Originally Posted by
General Geoff
You could swap out the 50/34T compact crankset for a
SLK BB386EVO modular crankset, which will let you run 46/30 up front and keep the STI 11-speed shifters of a 105 or higher groupset. Not quite mountain bike low for granny gear, but a lot more useful on long, steep climbs on road/gravel.
I had considered that, and it would do great for most of the riding I anticipate doing with this exception. The bike is going to be my retirement gift to myself. When I retire I am going to get on the bike and head out west. Mountains age and bad knees dictate true mountain bike gearing. I need to post my questions in the mechanics forum someone will steer me in the right direction. Worst case scenario is I buy an Urbano with flat bar shifters and add drop bar ends for the additional hand positions. I already have a bike set up that way and love it, but on the rare occasions I do paceline riding, it's less than ideal.
For some reason, I really like Lynskey. I prefer them over Litespeed as Lynskey uses threaded bottom brackets in some of their offerings. I am in Chattanooga every now and then. I need to see if they will let me tour the factory!