combining the speedplay/crank brothers/pedal falling off comments....

I had an early Shimano SPD come off on me like that.  It was the first ride after servicing the pedals.  They were easy to grease, but I ever-so-slightly did something wrong in adjusting the bearings, which resulted int eh bearing stopping spinning and the pedal coming off.

In comparison to that design, Crank Brothers, even the first-ten were much easier to service, and have gotten easier since.  Speedplay has also gotten much easier--originally, you had to pry off the end cap with a pick or safety pin--other than the purged gunked grease coming out of the spindle side of the pedal, Speedplay are super easy.  

So this past Sunday I was working on my girlfriend's road bike, a 2014 Trek Madone 5.9 H2 Compact. She got it used last year from a friend, and it has some decent miles on it. This is the model that has the annoying rear brake by the bottom bracket, saving 0.5 watts in aero, but picking up 3lbs of debris, and then rubbing the wheel for an added 10 watts of resistance... Anyway, I digress on that bit... 

@mugwump I've never understood the need for float in a pedal system, other than it being a way out for folk who cannot be fussed to get their saddle & cleat position dialed in properly. 

@AndrewJohnson

Video showing the catalog for 5800 vs 6800 seems like the main difference for the cassette is that Ultegra groups the 6 largest cogs into 2 groups, the rest being loose. 5800 only groups the 3 largest - pretty standard stuff, so I'd say yeah, as long as you have all the cogs and necessary spacers from 5800 you should be good to go:

https://youtu.be/RbFtjD5XrIQ?t=135


Comparison of crankset shows that 6800 and 5800 are nearly identical outside of cosmetic/construction differences. I don't see why they wouldn't be interchangeable:

https://handsonbike.blogspot.com/2016/10/shimano-ultegra-6800-vs-shimano-105.html

That was basically my feeling too. Doesn't hurt to hash this out though :-) .

AndrewJohnson said:

So I need to put together a parts list. She has Shimano 6800 (11spd) compact setup, 50-34 and 11-28t. Since money is an object, we would like to try to be a bit more economical about this and I was wondering if 5800 105 parts would fit the Ultegra spider? I have 5800 (mid compact) parts on my Roubaix and I think they are a good value for wight/stiffness/longevity for my training bike.

Thoughts?

I think it should work, though it may look a lil funky color wise. 

https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/ultegra-and-105-compatibility/13724
(Last couple of comments)

ultegra 6800 is interchangeable with 105 5800, You can pretty much mix and match 105, ultegra and even dura ace if its from same generation.

RobertMullen said:

AndrewJohnson said:

So I need to put together a parts list. She has Shimano 6800 (11spd) compact setup, 50-34 and 11-28t. Since money is an object, we would like to try to be a bit more economical about this and I was wondering if 5800 105 parts would fit the Ultegra spider? I have 5800 (mid compact) parts on my Roubaix and I think they are a good value for wight/stiffness/longevity for my training bike.

Thoughts?

I think it should work, though it may look a lil funky color wise. 

https://www.trainerroad.com/forum/t/ultegra-and-105-compatibility/13724
(Last couple of comments)

Agreed, the colors might be slightly different, but for example a 50t chain ring is approximately $70 cheaper in 105 than Ultegra. Not an insignificant amount. Of course now that I'm involved, I will make sure I replace her chain and keep it tip top as to reduce the wear time on the cogs and rings.

Bruce van-Schalkwyk said:

I just went through this for my 10 speed ultegra 6700 and Sram Red setups, sourcing parts online from ebay and other sites.  

Spring makes the heart grow fonder. . . for bicycle parts.

Please do post picks during the rebuild, it's always helpful for me to see others working on bikes, how to do it, tools needed, and workspace setups.

I have some older 6700 parts sitting around. I have a full size crank (53-39t) with brand new chain rings to be slapped on. I have also a compact 6700 series 50-34t in the box. It was used for maybe 500 miles tops when I took my bike to Italy in 2015. Both cranks are 172.5 in length. Obviously the full size crank is more wear on it but still in good shape.

@Bruce van-Schalkwyk me working on Amy's bike on Sunday.

Yeah, I probably should have checked here for parts first!  But however much it drives me crazy, searching for older parts online is a fun sport, in and of itself, and requires no ftp.  My cranks are 175, and I've got everything sitting on a pile here now.  If only I could buy some motivation online, too.

@Bruce van-Schalkwyk my motivation killer is my day job. Lol. I keep thinking about retirement, and people tell me I'll have nothing to do and go downhill fast. Wrong. I have plenty of hobbies and things to do. Mucho bike riding, bike repair, travel, woodworking... Man I so can't wait to retire.. lol...

ian ellis said:

@mugwump I've never understood the need for float in a pedal system, other than it being a way out for folk who cannot be fussed to get their saddle & cleat position dialed in properly. 

I think that's largely accurate.

I think you've been at this long enough to remember when Look pedals started to supplant clips-and-straps, and how it also coincided with a rise in knee injuries.  

Float certainly made it easier to switch.  

Considering how Time pedal systems went out of style and how Speedplay went from the total float X/2 style to the limited float Zero style, seems that 'the market' largely agrees with you.  

That written, Seems that most 'zero float' choices still have some slop, or float, in them.  

In my own experience, I went from clips-and-straps to Look, but had a good fit before doing so--a company called Fit Kit made a cool pedal jig that helped set the cleat position, to Time after I had a bout with tendonitis to Diadora with zero float, to Speedplay X/2, to Zeros.  Now my Zero cleats have the float completely locked out, but I still have float.

FWIW, the float adjustment with the Speedplay Zeros I love.  Great for those who don't want to have to rely on someone else.  I just start with the inner float stopped before my heel hits the crank and chain stay, then I slowly start limiting the 'heels out' float.  Until I find the position, and then I eliminate the float entirely.  

mugwump said:

ian ellis said:

@mugwump I've never understood the need for float in a pedal system, other than it being a way out for folk who cannot be fussed to get their saddle & cleat position dialed in properly. 

I think that's largely accurate.

I think you've been at this long enough to remember when Look pedals started to supplant clips-and-straps, and how it also coincided with a rise in knee injuries.  

Float certainly made it easier to switch.  

Considering how Time pedal systems went out of style and how Speedplay went from the total float X/2 style to the limited float Zero style, seems that 'the market' largely agrees with you.  

That written, Seems that most 'zero float' choices still have some slop, or float, in them.  

In my own experience, I went from clips-and-straps to Look, but had a good fit before doing so--a company called Fit Kit made a cool pedal jig that helped set the cleat position, to Time after I had a bout with tendonitis to Diadora with zero float, to Speedplay X/2, to Zeros.  Now my Zero cleats have the float completely locked out, but I still have float.

FWIW, the float adjustment with the Speedplay Zeros I love.  Great for those who don't want to have to rely on someone else.  I just start with the inner float stopped before my heel hits the crank and chain stay, then I slowly start limiting the 'heels out' float.  Until I find the position, and then I eliminate the float entirely.  

When I talked with Pruitt about it he thought "float" as a huge cause of knee pain; his thinking being your feet are wobbling when they need to be planted. I guess it's similar to doing squats with "float"...

Spent some time this weekend upgrading my 9 speed 105/Ultegra group to the latest 105 group. Went from a 53/39 and 12-26 combo to a 52/36 and 11-32 combo. Wheels were upgraded to Campy Zonda.

Was a pretty easy install; did it myself. RD was easy to adjust. The FD on the other hand was a major pain, very complicated cable routing. Overall, a very fun process and I'm extremely satisfied with the end result. This bike is now exactly how I want it. Next up will be updating my 8 speed LeMond Poprad cross bike with a more modern 2x10 speed SRAM setup

Pics of when I bought my LeMond


Pics of her now


Thanks to Rich for gifting me the more modern style handlebars!

Super nice job!

that bike is the hotness now!!

Seriously, those Lemond framesets and bikes are the hotness, love them all.

I really dig the modern parts on classic frames! I’ve been eyeballing a Lemond Tourmalet on eBay for a minute now and this has inspired me 

@TomWasko

good looking whip.  What also inspires is the higher saddle, lower stem and fewer mm of stack spacers.  not to mention the pedals.

RIVAL eTap AXS - released today
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHpdRft6_jo

It’s genuinely pretty affordable (relatively). I think under $1400 for the full kit with a power meter. 

Also, FYI, those of us with the Crux and Praxis cranksets- Praxis makes an AXS compatible chainring for ~$60-$80. Its unclear if they changed the design recently or if our chanrings are the same as the ones sold (I think they might be?). But the Wave-whatever 1x chainrings on their site are compatible with 12-speed flat top chains making this a slightly more affordable upgrade (ie no new crankset, no new bottom bracket, no new power meter if you have one already). 

ultimately, I am gonna bet a little bit of cash than any chainring, specially 1x narrow/wide, will work with the flat top chains.

GCN got their hands and was able to ride the groupset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz2ORkCGdJw

Will also confess, that the idea of wireless combined with hydraulic brakes, and NEVER having to change or deal with a cable ever, is super attractive. 

I just fitted the sram gx eagle axs upgrade kit on my MTB , so so good !

I was chatting with a friend yesterday.  He is getting into gravel and doesn't have CX tires to just mount and go.  When he asked me about the gravel roads up on Putnam county, I told him I'd just put o my 35mm Ritchey tires and figure it out from there.  

I just watched a video from gravel stud Yuri Hauswald and his only advice was '40mm and wider' and 'call ahead.' Blown away I was not.

So, for those who have ridden up there, what do you use?  From what I've heard, it seems that anything will work, but probably either totally smooth (like Rene Herse) or smooth center with small knobs on the side (like Panaracer Gravel King SS) are preobably well suited.  

For those with experience, what write you?

35mm is the right advice. 

All of my 2020 off road riding was on Rene Herse 35 slicks. If you are riding Putman, slicks will be kinda perfect.

I suppose that if you are racing you might want to get more nuanced.

For most of 2019 most of my off road was on 33s Donelly PDX, which bubble up to 35ish. Mostly basically, ride what you brought.