robow

But what about a 10 speed and a triple ?

kingston 

I have bikes with 7, 9 and 10 speed triples. They’re all good, but 9-speed is the Goldilocks IMO.

mstateglfr 

Still dont understand why offering 8sp is bad. A handful of teens I ride with for the mentorship program have road bikes because they saved and were able to afford a Claris level bike.
Tons of beginners use these bikes as an easy and new entry point into whether they like cycling.

If everything was just 10sp or higher, prices would be higher. Not sure why a higher priced barrier to entry is good.

mstateglfr 

There is one in every group...

Tourist in MSN

On my comment: I would take the eight speed & triple over the 10 speed & compact double (on my road bike) for most types of riding. Response was:

I have bought a triple crank, new front derailleur and bottom bracket so I can change that bike over to a triple, but have not done so yet. I mostly use that bike around home, and since there is only one steep hill that I ride on that bike that is a bit steep for my current gearing, I am not in a big hurry to change.

But I bought the triple components because I expect to use that bike for a credit card touring trip that has some steeper hills, the triple that I bought for it is going on for that trip.

I have four bikes that use the same eight speed cassettes, and a few others that use the same eight speed chains. It makes my inventory of spares a lot simpler to maintain the fleet.

Ignore him. Every once in a while he pops up and tries to insult everyone that uses derailleurs. I have two derailleur touring bikes and one Rohloff bike, each has advantages and disadvantages. I have explained to him a few times that there are advantages to both types of systems, but I now just ignore him.

chrisx

True.

I had to remove a cog from the middle of the 11 speed cassette to make it fit the old mid 90s wheel. Unlike my m772, my m970 derailleur did not like a longer b screw for the 42 tooth cog.

As long as we need a new wheel,
https://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=89778&category=139
Alex Adventure 2 TRS 26" Rim

Tubeless ready, rim brakes, not to expensive.

My vote is as follows;
Modern bike parts are new and improved.
Last years parts are on sale.
11 speed is the way to go.

robow

Instead of replacing with a longer B screw, did you try simply "reversing the B screw" ? Often you can get the added clearance you need when you want to press the rear derailleur beyond its stated capacity. On one of my bikes it was necessary in order to get the 105 RD to run with an 11-34 cassette.

chrisx

It did not pop into my head to put the b screw into the derailleur from the other side. But I will type out, reverse the b screw, to help my tired old brain remember that thought for another day.

B screw = M5 was it not? A new one does not cost a whole entire dollar at the hardware store.

I still think 11 speed drive train is made modern and better. 11 speed chain last longer because a strongr metal is used to make it. With the Microshift thumbie, an 8, 9, or 10 can be used down the road somewhere. Who wants to check and see if an 8 or 9 speed chain can fit into an 11 speed derailleur?

escii_35

Unless you -really- need it, I'm a big fan of KISS. Friction 7-9 with a triple.

Where things get complex is matching derailleur to shifter to cog range for smooth indexing.

If you are looking for an old school silver derailleur on a budget. Microshift RD-R47 long.

djb

I've been using indexed shifting for well over 30 years, and it just plain works.
DT shifters, trigger, sti, thumbie style, and with good cables, housings, and any reasonable shifter and rd, its reliable reliable and consistent year after year.

chrisx

My old thumbies lasted through 6 or 7 frames. I bought them used. I left the bike in Guatemala

My new 11 speed thumbies should last the rest of my lifeˇż

The old are not silly simple compared to the new.

My 11 speed cassette can shift under load on a hill. My 7 speed or 8 speed cassette can not say that.

Have bike parts improved in the last 30 years?

They look and feel the same. They work the same. The same tools mount the 7 or the 11.

Keep it silly simple includes not being afraid of a new modern bike part. The shift lever is in the same place on the bar. Installing and use remain the same.

escii_35

Yes,

I did a 1200 ride the past September on some sad cables. 3 days in, riding up Babyshoe pass things were not happy. Then I remembered "I have cable splitters." Break cable, grab multi tool, take up some slack, barrel adjust and go.

djb

from mucking about with neighbours or friends old bikes, its hard to get indexing working well when the cables and housings are all old and gungy/sticky/ and this is why its always suggested to change housings every X time frame.
A bike shop will say do it every season, but I find every 3 or 4 years is fine , depending on how the bike is ridden, ie how much its in rain or left outside or in dirt riding etc, makes a big difference--but it does make things better when they are in good shape.

veganbikes

XT 9 speed is still available but Shimano is unlikely to list it on their main website. My current loaded touring bike is 9 speed XT rear derailleur and CX70 front 11-34 at the back and a 46-34-24 front crank but I am building another kind of adventure/touring bike and I am going 2x11 because I realized most of my touring is done in the U.S. and if I was really in a jam, I can order crap online and ship it wherever I am. I also am going with external BB cranks (from White Industries). Plus if I am going on a long tour I will take some time the month or two before to replace chain and cassette if they are close to worn or will be worn out during my journey.


I used to be a 9 speed or die and also square taper is everything but having worked in several shops for a decent amount of time and working on bikes positions have changed. Plus with the new GRX and Ultegra RX stuff plus useful shifters from other companies like Microshift allow us to do some neat stuff. My new 2x11 bike is going to use either VO Crazy Bars or Koga Denham Bars with an XT rear derailleur and an Ultegra front with Microshift thumbies and it is going to be a great set up (having built up a similar bike for a customer and loving it).


What I do tell people is if you are building up a touring bike use really good quality components that are proven reliable. Maintain that stuff well (clean, tuned and lubed as needed) and don't ride like a maniac. Having stuff that does follow some semblance of standards is helpful but don't feel like you need to have everything be always easily replaced in the jungles of Peru because it just isn't always going to be practical. Taking care of your equipment and having some mechanical knowledge will be the best way to go.


If you are super duper worried shifting wise I would try to find a good set of friction shifters a NOS 8 speed era XT rear derailleur RD-M737? (or one in really good condition) and you could run that up to 10 speeds (mine on my commuter bike is running a 1x9 fantastically with no issues and a lot of abuse) and maybe a similar front derailleur FD-M737? and you will have a good long lasting drivetrain. I think that rear derailleur will keep going and going.

Tourist in MSN

Yup, above I commented that:

I think my collection of mid-90s derailleurs are M735, M737, and M739.
VeloBase.com - Component: Shimano RD-M735 SGS, Deore XT
VeloBase.com - Component: Shimano RD-M737 SGS, Deore XT M737
VeloBase.com - Component: Shimano RD-M739 SGS, Deore XT

I have those on my rando bike and two touring bikes. And one or two as spares.

But unfortunately they are old enough now that ones on Ebay often have worn jockey wheels or jockey wheels that were replaced with lower end ones.

If you get one and clean and re-grease the jockey wheels, only do one jockey wheel at a time so you do not mix up the upper and lower wheels and parts.

djb

I need to replace the jockey wheels on my 90s sometime XT, but only use that bike in winter now, so never get around to doing it.
but will be careful to do one at a time to not mix up stuff.

veganbikes

Good stuff. You can easily replace jockey wheels. The good folks at Tacx make some excellent pulley wheels in various bearing versions. I have been using their stuff for a long time and it works well and is compatible with old school stuff.

DropBarFan

Unhappy to read that Shimano is blocking parts from Europe, seems rather pointless. Plus, they don't sell any triple hydraulic brifters nor even any non-brifter hydraulic road levers so with drop bar & bar-end shifters one can't use Shimano hydraulic brakes.

Tourist in MSN

I was unaware that Shimano was added to the list of manufacturers that succumbed to pressure from the USA distributors to block their foreign competition.

The reason that a lot of my bike part purchases over the years was from Europe was the savings. The Europeans charged high shipping costs for international shipping, yet those European sellers still could undercut the large markups that USA distributors were charging by a wide margin.

When Shimano is competing with Sram and others, I will buy less Shimano stuff in the future.

DropBarFan

Europe & USA have similar costs of doing business so Shimano stuff should have the same availability & price in the USA.

GamblerGORD53

I hate to RUB it in guys, but I will. LOL
Seems like half the CGOAB blogs I read there's another tale of broken rear spokes on them thar deFaileurs. This was just day 6 and 7, btw...
The latest of the sad lot, on a really nice set up Surly DT and it actually fits him properly. The guy is medium tall/ big and has only rear bags, but anyways......
Pling pling pling pling in outer Thailand.... That's the way it goes when you don't ride a PERFECT Rohloff.

OR at least get triple or double butted spokes, 2.3xx2.0 and use locking nipples.
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=1mr&page_id=594078&v=2Y

Edit>> So I read some more of his story. He also broke 5 or 6 spokes in NZ. Here he broke and fixed 3 spokes, then 2 days later broke 3 more. He does have 5 spares at this time. This was all on nice newly paved roads, AFAIK. Day 9 stay tuned.... ha He has Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia planned.