Boardman pro carbon to full Ultegra 6800.
Discussion
I'm replacing nearly all of the components on my Bordman summer commute to full 6800 Ultegra , i'm just a little confused on which rear derailleur & Chainset to buy.
I'm buying bit by bit & my LBS will build it for me in March.
The rear derailleur has the option of these two - SS Short (max 28T) & GS Medium
The chain set will be a 50/34 but i have the option of -170 34/50 or 172.5 34/50 & 175 34/50
I'm not quite sure what to buy really & any help appreciated.
I'm buying bit by bit & my LBS will build it for me in March.
The rear derailleur has the option of these two - SS Short (max 28T) & GS Medium

The chain set will be a 50/34 but i have the option of -170 34/50 or 172.5 34/50 & 175 34/50

I'm not quite sure what to buy really & any help appreciated.
Leonard Zinn did loads of testing with mechs and cassettes to see what would work, as well as mixing brands.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/03/bikes-and-t...
Zinn found the short cage rear 11sp mech worked fine with a 32t cassette.
There is also loads on mixing shimano, sram and campag. We often say it cant be done but there is loads of evidence and user experiences to say that its not always as difficult as we perceive, I guess we just like convenience and minimum faff.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/02/bikes-and-t...
Zinn measured the tolerances and believes the differences in the shift activation ratio on new 11sp is small enough such that you could use shimano or campag cassettes with the other brand shifters.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/04/bikes-and-t...
The short cage will be fine, I trust Zinn! As for cranks, I've used 172.5 and 170, there is lots of research by Mike Burrows that says we ride cranks that are far too long but unless you are interested in the science, and providing you are a "normal" size, you wont go wrong with 172.5
http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/03/bikes-and-t...
Zinn found the short cage rear 11sp mech worked fine with a 32t cassette.
There is also loads on mixing shimano, sram and campag. We often say it cant be done but there is loads of evidence and user experiences to say that its not always as difficult as we perceive, I guess we just like convenience and minimum faff.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/02/bikes-and-t...
Zinn measured the tolerances and believes the differences in the shift activation ratio on new 11sp is small enough such that you could use shimano or campag cassettes with the other brand shifters.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/04/bikes-and-t...
The short cage will be fine, I trust Zinn! As for cranks, I've used 172.5 and 170, there is lots of research by Mike Burrows that says we ride cranks that are far too long but unless you are interested in the science, and providing you are a "normal" size, you wont go wrong with 172.5
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 2nd January 13:11
Cranks length, match your existing (it'll be stamped on the inside of each arm - prob 175 on your size frame Neil) IF you've been comfy enough. A mate of mine suffers terribly with back problems and after trying shorter ones he will now only ride with 165s. Not read of any downside to shorter cranks tbh.
Black can man said:
I'm replacing nearly all of the components on my Bordman summer commute to full 6800 Ultegra , i'm just a little confused on which rear derailleur & Chainset to buy.
I'm buying bit by bit & my LBS will build it for me in March.
The rear derailleur has the option of these two - SS Short (max 28T) & GS Medium
The chain set will be a 50/34 but i have the option of -170 34/50 or 172.5 34/50 & 175 34/50
I'm not quite sure what to buy really & any help appreciated.
Will your wheels take an 11spd Shimano cassette?I'm buying bit by bit & my LBS will build it for me in March.
The rear derailleur has the option of these two - SS Short (max 28T) & GS Medium

The chain set will be a 50/34 but i have the option of -170 34/50 or 172.5 34/50 & 175 34/50

I'm not quite sure what to buy really & any help appreciated.
They may be Shimano 9/10 spd only, in which case you'll either need an 11spd freehub body kit for your existing hub, a Campag freehub body and cassette if the former is not available or a new pair of 11spd wheels if neither of those are available.
Matt_N said:
Black can man said:
I'm replacing nearly all of the components on my Bordman summer commute to full 6800 Ultegra , i'm just a little confused on which rear derailleur & Chainset to buy.
I'm buying bit by bit & my LBS will build it for me in March.
The rear derailleur has the option of these two - SS Short (max 28T) & GS Medium
The chain set will be a 50/34 but i have the option of -170 34/50 or 172.5 34/50 & 175 34/50
I'm not quite sure what to buy really & any help appreciated.
Will your wheels take an 11spd Shimano cassette?I'm buying bit by bit & my LBS will build it for me in March.
The rear derailleur has the option of these two - SS Short (max 28T) & GS Medium

The chain set will be a 50/34 but i have the option of -170 34/50 or 172.5 34/50 & 175 34/50

I'm not quite sure what to buy really & any help appreciated.
They may be Shimano 9/10 spd only, in which case you'll either need an 11spd freehub body kit for your existing hub, a Campag freehub body and cassette if the former is not available or a new pair of 11spd wheels if neither of those are available.
I'm sure the Boardman frames use BB30, so you'll need an additional adapter for the chainset/BB if you want to use the Ultegra one. Alternatively sell the Ultegra chainset on and get an FSA, Rotor or similar alternative which is BB30 specific, or if you're not fussy about matching groupset brands there is a BB30 SRAM Force one available.
jamiebae said:
I'm sure the Boardman frames use BB30, so you'll need an additional adapter for the chainset/BB if you want to use the Ultegra one. Alternatively sell the Ultegra chainset on and get an FSA, Rotor or similar alternative which is BB30 specific, or if you're not fussy about matching groupset brands there is a BB30 SRAM Force one available.
To be honest there really is nothing wrong with the FSA that is currently on it & i had a new bb put on it last summer so it should be good for another summer i guess, i'd rather not mess around with adapters tbh & I'm pretty sure that it is a BB30 because i recall my LBS fellow saying he needed a few days to get one.Wanting the Ultegra chainset is really purely cosmetic & maybe i'd be better off getting a chainset that fits without the need off faffing around with adapters,
I'll look into it as bit more AS the chainset will be the last item i buy, thanks for the sound advice fella's
jamiebae said:
Yeah, as long as they're 11 speed friendly you can pick whatever you fancy and run Ultegra bits for everything else.
10 speed chainset should work fine with an 11 speed chain, it's the same internal dimensions i.e the bit of the chain that goes over the chainring and cassette, they slimmed down the link plates and external dimensions to accomodate the 11 speed cassette spacing.Same with Campag, 10 speed crankset works ok with 11 speed.
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