Installed the new 9 spd 11-34 cassette

Good mail day,
Rec'd some late Christmas presents
Bike multi too. new stem & new cassette


Had better tools this time, Home made chain whip & the right shimano cassette socket
easier to get the old one off & the new one tight.


New chain & new cassette, shift up & down well, ready to get boxed up


New 30° - 80 mm stem too:

 

The new Shimano DEORE XT CSM770 , seems to be a better quality & lighter weight.
New one had a plastic hub for 6 gears & 3 loose ones that fit over the freewheel splines

The original 11 -30 just said Shimano on the locking nut & had teeth numbers stamped on the gears

The one I put on to see if an 11-34 would work, was a shimano HG20 with 1400 miles on it.
with 2 loose gears & 7 fixed, with no hub inside,
It's now back on the mtb.

 

That looks like a Bike Nashbar sticker if I ever saw one.

 

FYI. I think that ALL NIB Shimano Cassettes will come sleeved on a "plastic hub" to facilitate transport ...

Only an XTR Cassette will be lighter than an XT Cassette of the same Cog count ...

With apologies to SRAM-users, who cares what SRAM is doing?!?

And so, I don't know how "light" SRAM's comparable Cassettes are.​

HG20 may be as low-end a designation as Shimano has for Cassettes; but, the functionality (i.e., shifting performance) should not be too far from the more expensive Shimano Cassettes & the "penalty" will be its (by comparison) boat-anchor weight..​

Glad to hear things are coming together as you had hoped ...

AND, I hope that your planned ride in SoCal is only eventful in good ways!

 

Thanks
Now to get the Flat tire protection squared away.
Will probably add liners
Have read about True-goo, & read some say it works better than slime above 65 PSI
Debating the use of sealant in tubes.
Maybe visit a LBS there & see what they recommend.

Tubeless wheel set & tires on my "You're dreaming list" . LOL

Believe it or not: It's 46° here right now,
20 mph winds, not raining , thinking about a ride,

 

Going from an 11-30 to an 11-34 will show you a difference. Personally, after having done that particular gear cluster, I'm set on 12-36 for the future. My preference. Sooner or later, when I'm able, I plan to replace the crankset with a 40/28 double.

That will suit my new required riding style.

 

Alf - SRAM is not the loser younger brother of Shimano who is the loser younger brother of Campy. Each have their advantages and disadvantages that are carefully hidden by today's idea of "bike or equipment" tests. The longer cable throw of the SRAM allows a higher return spring tension so that there is more positive shifting with less hand pressure. Unfortunately that also makes the shifting components incompatible with Shimano. But the high end SRAM components are every bit as good if different than any of the other manufacturers.

The latest Shimano road shifters are a lot nicer looking and operating than the older versions but they are a real pain-in-the-rear to thread new cables into. For off-road components Campy is trailing but offers higher reliability. Even the Chinese are getting into the act with some nice Shimano copies. What their reliability is remains to be seen.

As they say, there are horses for courses.

 

FWIW. I do not think that SRAM is "the loser younger brother of Shimano ..."

And, I long ago realized the potential, theoretical advantage of the longer cable throw (but, I do NOT think that it is the "return spring tension" ... but, I guess THAT may be a component factor in why some people have chosen to migrate to electronic drivetrains) ...

It's the half-assed (IMO) explanations to justify what I perceive to be lazy (i.e., the "beta" version is good enough) engineering ...

IMO, if one were to observe SRAM's post-GripShift activities objectively, it is pretty clear (IMO) that their decisions have been driven by MBAs rather than engineers who take the feedback from cyclists seriously ...

I've stated this before, the Single Chainring drivetrain is an example of SRAM's modus operandi of marketing-over-engineering ...

WHY fix the deficiency of lack of trim on the front shifter if you can convince people that they don't need a front derailleur?!?​

BTW. By my reckoning, THE advantage to the longer cable pull, IMO, is for the lazy Wrench OR for cyclist who does not pay to maintenance because if there is "cable stretch" then the effects will be lessened ...

That would a great concept for "department store" bikes & their owners if SRAM could penetrate that market ...

It is a benefit (as I have suggested) for the LBS Wrench who doesn't want Fred-or-Frederika to bring his-or-her bike in for tweaking with the same frequency level which may-or-may-not be needed for a Shimano or Campagnolo equipped bike.
​

Campagnolo is hardly the be-all-and-end-all of cycling components ... BUT, their shifters are superior in use [because BOTH the rear AND front shifters are capable of non-balky shifting] & (IMO) the user "interface" (paddle & thumb lever vs. lever & paddle or vs. the elegant-in-concept double-tap) is superior because it makes sense (others have described their use as "intuitive") in use ...

WHY settle for less just for the sake of "fashion"?!?​

AND the fact that Campagnolo shifters can be used with many otherwise Shimano or SRAM components do make them a smarter choice for non-Flatlanders who don't need a leisuresuitlarry drivetrain.

BTW. IMO, Shimano could greatly improve their shifters by simply changing the eccentric take-up spool to a concentric one ...

On the other hand, thanks to 20+ years of Shimano's engineering machinations to overcome that ONE flaw, we have all been the beneficiary of the ramping-and-pinning which (AFAIK) Shimano pioneered & continues to be in the vanguard of development.

I haven't worked with the Shimano shifters which do not have the external derailleur cables, but I would offer as a suggestion that threading the derailleur cables would probably be much easier if the cable housing used had a coiled core instead of parallel strands ... that is, consider "brake cable housing" for your derailleur cables.​

As far as components for MTBing, while SRAM components are certainly widespread, I think that the wise shopper (aka non-sponsored rider) should probably choose-or--stick-with Shimano because of interchangeability up-and-down the product line AND forward-and-backward compatibility over several decades of components.

 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions even if they don't think about them before voicing them.

 

INDEED!

As I now take it that YOUR remarks indicate that you seemingly feel a need to defend the apparent use of SRAM Road components on your bike(s).​

Because having "a higher return spring tension so that there is more positive shifting with less hand pressure" explanation is a bit dubious, IMO ...​

While I have only looked at one SRAM rear derailleur, I need to indicate that its return spring did not seem to have a "higher return spring tension ..." than a Shimano's or Campagnolo's rear derailleur spring ...

BUT, my impression is NOT based on using any gauges ...

Because it did not even occur to me that it was an issue, one-way-or-another.
​

REGARDLESS, if you want to believe THAT there might be a higher "return spring tension" on a SRAM rear derailleur AND SO that as the raison d'etre for the "longer cable throw" ....

Well, hold on to THAT belief if it makes you feel better.

​

​

 

I do not use SRAM components so it would be hardly likely that I'm defending them because of my own preferences.

And of course we're well aware that you're capable of understanding the advantages and disadvantages of longer cable pull by off-handedly playing with a single representative of their product line.

I think that your engineering skills would be improved with thought on these subjects rather than juvenile slinging of dirt.
​

 

DUDE!

Unlike yourself, I have apparently given a lot more thought & analysis to the various shifters & derailleurs of the three main cycling component companies AND their apparent business models over the years than you have ...

I know many of the the pluses-and-minuses of all three ...

And, even if YOUR belief regarding the return spring tension is somehow accurate, the meager sample-of-one disproves it.

Regardless, SRAM is generally left wanting in comparison due to its front derailleur limitations ...

UNLESS a person has bought into the Single Chainring hype.
​

Again, if you want to embrace-or-endorse SRAM for whatever reason (even though you disavow using it), THAT is your prerogative ...
​

BUT, don't admonish ME for your presumption about what I think because you feel that "SRAM is not the loser younger brother of Shimano who is the loser younger brother of Campy" because you think you are the engineer du jour.

​

 

Shimano's first stab at Dura-Ace 7900 was pretty lame, too. As was 7400.

I do agree Shimano is the leader in ramping and pinning, though.

So how the hell did this turn into a Shimano vs. SRAM pissoff anyway? I thought Dave was just giving us a progress report.

 

Our friend Alf believes his engineering ability to be superior to the actual production engineering of an entire company. And he doesn't mind telling us all about it. And he has generated his assumptions from supposedly observing a single example of the brand and an entire misunderstanding of what is being said about it. In other words - he's the typical poster on these sites.

 

Actually, Alf is quite atypical. Unique, even. While he tends to bloviate, and over-sell his pet hobby-horses (Campagnolo shifters and upgrading and repurposing bikes that are better left alone), he has at times been informative and known to laugh at himself. So I consider him a friend, even though we've butted heads in the past and probably will continue doing so in the future. Welcome to the crew.

By the way, I tuned a 2012 Trek Madone 4.6 this afternoon. That means it has SRAM Rival. The front shifting is really sweet, hit the big ring solidly every time with no chain drops. And with just high trim, got no chain rub in all cross-chain situations. Can't get better than that.

 

I have a Ridley cross bike that I've been trying to ride off-road. It is really great on fairly flat ground but I can't get the balance correct for steep climbing. The front end continuously lifts and the bike rotates.

So I got a Redline. I had one before and it was pretty good but I decided to trade up and went to full suspension. After awhile I didn't like that at all. While being rocket fast downhill they are no fun at all on flats and especially uphill. You can ride them up anything but they are so slow that snails outrun you.

I decided to put a flat bar on the Redline this time and have fitted disks and a 2 x 10. With the flat bar I think that I can stand over the front wheel and maintain a little better control. The disks of course is absolutely necessary on steep terrain with a non-suspension bike. I couldn't pull the cantilevers hard enough with the old hard Shimano pads. And screaming in terror sort of looks bad to the the hikers.

 

Made it to So Cal
Got one ride in, been rainings & flooded streets.

Bike shop said the Sora front shifter has the little extra click for a compact
crank, shift to big gear then when go to the last 2 littles gears on the casset chain can rub on the front DR. push again & you get about a 1/32 front derailleur movement to stop the noise but allow better shifitng,
Said compact cranks not have to worry as much about cross chaining.

Will get used to it but doubt I'll hear the noise

 

I was surprised at some tests made by one of the magazines testing chains. Their test machine allowed them to cross-chain the rig and there was little to no difference in friction meaning there is little to no wear difference from the dreaded cross-chain. This problem apparently was only with the older very heavy chains and limited front derailleurs.

The "extra click" has been present on the lower end Campy since the beginning of 8 speeds.

 

Yea
I'm learning a lot about bikes,
from entry level to mid level components
Now I need to learn to unclip before stopping LOL
self teacher with bandaids on elbows
Need to buy large patch bandaids for the saddle bag