Back when we were young and good looking (in the '90s), I entered some races with an old-fashioned bike, downtube shifters, etc. So did my friend, initially. He was married, so unlike me, he didn't waste time on social life, instead training seriously. He won a bunch of races with his downtube shifters on an old steel bike, at a time when everyone else was on 9/10 sp drivetrains and riding Al / CF. When he moved up a couple of categories, he got himself a new Al/CF bike with Ultegra 9sp from BikesDirect (~$1,000 all in). Didn't slow him down, that's for sure. (At that point I also started using a lighter bike and 9 and 10 sp drivetrains – Shimano and Campy, respectively – but didn't see too many improvements. But I did start dating a beautiful girl. Win some, lose some, I guess.)
Anyhow, I now have just one bike set up with Shimano DA 9sp brifters (Deda Zero Uno tubing, which is slightly oversize, fits 700c x 28 mm tires). I have logged faster times on it than on my other bikes even on the dirt roads. However, I think it's mostly because it reminds me of my racing days, so I try to hammer a bit more on that bike. :-) OK, OK, one potentially useful bit of info in this reply: Modern Campy 11 sp brifters are reported to have a cable pull such that when they're coupled to Shimano 9sp derailleurs (or 10sp road), they'll successfully shift across a 9 sp Shimano cassette. - M On Sunday, January 14, 2018 at 3:24:44 AM UTC-5, Paul Y wrote: > > Hi all, > > Looking for opinions and perspective s before scratching an itch! > > I've been riding my Roadeo with a dura ace 7400 double crank (38 and 48t) > with a Sora 8 speed 11-25 cassette, Shimano bar ends (9 speed but running > friction) and an older XT rapid rise rear derailer. > > The gearing is pretty good for me - it's enough to manage 10 deg climbs > and truck along around 35 kph. > > I've been riding the Roadeo like a typical club rider might, generally > without fenders and wearing lycra, though I haven't actually been riding > with a club! The plan is to ride a few audaxes this year though. > > I'm tempted to change to a new Shimano 105 5800 drivetrain (11 speed) and > brifters, which should go on easily as I already have a 105 11-speed hub. > > I love the robustness of the current setup but always looking for ways to > get more speed ( and I'm constantly training / trying to build strength). > > Has anyone else transitioned their bike similarly? As in, going from Riv > values to modern racy (meshed with steel and larger tires)? I still have a > Sam setup as a practical bicycle so I guess that leaves me freedom to > embody another cycling personality. > > Thanks for reading, and hopefully sharing your feelings on this. > > Paul > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
