problem in the future.

My wife and I are of an age where we won't endanger the chain:o Experimenting with cranks would be interesting, but I'd be matching the daVinci cranks currently on the tandem: not an inexpensive experiment. I know the 10 spd will help with a few of the gear changes. I will soon have a 40 speed:D

So..., I am waiting to see how the 10 speed holds up, I agree, at age, too much power may not be an issue, keep us posted.
P/s Rick, what are you doing for leg strength?
R

GH,
I've read a lot of posts equally divided between "weight training is good" and "weight training doesn't do a thing". After all, Lance didn't weight train for TdF so some say. My take is that someone on a structured, discipline cycling only training program could do darn well riding exclusively, but riding a tandem for strenuous recreation with an SO is not a structured training program. When you undertake a big climb you can't stress your muscles the way you do on a machine or with free weights because you're in survival mode.

Short story: I'm doing strength training - quads, hamstrings and about everywhere else. I've already noticed some improvement in leg strength and I think the upper body and core work will help even more on a tandem than on a single. I've got 20 years of sitting behind a desk, riding horses and moving hay bales to make up for.

While we can't keep chain tension in all of our possible gear choices...your 40 speed beats our 36 speed.

Having a Great Granny has been nice the few times we needed it.

PK

I would guess breaking of chains would be more of an installation issue, or defective chain. Plenty of strong riders using 10 speed chains without breaking them. I prefer KMC chains over Shimano. They seem to run quieter and feel more solid. They also come with a quick link instead of those ridiculous pins.

Switching to 10 speeds was the best thing I ever did. I went from a 28/42/54 and 11-32 9 speed using Campy 10 ergos and a DaVinci modded rear Sram to a 26/39/53 11-29 full Campy using a Long Cage Campy rear derailleur and Campy Veloce rear cassette (single cogs allowed me to create the 11-29). If you plot the gears - you'll see less crossover, less gaps more usable gears and a high and low near identical to what I had before. Shifting is MUCH improved as well.

After I get this conversion working (having some shifting issues at the moment) I'll look at 12-28 for a RD. We could do 95+% of our climbing using a 28, but I'd need the 32t as backup for a sustained steep climb. It only takes a few minutes to change cassettes, not on the fly of course! I don't have really a choice in chainring being on a daVinci, but the closer spacing shoud decrease the number of times I have to double-shift on gentle rollers or into a headwind.

I've overcome my initial failure to read the Jtek directions carefully. Who knew the little wheel had to be reversed for certain applications:o I've got things shifting well on the stand. Will get this thing on the road either tomorrow pm solo or two-up on Wednesday. On second thought, never try a new "feature" with SWMBO along for the ride. My experience tells me that stoker's have little patience for bad shifting especially when "I'm only installing a new chain" sounded good at the time.

BTW, I am using KMC chains; they're well-priced and my not so local tandem BS has had very good success with KMC. Love the snap-on quick links. Had to remove the horrible chain gunk first and don't tell me that's factory lube. The coating had the consistency of fly trap glue.

Put Tracey and I both in the "weight training is good" stack.

We both see real improvements from the weight training that we weren't able to accomplish with riding by itself.

YMMV.

Don't feel dumb I did the same thing and ended up calling JTEK.

Just to close this thread on a happy note:), we took our first ride with the CamShi 10 speed drive train and it worked flawlessly. This wasn't your 60 mile quad-busting workout, but the shifting was definitely better than with the 9 spd setup and in our 48 ring which we ride most of the time on flat to rolling terrain (14-25 mph or so) the spacing was sweet:D

How about the shifting in front. Did it get better/same/worse? I always have problems jumping over "rings" unless there is little or no load. I wonder if a stiffer front derailleur would help or maybe it's not really dialed in.

I didn't find any FD issues, but only shifted the FD a few times. Just note that I don't have an indexed front shifter (Campy QS) and have four small chainrings so YMMV with a "normal" setup. What I like about the daVinci is that I can cross-chain to my heart's content, but not to be abused of course. We'll take a more serious ride with a bit of climbing on Saturday, but things are looking good. I'm almost not surprised that it shifts better than my 9-spd setup since I'm not certain the daVinci mod the the SRAM RD does exactly what needs to be done to adapt Campy shifts. daVinci's a solid company so I may still be tempted to try their 10-spd SRAM RD when it's available.