The Official DMF Bicycle Thread

[Latinbalar]

Nice 29'er  I got to ride one just like that. Really fast and steers like a laser. have fun and keep the rubber side down.

[Kopfjager]

New rig- SS, wagon wheels:

Nice 

[Two dogs]

Me riding my bicycle a Cannodale Judge

[Kopfjager]

^^^ Great shot. 

[Monster Dave]

OK, so tomorrow's the big day when I demo and (provided the ride is great) buy my new Felt F5, but I have a few questions that I'm just not clear about.

1) The F5 comes with a 53/39 crankset. What does that mean when compared with a bike that comes with a 50/34? What's the difference? My current bike has a 50/39?? I'm confused about what this all translates to performance wise.

2) Is the crank on the F5 a compact crank or not?? I can't seem to figure that out...

3) The F5 also comes with a 11-25 cassette.- is that the standard? My current bike came with a 12/25 cassette that I swapped out for a 11/28 which I was told would assist in climbing and did make a difference. Again, what am I looking at here on the F5??

4) The F5 does not come with the BB30 - what's the deal with the 30 becoming the standard? What's it all about?

The type of riding that I do varies considerably but is far from all flats. In fact some of the routes that I ride have the best climbing in the state. I guess in the long run, I just don't understand the differences in the numbers given above. Thanks for the help - I appreciate it!!

[stateprez]

53/39 is standard, not compact.  50/34 is compact.  Your 50/39 is more like a 1/2 compact...105 double I'm guessing. 

More teeth in the front = higher gearing.  More teeth in the rear = lower gearing.  Sheldon Brown has a calculator for rings and cassettes to calculate gear inches- you could compare your combinations to see the ranges you would have:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

I wouldn't worry about the BB30.  There will just be a new standard in a couple of years anyway.

[iRam]

BB30= better power transfer. According to the manufacturers. If you ride in hilly areas your probably better off with the compact... Unless u churn out alberto or andy like power on the climbs.  congrats in advance. Thats a sweet ride for a good price.

[Monster Dave]

53/39 is standard, not compact.  50/34 is compact.  Your 50/39 is more like a 1/2 compact...105 double I'm guessing.  

More teeth in the front = higher gearing.  More teeth in the rear = lower gearing.  Sheldon Brown has a calculator for rings and cassettes to calculate gear inches- you could compare your combinations to see the ranges you would have:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

I wouldn't worry about the BB30.  There will just be a new standard in a couple of years anyway.

Prez,

The F5 that I'm looking at with the 53/39 is a double 105. My current one which came with teh 50/39 is an 8spd Shimano Sora setup.
I'm still confused....what's the performance impact difference of a compact vs. traditional? Can one crank be easily swapped out for the other if I wanted to go compact?

iRam,

Thanks! I'm excited - it will be my first really nice ALL carbon road bike. As we speak I'm comparing it with in this months issue of Road Bike magazine and it's comparable to bikes selling for twice as much and the only difference is the drivetrain - but seeing all these numbers and gear rations is confusing the crap out of me!!! I do ride some nice climbs - Mt Lemmon in Tucson for example is a 7000+ foot elevation climb in 23 miles. I guess I just need to get out and on the F5 and see what it feels like.  

[stateprez]

It's all a matter of preference, fitness, and terrain.  I ride a standard, but I don't ride much in the mountains.  If you like to spin more than mash (think Armstrong vs Ulrich for cliche pro example) then you may want a compact.  My cross bike has a 36/46 that is annoying on the road because I constantly have to switch between the big and small rings.

It's much easier to swap cassettes than cranks or rings- and cheaper.  Personally, I'd ride with the crankset that comes on it/what your shop recommends for a while- if you find it's too steep then you can always switch to a compact. 

[iRam]

7000+ elevation in 23 miles. Sounds like a lot of fun! I wish we had those types of climbs here.

[Kopfjager]

SS MTB, only way to go. Roadies, or cycle weines as we called them when I raced TRI, are missing all the fun.  The single track in the woods is spiritual.

[Randimus Maximus]

MD,

My F3 has the exact same gearing as the F5 you're looking at.

Because of the hills/mountains here in Colorado, many riders ride triples or compact doubles.

While I've been tempted to change gearing on mine, I never have.  I just have to work a little harder on the steep climbs.

My opinion is that you'll be fine with the stock setup on the F5, since the small crank ring on your current bike is already a 39.  You'll definitely have more speed when you're in the big ring, and I know that is something you're looking for. 

The only thing you may want to consider is swapping the rear cassette from the 11-25 to a 12-27 or 11-28 that Shimano makes for a little lower gearing on the climbs or to be similar to what you have currently.  That would be a relatively inexpensive swap.  However, try the bike out with the standard gearing for a while.  You may not even feel the need to change it.

[Monster Dave]

Thanks Randy! I'll do that!  [moto]

[bulldogs2k]

I'm new to cycling so excuse my ignorance, what are the benefits of a ss mountain bike?  They look clean and maintenance looks easy as hell but I can't imagine climbing a hill on a ss.  Are they made more for single tracks or courses? 

[triangleforge]

Well, part of it is that my multi-geared, dual-suspended MTB seems to spend a whole lot of time waiting for me to get around to fixing something, whether it's a blown rear shock (the current malady) or a bashed rear derailleur or whatever, while the SS hardtail just keeps on going and going no matter what neglect or abuse I throw at it.

There's also what Koph alludes to: Riding singlespeed on hard singletrack makes you a more focused and better rider. You become hyper-aware of carrying momentum over obstacles, up hills or around corners where on a geared bike you'd (or at least I'd) coast, downshift and re-accelerate on the other side. With the whole idea of shifting off the table, I tend to be a whole lot more engaged in the ride, paying LOTS of attention to the balance between front and rear on steep climbs, and going down on the other side I try to keep my speed/momentum up, because you can't get it back just by pedaling in your monster top gear.

Mostly, though, it's just fun for reasons that seem to defy my ability to explain -- pretty much the same deal as riding fixed on the road.