Additional to yesterday’s submit, after a 20-mile take a look at journey the chainring swap seems to be successful:
Shifts to the so-called “granny” ring now appear to be constant and dependable, and as a bonus upshifts are a little bit smoother too:
Why is it known as a “granny,” anyway? Is it as a result of grannies are speculated to be weak? Or is it as a result of they’ve fewer enamel? Both method, it looks like grandpas are equally weak and toothless, and I’m tempted to say that going ahead we should always merely name it the “grandparent” ring. Nonetheless, triples are nearly extinct as it’s, so at this level it most likely doesn’t matter.
Anyway, see that bulge alongside the interior plate of the derailleur, adjoining to the chain?
With the smaller ring the chain was under that bulge. Due to this fact, the derailleur needed to transfer farther inboard as a way to reliably transfer the chain off the ring, on the threat of dropping it. However with the bigger ring, every thing appears to line up roughly the best way it ought to, so hopefully we’re all good now and that’s that.
So why use a triple on a highway bike in 2025, anyway? Properly, for one factor, I already had all of the elements. (Okay, perhaps I had to purchase the chain.) However extra importantly, I wished the Roadini to be the alpha canine in my kennel of highway bikes, and due to this fact I wished it to have All The Gears–every thing from teeny-tiny ones for scaling steep unpaved grades on summer time trip to big-ass ones for taking place the opposite aspect, plus all the standard highway bike combos in between.
The fashionable method to reaching wide-range gearing on a sporty all-terrain drop bar bike is one thing like SRAM Pink ASSPLR:
In equity to SRAM, I do know you don’t need to get Pink if you need the most recent wide-range gearing. Nonetheless, I’d be remiss if I didn’t level out that their battery-powered distant management derailleur alone prices Seven Hundred American Enjoyable Tickets:
Setting that apart, firing up the Sheldon Brown Gear Calculator, right here’s the drivetrain on the Roadini:
And right here’s SRAM Pink ASSPLR with a 40-tooth chainring, which I imagine is fairly typical, and their $600 ASS-tastic 10-46 cassette:
Not solely are the low gears nearly equivalent, however I’ve obtained a a lot larger gear too, which suggests I’m 100% assured to win a race towards anybody using a motorbike geared up with SRAM Pink ASSPLR.
Better of all, I don’t even need to plug it in!
Additionally, a friction shifter lets you use just about any cassette you need whatever the variety of cogs, and should you haven’t checked recently you could be pleasantly stunned to be taught that 8-speed cassettes as of late price little or no. Presumably sufficient individuals are shopping for $600 cassettes that the identical firm is ready to promote you this for about what a few interior tubes* prices:
*[An inner tube was sort of a bladder made out of butyl or latex that cyclists once used to keep air inside their tires.]
In any case, with the shifting problem (hopefully) sorted out, I’ll subsequent transfer on to brake curation:
The stopping energy with these rims is superb, however as I discussed, I’m getting a bit little bit of squealing, and I’ve now tracked down what would be the final remaining ceramic-specific highway brake pads on planet Earth.
Think about what I may accomplish if I cared about one thing that was really essential…
