New V20 build input

[justbob20]

Thanks to Jim, Robert and Ratz for responding to my questions concerning components for the new build. Jim suggested that I post possible components for fellow recumbent riders to offer suggestions that may help me avoid pitfalls. Your input for changes or compatability issues would be greatly appreciated. I will be doing 50 mile weekend rides, as well TT with this bike.

GXP BB metal bearings

SRAM Red GXP 10 speed, 50/34, 165

Rotor TT 50/34 QRings

SRAM Red 10 speed YAW FD (? oval rings an issue?)

SRAM XG 1080 11-36 10 speed cassette

SRAM X9 2.1 RD (long)

SRAM Force DT shifters

FSA SL K brakes

Woodchipper bars

 

[Bruce B]

I have a SRAM Force 22 Yaw FD paired with 50/34 Q-Rings. Shifting is perfect. Setting up was fiddly but did not take long.

Incidentally, I used my older 10 speed SRAM Rival brifters with the Force 22. The 2 trimming clicks on the left brighter are not a factor when shifting the 22.

 

[ratz]

Couple of simple notes. With Cost Deltas over what's listed

1) With Q-rings and the YAW FD; you can shift a 52/34 combo which will give you more top end range. This assumes you have the Qrings setup "in phase" on the same OCP. The 52/34 combo can be acquired as a set from http://twohubs.com Cost Delta $0

2) A simple pipe cutter will be handy for shortening those handle bars after the bike is dialed in. delta $10

3) Consider the KMC X10SL change for that setup; runs better than the SRAM equivalent with the Q-Rings. delta $10 Silver ea chain, $20 Gold ea chain

4) Since the 1080 is expensive to start with, the jump to the 1099 isn't that much and the 1099 is flat out a better cassette, shifts like butter moves like Jager. Delta $80. However, fI you have any doubts about your gear range setup I would start with PG1070 cassette at $70 you can test out 4 different sizes for the same price

5) Didn't mention what terrain you live in. 34F/36R is a lot of gearing on Vendetta. You might want a 12-25 or 12-28 cassette for true TT events. See bullet point 4

6) SRAM GXP BB on the FWD is the weak point in that total setup versus the quality of the other parts you've selected. A RWC bottom bracket with Angular bearings will hold up longer and run better (Larry, Joesph, Lief, Mrs Ratz, myself, and a couple others are running the XD-15 and swear by it it's stiff power transfer). Want your bike mechanic to hate you have a XD-15 installed, after that ever other BB will leave the mechanic wanting better.

http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id448.html
http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id191.html
http://www.enduroforkseals.com/id332.html

IF it was me the order of priority of those would be 6, 1, 3, 4

Special note about all BB's.... when you tighten the cruzbike's front chain stay cup clamps get them gently hand tight and then 1 quarter turn past that. Any tighter you crush the cups and wreck the bearings. The crank should spin multiple revolution on a free spin; if not you have it too tight.

 

[justbob20]

WOW, now that was a detailed response with awesome info that was much needed. I will adjust components accordingly. Terrain around here rollypolly, TTs mostly at speedway. thanks tremendously for the sharing of knowledge.

 

[jond]

i would pay attention to ratz and add the following.

out of the kmc x10 sl gold chain so far i have over 6000klm and it is still got plenty of life left according to the park tool. so chains last longer on the v being out of the crud.

consider an xtr shimano 11-36 cassette good value and works as expected from shimano xtr with zero compatibility issues ( as no sram xx equal last time i checked only 11-32 but a work of art out of a solid billet ) i run xtr routinely with an sram xo type 2 long cage rear mech for 6% hills and 53-39 front rings fsa k-lite. i routinely pedal out the 53 down 2% slopes and am looking for extra gears..... you may find the 50 too low so the q ring suggestion from ratz is a smart/good idea.

for the flat tt use 11-23/25

for the big big hills i use a praxis works 11-40 cassette works well with just a b screw adjustment.

and dont forget to enjoy the fun.

 

[ratz]

for the flat tt use 11-23/25

12-23/25 for TT then you don't waste watts with the temptation of the 11T unless you are larry-watts-Oz. Tighter gearing.

consider an xtr shimano 11-36 cassette good value and works as expected from shimano xtr with zero compatibility issues ( as no sram xx equal last time i checked only 11-32 but a work of art out of a solid billet )

Agreed no problem running the Shimano but the 1099 is mostly solid billet (9 Sprockets); Continuing the Shimano idea, the Dura Ace CS9000 is the bomb but it's only 12-28T but makes a nice TT compliment to the XTR for climbing.

Like Jon said so problem mixing and machining the cassette.

Terrain around here rollypolly

We are rollypolly too. I spend (according to the stats) a minimum of 39% of the time climbing on my rides. Vendetta runs Di2, 52/34 Qrings, 12-28T CS9000. My Silvio on the other hand is 52/36 x 11-32T All SRAM Force Class.

The boys on the Left coast of the US need those 40/42T, those of us in the rolly stuff get by with far less and get tighter spacing. That said on a 140 mile ride in 98F I elected to walk the Vendetta up a 250Ft elevation gain x 20% grade road. I had the 12-28T Need at least 32T on the back to climb that under that sort of stress.

 

[justbob20]

once again, super stuff, some info above my learning curve, but I will run revamped setup by you gurus before pulling the trigger. Are the 50 and 52 outer rings interchangeable on the SRAM Red compact crank? So for TT Icould run 52/34 and 12-25/28 cassette, 50/34 - 11/36 for more challenging terrain?

 

[Rick Youngblood]

out of the kmc x10 sl gold chain so far i have over 6000klm and it is still got plenty of life left according to the park tool. so chains last longer on the v being out of the crud.

I've gotta second the KMC x10 SL Gold. I'm embarrassed to say I've got over 7200 miles on this chain on the V2.0, it's the original chain I started with last year when I built up the bike, however I do keep it clean and out of the crud, and no rain...but maybe it's time to look into a replacement or get a Park Tool chain checker to check where it's at...hmm, now I'm curious.

 

[BentAero]

Are the 50 and 52 outer rings interchangeable on the SRAM Red compact crank? So for TT Icould run 52/34 and 12-25/28 cassette, 50/34 - 11/36 for more challenging terrain?

Yes. Just be sure when you buy your two chainrings, get them both to match your crank bolt center diameter. (BCD) most likely 110.

 

[ratz]

Are the 50 and 52 outer rings interchangeable on the SRAM Red compact crank?

Yes, as Gary noted just make sure they are both 110BCD for the RED compact, but it can be a hassle to change, with a 34 probably never a reason to remove the 52. There is sizable gear overlap even at that spacing.

You can play with them here.

Vendetta 12-28 10sp 34x52

Vendetta 11-36 10sp 34x52

 

[jond]

I've gotta second the KMC x10 SL Gold. I'm embarrassed to say I've got over 7200 miles on this chain on the V2.0, it's the original chain I started with last year when I built up the bike, however I do keep it clean and out of the crud, and no rain...but maybe it's time to look into a replacement or get a Park Tool chain checker to check where it's at...hmm, now I'm curious.

definitely time rick. i average 3000klm out of a road bike chain and 9000klm on the trikes.

 

[tiltmaniac]

As a data point w.r.t. climbing gears, I did the whole east coast with a lowest gear of 50 (front) ->36 (rear) on a Silvio. I found that (much) higher gearing than you expect is what you want.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the 34 inner chainring is too small. When I get a chance, I'll likely change out my never-every used inner chainring for something like a 44.

 

[justbob20]

Kudos to all, and OBTW, Ratz.........are you the most interesting man in the world ?

 

[MrSteve]

Too much wisdom!

Here's a personal observation about Seasons and gears through the years.

At the start of the real riding season, both my legs and cardiovascular system are, let's say, "sub-optimal."
If I were a competitive cyclist, this would never happen.
But it does, because I'm just an old sprinter who likes to bike when the biking is good.
Plus, there's the Winter Eatathon season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and all those leftovers.

At the beginning of a riding season, my average speed has historically been between 15 and 16mph.
I'd use small rings, high cadence and wonder why I spent so much energy lugging the unused big ring up and down
the hills.
At the end of warm weather riding, my average speed went up about 1.5mph.
Big rings, high cadence and wonder why I spent so much energy lugging the unused small ring up and down the hills.

Bottom line:
You're going to probably have more than one length of chain and more than one cassette on hand, before you settle
on what you need.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

you can shift a 52/34 combo which will give you more top end range

As Ratz suggested go with the ROTOR 52 big ring. I live in HillsVille and find the 52 very useful, as it can keep you off the 34 more often.

definitely time rick.

I'm taking your advice, I never even thought about it until reading the thread. How time flies, and miles add up in no time.

 

[jond]

As Ratz suggested go with the ROTOR 52 big ring. I live in HillsVille and find the 52 very useful, as it can keep you off the 34 more often.

I'm taking your advice, I never even thought about it until reading the thread. How time flies, and miles add up in no time.

yes rick the cheapest insurance for longevity of chainrings and cassettes you can get is to buy yourself a chain check tool. if the chain wears too much pretty soon it is sending teeth forward on chainrings and cassettes. next the chain can actually slip if it gets bad enough. then you will need to replace everything which is expensive.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

yes rick the cheapest insurance for longevity of chainrings and cassettes you can get is to buy yourself a chain check tool. if the chain wears too much pretty soon it is sending teeth forward on chainrings and cassettes. next the chain can actually slip if it gets bad enough. then you will need to replace everything which is expensive.

Thanks Jon, just another great advantage to belonging this forum.

It would not have occured to me (of course I've been told to replace the chain before 4000 miles) if not reading your post, and then looking at my miles piled on to the Vendetta...putting 2 & 2 together...and then thinking, RATZ, I what have I done? Amazon here I come!

 

[jond]

Rick there are diamonds aplenty here in this forum and you are one of the shiny ones. we are so lucky to have such a resource from a forward thinking company. i have benefited so much in so many ways from the likes of yourself who are so giving. enjoy the amazon.

 

[DuncanWatson]

yes rick the cheapest insurance for longevity of chainrings and cassettes you can get is to buy yourself a chain check tool. if the chain wears too much pretty soon it is sending teeth forward on chainrings and cassettes. next the chain can actually slip if it gets bad enough. then you will need to replace everything which is expensive.

Listen to this man. I recently had to change chainrings and sprocket on my raptobike for this very reason. Nothing like changing the chain on your bike and then finding that application of any power results in the chain skipping off worn teeth.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Listen to this man. I recently had to change chainrings and sprocket on my raptobike for this very reason. Nothing like changing the chain on your bike and then finding that application of any power results in the chain skipping off worn teeth.

Yes Sir ! When "The Tribal Elders" offer advice, I listen !