It took 2 weeks for all the parts to arrive, even with Amazon Prime. The cassette and derailleur arrive within a couple of days, but the 1.85 mm spacer took 2 weeks.
Replacing the cassette and derailleur was surprisingly easy. The gear cable took a bit of research. The gear cable on my bike runs under the chain stay, so the only logical place for the Shiftmate device is right on the derailleur. Actually, I use a very short piece of cable between them.
Note the 40 cog sprocket wheel which is slightly gray.
One thing I am worried with this setup is dirt getting in the Shiftmate and interfering with its function. So I made a small box out of kydex using the Shiftmate itself as a template. I use tape to hold the box in place.
Forming the sides of the box.
Conclusion
With 4 rides and over 100 miles on the new cassette I must say that I am impressed. Having 2 extra lower gears to switch into on steep hills has made riding so much more enjoyable. It is not that I am going faster, but I am certainly able to keep going longer. Also, the shifting have been smooth and predictable. I can shift any time up or down without any issues.
The idea is to get lower gear ratio for my road bike to help climbing steep hills.
Rational
I like climbing hills on my bike. Particularly going up to Skyline BLVD and down towards the ocean. My problem is that I find myself using the 1st gear all the time and even then I often can’t maintain a fast enough cadence. The gear ration of the Shimano 105 components on my road bike is already the lowest possible. My only option is to use mountain bike (MTB) components. This article is about changing the rear cassette.
Cassette
Change from Shimano 105 11-speed 11-32T – CS-5800 to XT CS-M8000 11-speed 11-40T – XT CS-M8000 will add 2 more gear options at the low end. The numerical ratio will be 25% lower, or from gear inch 28 to 22.5.
The 11-42T version of this cassette only works with a single chainring setup. There are 30T, 32T and 34T options. It is actually quite compelling. My bike has a 34-50T compact crank and 11-32 cassette to create a gear inch range of 28-120. A single 34T chainring with 11-42T cassette has a gear inch 21.5-80.
Cassette Compatibility: Shimano 11 speed hub on road bikes is 1.85mm longer than the 11 speed MTB (11 speed MTB hub is the same as the 10 and 9 speed hubs). They make a spacer called “low spacer” for this – 1.85mm Low Spacer
Chain
CN-HG700 seems to be compatible for both road and MTB 11-speed systems. My bike uses 56 inch chain (112 links) the new chain comes with 114 links or 57 inch. Calculating the required chain for the new bike (40T Cassette, 50T Chainring, 42.5CM chainstay) I need 58 inch. I will need to purchase 2 chains and combine them to make the length I need. – Calculator . Going with a 1-11 solution with a 34T chainring and 11-42T cassette the chain needs to be 54 inch.
Derailleur/Shifter
Shimano design derailleur and shifters for 11-speed bikes as sets. They are expected to work together, and with the specific cassette design. The combination currently installed on my road bike will not work with a MTB cassette for several reasons.
Cog Clearance
The road derailleur currently on the bike – RD-5800 will not clear the large cogs on the 11-40T cassette. Wolf Tooth Components makes an adapter RoadLink that may be able to solve this problem. Alternatively, a MTB derailleur RD-M8000 might be a better solution.
MTB cassette cog pitch is 3.9mm and road cassette is 2.7 Compatibility. With the road derailleur/shifter combination, it may be possible to tweak the attachment point of the cable. This will cause the derailleur to move the required distance to the next cog. If switching the the MTB derailleur there are 2 possibilities: 1) use MTB shifter, which adds a new problem of how to attach it; 2) use Shiftmate 8 from Jtek with the current road shifter.
The Shiftmate adapter uses a wheel with 2 grooves with different diameter. The cable enter the wheel around one groove and exit around the other which changes the amount of pull the derailleur see.
MTB Shifters on Road Bike
There are some articles describing how to modify a front derailleur braze-on 31.8 mm strap to so it can accept a MTB shifter and attach it to the thick part of a road dropped handlebar. This makes it possible to shift but not from the STI shifter. switching between sscx mode and touring and Paul Components.
When out backpacking I carry 5 devices that need power: 1) cell phone, 2) headlamp, 3) Steripen water purifier, 4) camera, 5) emergency satellite locator beacon. Keeping all these devices happily powered is what I want to talk about in this and a few following blog entries.
In the past, these devices used a verity of batteries. Managing batteries and spares was a nightmare. Now days I make a point that every device can be charged with a USB plug. So no more spare batteries, instead I rely on a battery pack. This blog entry is about the battery packs, or about the few that I have.
About my battery packs
Brand “EasyAcc”, rated 5000mAh, weight 5oz.
– Charge from 0 to 100% – 2900mAh
– Discharge from 100% to 0 – 1750mAh
– Efficiency (discharge/charge) – 60%
– capacity/weight – 350mAh/oz
EasyAcc battery with USB meter and load
Brand “Ravpower”, rated 15000mAh/55.5Wh, weight 11oz.
– Charge 0 to 100% – 12850mAh
– Discharge 100 to 0% – 9500mAh
– Efficiency (discharge/charge) – 74%
– capacity/weight – 863mAh/oz
Note: The Ravpower battery seems to have a problem when charging with a solar panel. Solar panel power fluctuates depending on sun exposure, angle, sky condition, etc. The Ravpower battery will stop charging if the power drops too low and will only resume charging if it is completely disconnected first. I have the same problem with my cell phone.
Ravpower battery with USB meter and load
Brand “Newtrent”, rated 12000mAh@3.7v(44.4Wh), weight 8oz
– Charge 0 to 100% – 8500mAh (9250)
– Discharge 100 to 0% – 6700mAh (6850)
– Efficiency (discharge/charge) – 79% (74%)
– capacity/weight – 837mAh/oz
Note: the Newtrent battery seems to behave fine when charged from a solar panel
Newtrent battery with USB meter and Load
notes:
1) Efficiency is important when using a solar charger to charge the battery and then the battery to charge other devices. It is not important when using wall power.
2) Capacity/weight is likely to drop with time. This is important for backpacking, but less so for other usages.
About some of my electronic devices
Samsung Note 4 – rate 3200mAh
– Charge from 15% to 100% (phone is on) – 2800mAh
Steripen Ultra –
– it was down 2 bars (out of 4) after 10 days of hiking from Tuolumne to Donner
– Charge from 2 bars to full – 150mAh
Note: there is no practical way to drain the battery for testing purposes
Headlamp Black Diamond ReVolt –
– it was down to empty after 10 days of hiking from Tuolumne to Donner, used about 2 hours every day
– Charge from empty to full – 450mAh
chugchug 