New Toys

I confess.  I’ve been playing a bit.  (When a mechanic is “playing” it usually involves machinery and grease.)

I’ve re-built my Giant Defy 1, with a brand spanking new component group.  It is now freshly outfitted with a SRAM Apex set, in what they call the WiFli™ configuration.

Apex is SRAM’s latest road group.  It is their entry level group, but it borrows technology from the high-end groups.

WiFli™ is a gearing and derailler configuration designed to give the rider the widest possible range of gear choices.

I chose to set the bike up with a “compact double” on the front.  That’s a double chainring crank with a 50 tooth big ring, and a 34 tooth small ring.  In the back I mounted their 11-36 cassette.  This is a very interesting set up.  The lowest gear is lower than any conventional “road triple.”  In fact it’s down in mountain bike low gear range.  And at the high ratio end of things, the combination of a 50T chainring and an 11T rear sprocket delivers a higher gear than said “road double.”  (Typical for “conventional” doubles, would be a 53 by 12)

Interestingly, the whole package; brakes, deraillers, chain, cassette, cranks, bottom bracket, and shifters; weighs less than the Shimano 105 group it replaced.

What it means:  I now have a bike that is a bit lighter.  I also have access to really low gears to save my old knees, and things that are higher than I would ordinarily need.  Wow!  Back when 9-speed drivelines were king, I used to accomplish this sort of thing by mixing and matching Shimano groups.  I could intermingle parts from their road bike lines with other compatible parts from their mountain bike line.  That let me build up drive trains that had very wide ratios.

It should be noted that Shimano discouraged the practice of group mixing.  According to the tech literature Shimano had published at that time, these groups were not compatible.  Maybe not, but every critical measurement matched, and the result worked pretty well.  Shimano have always seemed to have a strong bias against providing those wide ratio systems for road bikes.  They were slow to adopt road triples, slow to adopt compact doubles, and actively discouraged intermingling mountain and road parts.  (I used to wonder if the Japanese had some secret agenda.  Perhaps it was a plot to wreck the knees of all mature American riders?)

So here comes SRAM, with the same kind of thinking.  More, there is a huge amount of “cross-compatibility” between their various groups.

Early Riding Impressions:

Shifting is brisk, especially on the rear upshift.  I find that the front shifter requires more authority than I like for the upshift.  (I’m still tinkering with this, and it may well improve.)  The gearing available is, in a word, amazing!  The driveline is most notable for its efficiency.  (Cool!)  And there is an unlooked for benefit; the brakes are great!  So far, I like this stuff.  It performs well above price-point and expectations.