I’m interested to know if people have comfortably shifted a, say, 18 or 20 t gap between double chainrings, using whatever derailleurs they used. I may or may not rebuild the bike to friction and silver and if I do I’ll choose components that I’ve found or that are reputed to work best while looking nicer than the fugly components on the bike now. OTOH, I may just leave the R8000 group because, ugly or not, it works superbly and I ought to have (I’ll leave parsing “ought” to later) have at least one bike with a modern drivetrain. At least you can cross chain with relative impunity, as many people responded when I asked, “How many cogs can I use with the Big? The small?"
I’d thought of swapping the R8000 crank to smaller outer and inner rings, but I see that “they” offer only 50 and 46 outers and that 34 is the smallest inner. What shite. I’d like a 48/34 or perhaps a 48/32 or even a 48/30. Damned systems that lock you into the machine’s choices instead of your own; as computers do. So my original question in fact bears only on some possible future friction setup. Still, can I shift 20 t between 1X + granny chainrings if well set up and use relatively occasionally for the steepest hills? On Sat, Feb 14, 2026 at 12:29 PM Shannon Menkveld < [email protected]> wrote: > If you're going friction, why not just use any Deore-or-better Shimano 6-9 > speed MTB derailleur that you like the looks of? Nothing better was ever > made by anyone, and not many were as good. > > --Shannon > > On Saturday, February 14, 2026 at 10:55:45 AM UTC-8 [email protected] > wrote: > >> Thanks, Steve. I’m using an Ultegra 11 sp 50/34 double and wondered if I >> could go as low as 32 for the inner ring. >> >> Perhaps what I’ll do is switch to a 48/32. >> >> If I go friction, I’ll center the outer ring on the cassette. >> >> On Mon, Feb 9, 2026 at 7:49 AM Steve <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> --- Just adding that I think offsetting the chain line a bit to favor >>> the big ring is a smart approach. >>> >>> On Monday, February 9, 2026 at 9:44:43 AM UTC-5 Steve wrote: >>> >>>> Patrick, I've run a 50-44-24 triple (non-ramped rings) with a 1990 >>>> Deore LX 3x FD without any issues, though it did prefer a crisp upshift. >>>> The original small chainring was a 28t, so I may - or may not - have been >>>> exceeding Shimano's spec for the FD. >>>> >>>> I don't recall if you're using 'brifters' on your Roadeo, so I should >>>> mention that the bike was setup with friction shifting. >>>> >>>> Steve in AVL >>>> >>>> On Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 8:24:10 PM UTC-5 Patrick Moore wrote: >>>> >>>>> I’m mentally toying with rebuilding my lovely Roadeo with silver and >>>>> friction parts instead of the industrial-looking (but seamlessly working) >>>>> Ultegra 8000 11-sp group. >>>>> >>>>> This group includes a 50/34 double. I think of switching it to a 50 + >>>>> something smaller than 34. Do any of you have a 20-tooth gap between big >>>>> and small rings? What front derailleur? How does it work? >>>>> >>>>> I’d center the big ring so that the drivetrain is a 1X + occasional >>>>> use granny. I’d use the 50 with all 11 cogs, cruising gears would be the >>>>> middle 5 cogs in the big ring, and I’d use the granny only for very steep >>>>> hills. >>>>> >>>>> Would this work? Things to be wary of? >>>>> >>>>> Thanks. >>>>> >>>>> BIG RING CENTERED >>>>> 27.3" wheel >>>>> 50 30 >>>>> 14 98 >>>>> 15 91 >>>>> 16 85 51 >>>>> 17 80 48 >>>>> 18 76 46 >>>>> 19 72 43 >>>>> 20 68 41 >>>>> 21 65 39 >>>>> 23 59 36 >>>>> 27 51 30 >>>>> 32 43 26 >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> >>>>> Patrick Moore >>>>> Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum >>>>> >>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>> >>>>> Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other >>>>> writing services >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >>>>> >>>>> *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* >>>>> >>>>> *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* >>>>> >>>>> *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* >>>>> >>>> -- >>> 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 [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/61234bc7-81d4-4a3a-9e7a-fbd7752b9d48n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/61234bc7-81d4-4a3a-9e7a-fbd7752b9d48n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> >> >> -- >> >> Patrick Moore >> Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing >> services >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* >> >> *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* >> >> *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* >> > -- > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/bd25b695-2c8c-4ef4-976a-09b70300a82en%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/bd25b695-2c8c-4ef4-976a-09b70300a82en%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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