Q. "Favorite All-around Drive train?" A. What I've derived over the years for my Rambouillet.
OE TA Zephyr cranks with the inner triple ring and spacers removed with 46x30t on a narrower SKF BB than the OE Phil, Shimano rear hub and 13-32 cassette, Mavic 840 RD with the long cage of an 845 on a Wolftooth RoadLink (the 845 "VTT" had a cheesy colored sticker in place of the laser-etched "MAVIC" on the outer parallelogram arm and the 841 long road cage was bizarre), Mavic 860 clamp FD, SunTour Accushift 7 bar end shifters and whatever 8-speed chain I find when stocking up. The non-integrated aside: Shimano aero levers and Paul Racer center mount brakes. Umbrage taken with the suggestion that a bike can't be "integrated" without committed drivetrain, brakes and control levers from whomever. Love the crisp movement and no-play jockey wheel of the Mavic RD under control of the Accushift levers (only in friction), it's akin to the SunTour XC Pro units I've treasured in use over the years and whose stocks are thinning, prices climbing in the resellers' forums. The Mavic FD is just a classic parallel cage unit where responsibility for clean chain disengagement/engagement is up to my left hand, easing my pedal force and timing it all correctly during a shift. When not being used its cage sides are magically distant from rubbing on the chain. What I find most satisfying about this multi-continent, multi-decade drivetrain concoction is that I can shift it as fast or slow as I decide, across as many or few cogs as I need and it is quieter than all the newer stuff. I think I've mentioned the best aspect of a well-sorted bike is how quiet things are. I vary the approach to individual shifts with input from my eyes to know how much to shift for the change of terrain ahead, my mind to know what I'm about to do (uphill, accelerate, pass, slow or stop), how I'm feeling (frisky, relaxed, tired) and how fast I'm turning the pedals. It's like butter! Andy Cheatham Pittsburgh On Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 7:10:38 PM UTC-5, John Bokman wrote: > > Curious: What's been your favorite all-round drive train on your riv(s)? > > I was a big fan of the Sugino 46-36-26 tripple, but wanted a narrower > Q-factor, and never used the granny ring. I now use a 44/30 x 11/32 which > is nice in some ways, but I don't get the super smooth shifting I got from > the original (on my 2009 Sam). In fact, i've never gotten better shifting > than the original Sam setup. > > I like the idea of Riv's double, but it's a wider Q than I want, and with > the big ring at just 38 teeth, I deem the top end to be a bit lacking for > the type of riding I do. > > I've thought of using their Silver 44/34/24, but again, it's a wider Q > than I want, and I would hardly ever use the granny. > > I've got indexing on another bike (Shimano 105, 11x28), and it shifts > flawlessly, with a narrow Q from the Velo Orange 46/30 cranks. I'm not > interested in going indexing on the Riv, just a data point. > > > -- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d1f61d55-c256-463c-bfc3-c2df749ffd42%40googlegroups.com.
