Ordered a new bike....

[contadino]

There's a little back lane, somewhere near one of the villages on the A6, that I'd love to find again. Long (but not epic long) but it's so steep I could hardly walk up it, and it had that whole even-steeper-round-the-next-bend thing going on. I found (badly planned route) it once but didn't save the route from that weekend and I'd love to figure out where it is and give it another shot now.

Curbar's a mental hill that I have several stopping points on - they've kindly provided benches for me to collapse on. Having been off bikes thru injury for nearly a year, it's encouraging to see progress in this way. Last time I did that hill at Monsal was Feb 2018 and I stopped three times for a breather, but I was loaded with bivi, bag, SIM, and being winter a few more clothes, etc...

 

[Minotier]

Glad to hear you are getting back into it after your enforced lay off @contadino, hopefully be back myself after my latest eighteen months off.
Best of.

ETA: I’m enjoying the good reports and rolling review.

 

[Deleted member 91092]

Hello!

I just ordered a Santiago Rival Touring (with two custom options: TRP Spyre mech brakes and 46/30 FSA chainset) and I'm strongly interested by your feedback.

Contadino, did you get the default "touring" build with 48/32 chainset and 11-42 cassette ? If yes, what is your rear derailleur ? What do you think of the shifting ?

Indeed I just got very confused by the SRAM catalog: there are two Rival 22 rear derailleurs, one short cage and one mid cage, but neither is officially compatible with the 11-42 cassette:
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/family/sram-rival

On the other hand there is a Rival long cage derailleur that is compatible with the 11-42 cassette, but it belongs to the Rival1 groupset
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/family/sram-rival-1
that is only designed to work with a single ring chainset.

I found this link https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/...gs-be-used-with-a-clutch-type-rear-derailleur where it is explained that the X-horizon technology of the SRAM 1x derailleurs make them incompatible with double rings.

So I'm really confused ! The bike is not cheap and I want a really good drivetrain.

 

[contadino]

The build sheet says Sram Rival Rear Derailleur / 22 / Medium, Sram PG1130 Cassette / 11 / 11-42, and FSA Gossamer Adventure 386Evo Crankset /172.5mm / 48-32.

In terms of 'what do I think of the shifting', that's a bit complex because other than my Going Down the Shops Bike (1990 Raleigh Pioneer), all my others have been friction shifters. So yes, I think it's great. Bloody amazing actually. But I'm no expert. I mean you can't move 3, 4 or 5 gears at a time like with friction shifters, and I haven't tried shifting front and rear simultaneously yet, but in terms of keeping your hands on the bars and changing, and those times where you hit a sudden bit of hill that you want to drop it down a gear when you're out of the saddle, the 'brifters' are very good. Changes are fast and reliable and cleaner than the Deore on my Pioneer. There may be better around - I wouldn't know because I can't compare.

I hope that answers your questions...

 

[Deleted member 91092]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes the build sheet is consistent with the picture:
https://www.alpkit.com/images/sonder/Touring_build.jpg
that indeed seems to show a Rival22 RD mid cage:
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-rival-22-rear-derailleur-mid-cage-wifli
(looking carefully, the different Rival derailleurs have slightly different design and painting).

I'm very confused because on various forums one can find examples of people looking for a solution to have a 11sp 11-42 cassette together with a double chainring, and it doesn't seem to be trivial (unless one uses MTB stuff).

Did you try to use the 3 largest cogs of the cassette ? Any anomaly when shifting there (strange noise, hard spot, chain jam, anything) ?

I'm also wondering about the long-term behavior of this drivetrain.

Anyway I asked Alpkit for more details, I will report on their answer (I confirm that they are very nice!).

 

[Deleted member 91092]

Well, that was fast, I have the answer from Alpkit folks: they use a Sunrace range extender, that allows to use the RD with a bigger cassette. Hopefully it's a reliable solution.

Still the use of the largest cogs with the largest ring is not recommended (it's not useful anyway).

I'm still interested by your feedback on the lowest gears.

I 'm so excited by this bike !

 

[contadino]

I went out last weekend hunting down hills to climb so I've probably spent longer in low gears than high. No problems to report at all.

 

[Deleted member 91092]

Hello Contadino

Still happy with the bike ?

I am having issues with Alpkit, it took them more than 3 weeks to warn me they couldn't get the chainset (46/30 instead of 48/32) I requested in my order.

How often do you use the smallest gear combination ?

Thanks.

 

[contadino]

Very happy. I've been out for several 2 or 3 night trips with camping gear and the bike handles well with a bit of extra weight on it.

Mainly riding around the peak District, so yes, the lowest gear has had a fair bit of use. Very happy to have the touring spec.

I'm surprised you're having problems with Alpkit. They have been an excellent company to deal with.

 

[Deleted member 91092]

Well, they are presumably quite good, but they need to improve on their stock management and ordering system. Four weeks after my order I have still no idea when they will have everything ready. Hopefully it will get sorted out within the next week.

 

[contadino]

When I ordered mine, they gave me a build time. Can't remember what it was - 20 (working) days maybe. I got an email a week before that was due saying that it was ready and they could drop it off at my home.

 

[Deleted member 91092]

Yes, that's how things should work. In my case they said no problem for the custom components, and 15 workable days for the build. It's only after 3 weeks that they realized they couldn't get the chainset. I believe it's not very professional.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Yes, that's how things should work. In my case they said no problem for the custom components, and 15 workable days for the build. It's only after 3 weeks that they realized they couldn't get the chainset. I believe it's not very professional.

I expect that a supplier was unable to supply the chainset, or that it was a spec that was unobtainable?

 

[Deleted member 91092]

Yes their usual supplier is out of stock, but it wasn't three weeks ago. Now they're talking about ordering the chainrings separately and assemble the chainset by themselves, but they first asked me to pay the corresponding additional cost which I find not very elegant. Finally they accept to take this in charge, but I still don't know whether they will get the chainrings in a reasonable amount of time. One problem I have is that I'm not directly in contact with the person who decides.

PS: maybe I'm too demanding, but since they ask to pay 100% at the order, and the bike is not cheap, I'm getting a bit worried
Anyway, I don't want to pollute Contadino's experience, if you have pictures ready feel free so share !

 

[SpokeyDokey]

View attachment 464510 I've got the Camino and if that's anything to go by you won't be disappointed.

Cool looking bike there.