Wondering about the fastest, while wide-range, drivetrain

Tor Hovland

Tor Hovland

Well-Known Member
One of the challenging aspects of the Vendetta is the wide-ranging drivetrain it really needs. Being the world's fastest road bike, it obviously needs a high top gear. But unlike those low-racers that are only meant to go fast around a flat track, the real advantage of the Vendetta is the way it performs on roads in general, including hills. That requires low gears.

A DF rider can to some extent just stand up and grind on a lowest gear that's really a little too high. And frankly, the direct power transfer of a Cruzbike is pretty well suited to grinding as well, but I think that like with other recumbents, being able to spin up long inclines is sometimes necessary.

Which all in all means that the Vendetta requires an unusually wide-ranging drivetrain.

I was considering this even before I got my own Vendetta, and right away I installed a wide 11-42T MTB cassette, MTB derailleur, and a Jtek Shiftmate to make it work with the road shifter. See here for details: https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/solo-touring-in-norway-on-a-loaded-vendetta.12618/

This has been working OK, but more and more often, as I get comfortable on the bike, I find that when wind conditions are favorable and I feel inspired to put down some power, I quickly run out of gears. I suppose the obvious answer is that I should replace my compact 50/34T crankset with a 53/39T. But these days, there seems to be so many other things to consider when it comes to drivetrains. Should I go 12 speed? Should I go from 11T to 10T (or even 9T) on the smallest cog? That would make a bigger difference than the change of crankset. But will I be limited to 33T on the biggest cog, then? And are these even available at less than astronomical cost?

All this stuff about gravel bikes that is going on is leading to many new options. Though some of those options are limited to a 1x crankset. And those that work with 2x are usually designed with even more compact cranksets in mind than the one I use.

Ideally, if it was possible, I think I would have liked something like a 53/39T in the front combined with a 10-42T cassette. What do you think is the best option for getting reasonably close to that, within a reasonable budget?
 
C

cpml123

Zen MBB Master
I replaced my 50 chainring with 52 (because the darn S40 FD shifts poorly with 50), so now I have 52/34. That was a inexpensive option at about $40 USD. It shifts fine now. I have 11/40 cassette, so plenty of top and low gears.
 
Tor Hovland

Tor Hovland

Well-Known Member
cpml123 said:
I replaced my 50 chainring with 52 (because the darn S40 FD shifts poorly with 50), so now I have 52/34. That was a inexpensive option at about $40 USD. It shifts fine now. I have 11/40 cassette, so plenty of top and low gears.
Click to expand...
That's an interesting option. Which front and rear derailleurs are that?
 
MrSteve

MrSteve

Zen MBB Master
Drivetrain:
Sram Force front derailleur and Sram Rival bottom bracket, Sram Red brifters and brakes, 53/39 front rings and a 10-speed Shimano 11-32 shifted by a long-cage Sram derailleur I modified by adding a road barrel adjuster.
As the motor is old and weak, this drivetrain works very well on my bike.
Top gear -53/11- is almost high enough ... and the motor spins out well above 30MPH.
Low gear -39/32- is low enough to explore the traction limits of the bike as well as the smooth torque delivery of the motor at strolling speed uphill.
The Sram Red brifters came with my second-hand Vendetta. They're not any better than Sram Rival, but they look cool.
The Sram Rival bottom bracket was pulled off of an inexpensive donor road bike because of its gears and it is every bit as good as the Sram Red B.B. the bike came with.
The Sram long-cage rear der. has been flawless. It shifts quicker, stays indexed, and is far easier to service than the Sram Red road der. that came with the bike. A bit heavier, of course.

Get the big ring on up front!
 
rx7mark

rx7mark

Guru
I am starting the planning stages for a Silvio. My initial plan is to go Sram 12 SPD 10-33t cassette with a 46/30 Rotor chain ring set.

This will need a FD adapter to drop it close to the 46t big ring.

This combo is still a little light on the fast side. But has good close gearing jumps, while still giving me a fairly low gear for hills.

Mark
 
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rx7mark

rx7mark

Guru
3bs said:
@rx7mark i never was able to get my 2x11 to run right all the way across the cassette.
@Robert Holler has insight on this as well.
i would suggest 2x10 or 1x12
Click to expand...

Yep, I have read that before, but I know others that have no issues with 2X setups.

I have a 1X11 now on my T50, but I would really like a little more range, and closer gear spacing at the faster end of the gears.

So I will probably try the 2 x 12. We'll see how it goes when I get there.

Mark
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Here's an idea... why not go for the sensah 2x12 carbon and get a xshifter. Instead of putting xshifter on the outside... place it in the down tube. I reckon you could get a 12 speed cassette with a 10t to 34t which would give you the latitude you need and still have change from $500
 
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Opik

Opik

Well-Known Member
DavidCH said:
Here's an idea... why not go for the sensah 2x12 carbon and get a xshifter. Instead of putting xshifter on the outside... place it in the down tube. I reckon you could get a 12 speed cassette with a 10t to 34t which would give you the latitude you need and still have change from $500
Click to expand...
Thats the cheap option from china right. How is the quality?
 
rx7mark

rx7mark

Guru
DavidCH said:
Here's an idea... why not go for the sensah 2x12 carbon and get a xshifter. Instead of putting xshifter on the outside... place it in the down tube. I reckon you could get a 12 speed cassette with a 10t to 34t which would give you the latitude you need and still have change from $500
Click to expand...

Not a bad idea, thanks for the suggestion!

I have not heard of this brand, but the few reviews I have read or listened to make it sound like it would be worth a try. Not sure about the rear derailleur range with a 10-33T SRAM cassette. It is advertised to work with a 32T cassette, but might stretch to 33T. Or there is a long cage rear derailleur available separately, but listed for 1 x 11, but like other brands it might work with a 12 sp shifter. I can't find info about compatibility with 2X for that RD, but I would try the stock RD first.

Of course the reviews claim compatibility with Shimano and SRAM derailleurs, so there might be other options.

I'll keep researching this option.

Mark
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
The quality isnt bad but it's not hydro brakes. The shifters are a bit weird ... like you have to shove it straight into your thighs if you use with drop handlebars but I reckon it would work really well with xshifter. Xshifter physically wont fit into the down tube without modification. (The tube connected from the handlebar that goes down to the boom, just about where the bottle cage mounts are. I guess a dremel could open it up enough to slot the xshifter inside. So not for the squeemish)
 
Tor Hovland

Tor Hovland

Well-Known Member
There's a lot of Sram in this thread! I have Shimano on my bike and would like to not have to replace everything. I
think I'll just get a 53/39 for now, and see if I can get by with a cassette just small enough that an Ultegra
derailleur can handle it, or if I still have to use my MTB derailleur and Jtek Shiftmate.

That Wickwerks 53/34 looks really intriguing. But I'm worried the big gap requiring 4-5 rear shifts will get annoying
quickly. I think a better option may be to convert the 53/39 to a 53/36. We'll see.
 
B

Beano

Well-Known Member
I run 50/34 *11/40 using SRAM Red ETAP, I use this with a wolf link to accommodate the 40t sprocket. With a top gear of 50*11 at 90 rpm you are looking at around 51-52kph on the flat which is fast enough for me.
 
3bs

3bs

whereabouts unknown
Usually I stay on one ring or the other. If I am out west in climbing territory it is small ring. It is a two ring rear most of the time from one front to the other. I use double tap, but if you go electric You can program
 
Don1

Don1

Guru
There is a empire 12speed then there is the empire pro which is carbon... Which recently came out. I wonder if they fixed the durability
 
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