You are right, those are R8000s; the 8100 is the newer 12 speed model. I’m still trying to get clear on the 7400 series …
And the FD is a SRAM as it worked better for the previous owner. I do have the Ultegra, though. On Mon, Oct 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM Chris Cullum <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > On Mon, Oct 20, 2025, 17:41 Patrick Moore <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I just got back from a very nice, moderately hilly, and quite windy 20 >> miler. I’ve long since codified my preferred setup, but the first 100 miles >> always involves many stops, decreasing in frequency as the miles increase, >> for fine tuning saddle height and tilt and bar tilt. By mile 16 I had it >> all refined pretty much to perfection, and it is all very comfortable >> indeed. I averaged 11.6 mph clock running from the very many stops to >> adjust and re-adjust things, mostly saddle height and tilt, which involved >> futzing with the saddle bag. >> >> I replaced the Conti Gatorskin 28s and heavy-ish butyl tubes with >> Stampede Pass EL 32s and TPU tubes, each tube holding ~2 fl oz of OS >> regular; replaced the 100 mm 90* stem with a 90 mm 15* (?) stem, also a >> Ritchey — *So* glad I stashed a couple of Ritcheys away; added an >> original edition Flite from my collection (I decided to use a tried and >> true benchmark of 30 years in order to avoid more mid-ride fine tuning than >> did occur; see below. I also greased and installed my second pair of Dura >> Ace 7410 (mountain SPD) (road SPD sic) pedals with pedal washers. >> >> The cranks — again, Ultegra 11 speed R8100 — are the post-warranty, >> improved model; the seller was very clear about that. >> > > Nope. Those are R8000 cranks. The R8100 is more square-ish looking. They > might be late gen R8000 when they allegedly fixed the bonding issue. Check > the serial number. Or they may have been checked as "OK" in the LBS > inspection. But they are definitely in the suspect group. > > The Q is about 145; just right. But those arms are thick! >> >> I don’t so much mind the black color, tho’ I do think that forged and >> polished aluminum looks much better, as I do the susceptibility of the >> anodizing to scratching and scuffing. I put a wrap of helicopter tape >> around the base of the seatpost to protect it from the saddlebag strap, and >> installed double pedal washers so ensure that my feet clear the crank arms, >> particularly the right, that has a bunion. >> >> The 11 speed Ultegra drivetrain behaved impeccably; business as usual. >> I’d not used indexing (in fact, I’d not used a stock drivetrain) since, >> IME, problematical 7 speed XT, and 11 speed has it down just right. >> Indexing is truly mature technology. >> > > The front derailleur is not the same generation as the shifters so might > not be optimal. If you have issues maybe consider matching it to the same > generation. > >> >> My own preference is to pedal through a range of cadences and torque >> levels before shifting — I *like *to stand and climb, and I usually give >> up early and coast on downhills (tho’ when I shift, I want just the right >> gear, not an approximation, especially in the 60” to 80” cruising range), >> so the ease of shifting is largely lost on me; I hope this convenience does >> not make me fall into the sin of shifting every time the wind shifts or the >> incline varies by 1/2 a degree. >> >> It has been — what, 15 years? — since I owned a derailleur road bike; the >> last one was the blue Ram with first 7 speed and then 9 speed doubles. I’d >> forgotten how much *easier* it is to ride such bikes in any conditions >> other than flat and still, with gears for any wind or hill, and effortless >> coasting downhill, compared to riding fixed, even with 2 or 3 fixed gears >> to choose from, and even compared to 3 relatively closely spaced freewheel >> gears as with a SA AM hub. >> >> The outer ring is a 50, and I think that the inner is a 34. The cassette >> is an 11-32; tho’ why anyone besides a pro or top-level amateur racer wants >> a 124” gear is a question I can’t answer. I’m happy with a mid 90s top >> gear, this on a gofast road bike. >> >> I can live with the 18 to 20 t drop, 76” to 68”, but what is unforgivable >> is the jump from 18 to 16, 76” to 85”. That’s just too damned big in the >> fast cruising (tailwind) range. >> >> But at least the main cruising gear, 50X18, 76”, is just to the left/NDS >> of a straight line, and with modern chains and 44 cm stays (c bb to c >> dropout) this particular obsession is really only of academic interest. >> >> But, I am no longer used to crossover drivetrains; all the derailleur >> bikes I’ve owned in the last 20+ years have been 1xs or 1xs + granny, with >> the big ring centered on the cassette. One of the biggest annoyances of >> modern cranks is that you can’t swap bb spindle lengths or laterally adjust >> them to center the big ring on the center of the cassette. >> >> The left shows the stock and current gearing, the right shows more >> reasonable gearing: >> >> 27.3" wheel 27.3" wheel >> 50 34 50 34 >> 11 124 14 98 >> 12 114 15 91 >> 13 105 16 85 >> 14 98 17 80 >> 16 85 18 76 >> 18 76 19 72 >> 20 68 46 21 65 44 >> 22 62 42 23 59 40 >> 25 55 37 25 55 37 >> 28 49 33 28 49 33 >> 32 43 29 32 43 29 >> >> I still have new bike smell in my imagination, but it seemed that the >> Stampede Pass ELs with TPU and 2 fl oz OS reg are as easy to pedal as the >> ineffably nice Elk Passes, also TPUs and OS, on the t999 fixed custom, this >> by the usual metric of ease of turning over given gears in given conditions >> on routes ridden thousands of times over the decades. The SPs measure 31.6 >> mm — will probably stretch a bit more — on the Rich-built wheels using 23 >> mm OW Velocity rims. >> > > They will stretch for sure. > >> >> The Roadeo is definitely nimbler than the Ram was, even when the Ram was >> shod with ~31 mm Challenge Paris Roubaix tires. Delightful, and it is very >> close to the nimble yet stable handling of my 26” wheel road customs. >> >> The tall wheels cut sharpness of small abrupt bumps; 28 55-60 vs 32 >> 50-55; roughly 2” taller than 559 wheels of similar width. As cush as 559 X >> 52 at 35-40. >> >> The original owner was my size and I only had to slam the Flite all the >> way back on the no-offset Thompson post, raise it by ~5 mm, and play with >> the tilt. >> > > Maybe an offset post is a better idea than having the saddle jammed all > the way back on the rails. > > But with an Asian build, albeit on a 5’11” scale, the bar was too far away >> on the 10 cm stem and too low at 90*. The 9 at +15* puts the bar at clamp >> about 1: — 1.25" below saddle, just a bit higher than my other, fixed/fxed >> IGH, road bikes. >> >> The 42 cm bar a bit too wide but I can live with it; a 40 or even a 38 >> (those on my other road bikes are 38) would be better. The very long ramps >> on the STI levers just about exactly make up for the micro reach on the >> modern “anatomical' bar, so all is spot-on with saddle-to-bar and >> saddle-to—hood lengths. But I dislike "anatomical” bars; the hooks are less >> comfortable, especially for my very sensitive left palm. If I keep the STI >> shifters I’ll have to look for a “round” curve drop bar with almost no >> reach. >> > > Ritchey Classic bend is round and short reach, as is Soma HWY 1. I > actually like the new parabolic drops. For me it's more ergonomic but this > is a personal thing. > >> >> The CF cages save 1.36 kg compared to common and contemptible stainless >> steel cages, and make me decidedly faster up hills. >> > > This is true. Removing the metal cages and 2 x 650ml full bottles, and > replacing with CF cages will save ~1.36 kg. > >> >> Total weight ready to ride with pedals and cages is 20.6 lb. With seat >> bag and extensive kit (incl 4 fl oz bottle of OS) total weight is 22.2 lb. >> >> Lastly, RH agreed to warranty the 559 TPU tube with the bad valve-to-tube >> interface; thank you, RH! I’ve ordered a total of 24 TPU tubes this year, I >> think, and 18 in the last month, for 559 X 28 and 559 X 42 and 622 X 32 >> tires on 3 bikes. Work perfectly with OS regular. >> >> Even more lastly, the one photo taken during the ride shows that recent >> rains have made the Rio Grande flow again. It’s still shallow far below >> normal but it’s much better than the 5-mile total dry-up that happened a >> couple of months ago. >> >> You can be assured that more, oh much more, is to come. >> > > Nice ride. Enjoy! > >> >> >> >> -- >> >> Patrick Moore >> Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing >> services >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> >> *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* >> >> *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* >> >> *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* >> >> -- >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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