Gear ratio- compact- hill climb question (long)

[anakiwa]

Thanks everyone- these are great ideas.

My (much more limited) experience is also that the triple/STI shifter combo doesn't seem to work so well. I have 2 bikes with bar end shifters and the front deraillers shift beautifully (and one of those bikes is a 15 year old touring bike that's suffered some neglect over the years- even when it hadn't had a tune up in 5 years the triple still shifted perfectly). I was looking at the compact for 2 reasons- weight and the ease of shifting. Deb's idea of a downtube shifter sounds really appealing though.

I've never ridden a bike with downtube shifters (my touring bike has bar end shifters). I'd love to hear some opinions about positioning/ease of shifting with downtube shifters.

Also- anyone out there who has an ultegra triple front derailler with an STI shifter? Does it shift well?

How about thoughts on weight of a triple vs a compact? I'd be picking up roughly 100 grams right? I could probably live with that. Switching one of the STI shifters to a regular brake lever and a downtube shifter would drop a little bit of weight?

[Crankin]

I have an Ultegra triple front derailleur on my Kuota Kredo semi-custom bike. It is perfect. The shifting is smoooth and I have never had a problem. I had both Ultegra and Dura Ace on my front derailleur on my last bike, a Trek 5200. I never could easily shift into the big ring. At that point, I didn't use the big ring that much, but it was a pain. Moving up to the Dura Ace did help. My first road bike, a Cannondale WSD R600 had 105s's. It sucked and I always was dropping the chain, long after I was a beginner. It was hard to shift everything.
My husband actually switched out the cassette from a 25 to a 27,on my Kuota so we could have a couple of smaller gears for the hills we do (we live on one too, and sometimes it is tiresome to know that it is the last thing we have to do on every ride!). I actually don't like that granniest of granny gears, unless I am really climbing a big one (above 10-12%). Then, I'm glad I have it. I was actually thinking of getting a compact double at one time, but since I am 53 and hope to keep riding until I drop dead, I figured that having the triple would be good as i get older. You are obviously racing and your needs are a lot different, but I would go with whatever is the easiest option in most situations. When my son raced, as a junior, he got dq'd from a few races, because of the special rules they have for gearing in junior races. He simply forgot to change the cassette and rode with the "regular" one. I guess I'm saying that is that if you have to think about changing something in a race situation, unless it is part of your regular routine, you could forget.

[DebW]

I've used both downtube and bar end shifters, so I'll try to describe the comparison. If you're running both as friction shifters, the mechanics and function are pretty much the same - both provide a direct linkage to the FD. But bar ends need longer cables with more bends so your shifts will be a bit slower. Bar ends use your last 2 fingers to operate and put your arm in an awkward position IMO. DTs use your thumb-index finger on the lever though the shift is actually done with arm and wrist motion, which is strong and won't fatigue easily. DTs require that your hand has to leave the bars to shift, so on occassion you'll have to delay a shift due to bumpy roads. That's generally not an issue (unless you are racing). If you were happy with bar ends, you could probably be happy with DTs as well. You'd save a little weight with DTs over bar ends and have fewer cable failures. Either should work well for you, so maybe your comfort is the best guide.

[Veronica]

I've never used down tube shifters. But I love my bar end shifters. And I haven't had any of the problems Deb described with them. Plus by using bar ends or DTs you can mix up your gear. It doesn't all have to be Campy or Shimano.

V.

[emily_in_nc]

I've used Ultegra 9-speed triples (30-42-52) on two road bikes, both bought new. One had STI shifting, the other bar-end. The STI bike was always somewhat difficult to shift up in front (especially to the big ring), despite numerous adjustments. It seemed to get out of adjustment easily, and the most common problem was an inability to get it to shift to the big ring, or it would shift up but drop back down. The bike with the bar-end shifters works great to shift in the front. Never a problem at all.

I have another bike with a compact double (34-50) and Campy Chorus 13-29 in the back. I have been very happy with this setup; it's worlds better than the Ultegra STI. There were a couple of times on long rides, though, where my forearm or hand got tired enough that I had a hard time manipulating the lever to shift up, but that only happened at the end of rides, so it was not the shifting; it was me. It does take more hand strength than bar-ends but is distinctly better than the STI triple.

All just my experiences... good luck making your choice!

Emily

[Fredwina]

my experience with SIT triple is that they are more finicky. i.e. A Clean chain / chainring will shift cleanly, but the slightest bit of dirt will have you frustrated.

[anakiwa]

I have another bike with a compact double (34-50) and Campy Chorus 13-29 in the back. I have been very happy with this setup; it's worlds better than the Ultegra STI. There were a couple of times on long rides, though, where my forearm or hand got tired enough that I had a hard time manipulating the lever to shift up, but that only happened at the end of rides, so it was not the shifting; it was me. It does take more hand strength than bar-ends but is distinctly better than the STI triple.
Emily

Did this bike have downtube shifters?

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Just to clarify- I don't do any real road racing. I do a few triathlons every year and a low-key local time trial series (using a bike with an aero set-up, not the road bike I'm looking into replacing). The only other bike race I did last year was the hill climb race- but as I mentioned in the original post I really liked it and want to be able to do that sort of thing again.

I'm still wondering about the comfort of the downtube shifters? Is it a much longer reach than the bar end shifters? I suppose I could try the downtube shifter and if I don't like it, it should be easy to switch to a bar end shifter.

I know I'm getting really off the original subject, but does anyone have any experience with shimano's short reach STI shifter (ST-R700). I'm thinking of the rear derailler now. Does the short reach one shift as well as the ultegra? Or would I be better off with the ultegra and a shim. I have small hands and would really like to do the short reach one, but on shimano's website the instructions for the R700 are grouped with the 105, making me wonder if it would shift as well.

[SadieKate]

I can only compare STI short reach (same as Ultegra at least until last year) and Campy Chorus triples. Campy is easy, clean, fast and accurate - and not finicky. Ultegra? Well, let's just say it only stayed on my bike about 6 mos.

Think carefully about downtube shifters. I am not slamming the technology but you'd be setting up a bike with older technology and harder to find components that could be hard to support. You might need to be the one with the knowledge for what to use and how to maintain. Some people just want to drop off the bike at the shop and pick it up when it's ready. Not every shop has superb mechanics that will know how to work on anything you want. Sometimes the mechanic is a highschool kid that doesn't know anything about older parts or have the interest in working on something that doesn't look like the bling of the future.

Does the new bike have triple compatible levers already?

BTW, I swap cassettes all the time but I'm not racing. I just live with the long cage derailleur and chain.

[anakiwa]

Does the new bike have triple compatible levers already?.

The new bike doesn't exist yet. The plan is to put in an order for a custom bike this winter so I can have it in the spring. So I can basically put together whatever combo I want.

Since all the bikes I have use Shimano, I'd lilke to try to stay with Shimano compatible parts- you guys sure seem to like Campy though.