Though I did pretty much blast my 11-23 cassette, many of the problems with the Felt were due to a delay in annual maintenance. As in, "why change the cables right now when my SRAM stuff is coming? I'd just have to change it all again."
That plan was fine at the outset, but not when the stuff showed up a month later than it was supposed to. But now that it's installed, the timeframe is no longer important -- I'm just happy it's here.
Oh, and it's awesome. For the record, here's how my bike stacks up now: SRAM Force shifters/derailleurs, SRM crank, Ultegra SL brakes, Dura-Ace pedals.
There's the new view from the cockpit. Pretty clean look, and it's noticeably lighter. Even on Thursday night, when I took my 105 shifters off, I noticed how heavy they were. That was confirmed when I took the Force shifters out of their box on Friday. Not even close.As for performance, the DoubleTap system is pretty easy to get. Upshifts are just like Shimano, but with a firmer click. Downshifts have the same motion as Shimano, but it takes a little more effort to move the lever. It's just as quick, though. Even on climby parts on Saturday, I had no problems.
The front derailleur is pretty slick, too. The SRM crank is a little finicky, so I'm sure the shifting right now isn't as solid as it would be on my Ultegra crank. But it's still pretty good.
And thanks to Mr. Miles, I have some new brakes on there, too -- Ultegra SL. Having never had Shimano brakes before (I had Tektro brakes that were so generic, they didn't even say Tektro on them), the difference is huge. The action feels light, but steady.
So that's that. The only thing I have to complain about now is legs -- but they feel great right now. Gonna be a good week.
5 comments:
Congrats, you rode around Omaha and raced with Tecktro Brakes? They are scetchy at best and if it is wet worse. Mine were on my Fuji, only fuji would have dure ace and tektro brakes. I was okay in KS on them but when I moved up here I got some Ultegra brakes. No Comparison. Good luck.
Your patience was tested on this one. Yet you and your Felt held on until the snapping point and thankfully not a day longer.
Word on the street is that you did all the wrenching. Any issues on the SRAM installation to note?
Hey, I thought you said you cleaned your bike before the install? What's with the dirt I see around the downtube cable stop and under your stem? Don't you use a toothbrush in all the nooks and crannies like I do? Or is that too OCD?
Just kidding, the bike looks great. I'm glad it's performing well and your install went smooth. And you were wise to consult Zinn when you couldn't get ahold of me. That's where I get most of my info from.
Grats on the new gear.
johnny -- the Tektros weren't bad, they just weren't good. They'll live on the Trek project now.
brady -- my patience and sanity were given a thorough workout. And yeah, I did all the wrenching myself. No issues to report. Tuning the derailleurs took a while, but that was mostly due to my inabilities, rather than a SRAM problem.
mike -- the parts that need to be clean are clean. The rest is overkill. Plus, it was late and I was tired. I'm glad I had the Zinn book to begin with. I probably would have kept calling until I was done.
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