Here's what didn't work: I bought a cassette for the rear wheel with a large gear with 32 teeth. It was too big for the rear derailleur to handle; I tried to make it fit, but with less than a mile of riding, it was clear that it wasn't happening. There's no visible damage to the cassette, so I'll sell it on Ebay after Thanksgiving; I bet I can recoup $50 of the $65 cost.
Here's what did work: Bought a (Shimano) 11x28 cassette; that popped onto the wheel like it was made for it (well, in a sense it was; SRAM is being real careful about making sure that its components are Shimano-compatible, probably in an effort to encourage us to "make the leap").
Tightened up the B-screw a couple turns, and rode it 20 miles today. Maybe it's the cold weather, but I turned in an average speed of 19.05; best pace yet. I like these components. The cranks (the levers to which the pedals are attached) are, at 172.5mm, a little less than 1/8" longer than the standard 170mm cranks they replaced - but I'm having a hard time thinking that that was the reason for the better time, almost .5mph faster than my recent times on that course. I've gotta get used to shifting the SRAM components (it's a slightly different action from the Shimano's I replaced), but if this is any indication of future results, I'm going to like this setup. (And it's a double chainring on the front, not a triple: lighter, and less likelihood of "wussy triple rider" comments ... both of which are equally important to me, if I'm honest.)
No comments:
Post a Comment