sjanzeir

Depending on how you ride and where you live, any 10-speed cassette will do as long as it's within range; i.e. 11t (or larger) to 46t (or smaller.) Check the specs for your particular drivetrain (Shimano Deore M4100 in your case) - there's a range that Shimano state on their website. Be careful, though: you might need to swap out your chain for a slightly longer or shorter one if the cassette change you're thinking of is on the extreme side.

jaxgtr

Shimano, and I want to say SRAM as well, smallest tooth is an 11. SRAM introduced the 10 tooth with the AXS stuff.

Your still running Shimano drivetrain on this bike, but it is a 9 speed, oops, looked at the wrong yr..., it's a 10 speed., so you have a lot of options, 11 tooth is going to be the smallest, but you can find some that start at the 12, or 14, and can top out at 36 which is the max for your rear mech. You can use almost anything from Shimano, SRAM, SunRace,I am sure there are others as long as they are 10 speed and work with Shimano\SRAM hub bodies. If you really wanted a close setup.

MinnesotaSteve

So after spending years trying to ride a 2002 Cannondale F400 mountain bike in a fitness role, I ended up buying a 2020 Trek FX3 a few years back. It's been a good bike, and honestly it just highlighted how uncomfortable that Cannondale was, even after I replaced the handlebars and stem and such over the years.

I put Race Face Ride pedals on it which is a wide platform pedal, but they're plastic and don't have metal spikes sticking out. They work great. I then replaced the saddle with an Ergon SFC3 and put the old one on the Cannondale. It wasn't that the Trek saddle was bad, it actually was pretty comfortable and I needed something better on the old bike as my son is now riding it but the Ergon is just a wee bit better so it's mine.

Anyway this year I've decided I want to do some improvements to the drivetrain. There are two niggly little things. First, I decided the 46 tooth front gear is ridiculously large and I never use it. Our trails tend to be long slow uphill climbs, hardly ever anything flat, and I have zero interest going super fast downhill, so I'm nearly always in the 30. So I decided to order a Deore M4100-2 crank with 36/26 chainrings. I'll probably have to shorten the chain and adjust the front deraillerur.

Now the other thing is I think the Alivio shifting on the 9 speed rear is sluggish. Although the front feels fine. So when it warms up a bit in the garage I'm going to go take a look at that. It's may just be binding at some point or needs lubricating. My Cannondale had a Deore XT that shifts like a dream and spoiled me. Then last year I bought a Marlin 7 Gen 2 to ride with my son on the off road trails, and that came with the 1x10, and it doesn't shift quite as snappy as that old XT, it's still better then the Alivio. Now, because I was ordering that crank, and a M5120 rear was only $35, I bought one of those too. If I can't easily see something wrong with the way the Alivio is running, I'll try swapping it out for the M5120. Now both the new crank and this derailleur are for a 10 speed, but from everything I've found they should still work with the 9 speed shifter, chain and cassette.

If not, I might just complete the upgrade and go 2x10. I don't think I'd like a 1x10 with a 11-46 rear like the new FX3. I did check, and I can get up to a 38T chainring for the 96BCD mounting of the M4100. So not quite the 40, but again I think I like having things geared a bit lower anyhow. But maybe a 2x10 with 11-34 or 11-32 would be good. Have to see how this goes.

t2p

Shimano MTB 9 speed and 10 speed shifter / derailleur pull might be slightly different - ? - can’t recall ... ???

hokiefyd 

Yes, MTB 9-speed and MTB 10-speed use different cable pull ratios. It would be best to stick with the same family (shifter, derailleur, cassette, chain) when upgrading the bike or changing components. There are sometimes parts from different speed groups that are compatible with each other, and there are usually ways to make incompatible parts work together, but the path of least resistance for sure is just using stuff from the same family or group.

MinnesotaSteve

I wondered about that. I can't find the page I saw earlier that said it could work, but that makes sense. That's ok, eventually this is going to 2x10 or maybe even 2x11 when I get a better idea if I like the 36/26 combo. I saw another comment about replacing the Acera shifter with the Alivio making a big difference. So I'm going to order one of those too and see if it makes a difference.

hokiefyd 

10 speed road, with the exception of Tiagra 4700 and GRX, is compatible with 6/7/8/9 speed mountain groups. But 10 speed mountain is not compatible.

Reference link

t2p

yeah Tiagra 4700 series 10 spd is the outlier of the 10 spd road groups - uses same ‘pull’ as 11 spd

I have a Tiagra / GRX / Ultegra / XTR combo on one bike :

ST-4725 shifters - GRX 810 FD - R8000 RD - M980 11-34 cassette
.

smasha

Greeting to all of the Trek FX experts!

I'm trying to build up a city/grocery/hill bike, and hit a snag with the Giant Cross City (aka Escape) 2 that I started with - https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...ront-rack.html

Now I'm considering using a Trek FX2 as the starting point. The bikes seem to have nearly identical geometry, and they seem designed for the same kinds of riding. Same plan as before, start with a cheap but solid used bike, strip it down to frame and fork, and rebuild it as I need it to be, including a 3x10 drive-train.

On paper, one of the things that concerns me about the FX2 is the published specs: "Max tire size - 38c without fenders". That's not bad, but I do have 700x42 (44-622) tires that I'd like to use for this project.

1. Wondering what the limiting factor is,
2. and if a wider tire will work on the front,
3. maybe I could find a used FX2 fork and use that with the Cross City frame

Any other things to consider?

raymellott

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Unless you're doing this because of challenges of the ... work, effort in finding parts, and the costs involved are offset by the fun of the build, why don't you just go out and buy that bike you're looking for? Trek, for example, makes it seems, different models of bikes that ought to suit your goal.

smasha

If it were that easy...

The big thing I'm looking for that's not fashionable on current off-the-shelf bikes is a 3x10 drive-train, with 40-30-22 crankset and 11-42 cassette. This gives me a gear ratio (from lowest gear to highest gear) of almost 700%, which lets me keep a comfortable cadence up and down hills, with or without panniers full of groceries. From a walking speed to +50kph, I can maintain a comfortable spinning cadence. Also, I like 170mm crank-arms, which I'm not going to find standard on any large-frame bikes.

https://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=...N=KMH&DV=speed

If you can suggest an off-the-shelf, aluminium, city/grocery/hill bike that can do this, let me know. Otherwise, it seems like I have to start with a bike like the Giant Escape 2 or the Trek FX2, strip it down and build it up. The good news is that I kind of do enjoy doing the work. The cost is non-trivial, but if I start with a used bike it's reasonable.

raymellott

Found one, here:

https://www.occyclery.com/products/c...ls-size-medium

Then, the used market.....

https://99spokes.com/bikes/bianchi/2...-slxdeore-3x10

and elsewhere. Of course, none of that might work because some of these sources are.... aren't in the country where you are. I'm a big fan of having a rear cassette with enough gears with one tooth spacing allowing me to keep cadence in a narrow range. For me, that works with a 2x10 trannie. 3x10 is more than I think I'd ever need, but then to each their... of course. Good luck!!

smasha

I don't need the weight or complexity of suspension forks, and they tend to not work with a low-rider front-rack (especially a rack like the Tara, with a hoop over the wheel). Otherwise, those bikes are still lacking the lower gears that I'd get with my setup; I'd still need to replace most/all of the drive-train.

If I lived on the flats, or if I didn't use my bike for grocery shopping, I could enjoy a bike with more common gearing. I blame e-bikes. Terrain that used to demand triple cranksets is now getting people onto e-bikes, so now 3x is just out of fashion, and wide-range cassettes are even pushing 2x out of fashion.

Anyway, the Giant Escape 2 seemed like a good "platform" for building up a city/grocery/hill bike the way I want/need it. Now I'm looking into the Trek FX2... Or maybe use the fork from an FX2 with the Giant Escape 2?

CBLOY

Has anyone figured out a way to use a burley child trailer mount on the new FX Sport skewer/dropout? Trek says its not possible but my dealer is trying to come up with a solution...

hokiefyd 

It seems like a near-new MTB would be a good choice for you, smasha. You can replace the fork with a suspension corrected fork or similar, from the likes of Surly or Salsa. One of the bikes I ride most often is exactly this...an alloy MTB with a Surly fork. I think I have about $500 total into the bike, but it was very fun to build and configure just how I want it.

It has a rigid fork, MTB fenders to cover 27.5x2.25" Conti Ride Tour tires, hydro disc brakes, and a 3x9 drivetrain (but could easily be 3x10 if I wanted that.

Not to take away from an FX, but you might consider a used Marlin or Talon or similar.

smasha

My requirements for a fork are: Front rack compatible, aluminium, non-suspension, 700c, and overall suited for touring/grocery. Of course it has to be something I can find locally, which further limits my options.

In terms of specific bikes that are locally available and meet these criteria, I really haven't found anything other than the FX2.

hokiefyd 

If the fork has to be aluminum as well then, yes, this probably does limit your options quite a bit; they're not very common...either in the OE market or in the third party market.

hokiefyd 

I don't think the fork will limit your tire clearance on an FX. The limiting factor is probably clearance down at the chain stay or bridge area.

Another bike to consider is the Trek Verve 2 or 3, if it's available in your area. It comes from the factory with 700x45 tires, has an alloy frame and fork, and appears like it meets most or all of your criteria, without you needing to swap major components. The drivetrain is not 3x10 out of the box, but this is no different than you'll find with an Escape or FX, either.

smasha

The Verve series are a bit too cruiser geometry for me, and they all have threaded headsets.

For longer rides, I've got a flat-bar upright-posture touring bike that's well equipped for groceries (yes, I'll sometimes ride 25-30km with 400m of elevation gain, each way, for a grocery shop). That's my "cruiser". The Escape and the FX seem better suited for more agile/aggressive city riding, which is what I'm currently after.

smasha

Oh, and about the fork, yeah. I can only make inferences from pictures and videos, but it looks like the fork should be fine with wider tires, and if there is a limitation it's in the chain-stays. That's what put the idea in my head to make a Frankenbike, with an Escape frame and an FX2 fork.

All I need now is an FX2 fork.

The geometries, including head-tube length, are nearly identical between the large Cross City/ Escape and the large FX2. I'm not sure if that means I'd need a large (or larger?) FX2 fork? Or any FX2 fork should work?

hokiefyd 

I think all sized FX 2 forks are the same, save for the practice of cutting the steer tube to correlate with the head tube length. If you're looking to source an FX 2 fork, it'd be great if you could get an uncut fork. I don't think you can generally get these as "service parts" from a Trek dealer, but it might be worth asking.

smasha

Absolutely worth asking. But even if it is available, it'll probably cost as much as a used FX2. I'll ask some local shops, anyway. Never know, they may have an extra one.

The large FX2 head-tube and the large Escape head-tube are both 160mm, ±30mm for medium and XL. Assuming the steerer-tubes are cut proportionally to the head-tubes, yeah, a fork from a LG, XL, or XXL FX2 should be fine for the large Escape... I think. But again, if I get my hands on a large FX2, that may be my next city/grocery/hill bike.

smasha

As I expected, a new FX2 fork is about the same price as a used FX2, and won't be available for a couple of months. This is pushing me towards just looking for a used FX2.

Maybe my next bike will be an FX2? Maybe I'll take that fork and make a Frankenbike with the Cross City 2 frame, and sell/donate a Frankenbike with an FX2 frame and Cross City fork?

smasha

Still keeping a lookout for a used FX2...

Was 2019/2020 when the cable routing along the down-tube changed from external to internal?

Any changes to the fork, before, during, or after that period?

t2p

gravel bike or similar an option ?