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Tech Shimano 6600 gearing upgrades

wexford

Maximum Pace
Jul 3, 2012
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Right. My dad (78 years young) is off to France on a cycling tour. He goes off every year on a sponsored cycle. Last year was Spain. Anyway - this year the trip takes him from north France somewhere (he didn't say) to Nice. He has been told he'll need low gears basically a compact.

He is currently riding Shimano Ultegra 6600 with 11-25 on the back and 53-39 up front. That won't do.

What we'd like is a 50-34 on the front and a 28 or even a 30 on the back.

Unfortunately after been out of biking for so many years I've no idea how compatible all this stuff is. So I'm here for your help and guidance so I can get the right order in for my dad and keep him pedaling up those mountains guarding Nice.

So what are the options? I guess there might be many or few. Here are a few questions to get started.

Is his front/rear mech compatible with 6700 or 6800 or does it have to be 6600? Did they have compacts for the 6600? He says its a 10 speed so I guess it might be similar to other 10 speeds? Wonder would his mech support up to 30T on the back anyway?

Any help, guidance appreciated.
 
Sorry, I can't answer your question. But I'd guess that 48 or indeed 46 would be quite adequate for the larger chainwheel. Of course the smaller the large chainwheel, the smaller the small one can be; and (though I'm even younger than your father) I've never kicked myself for only having a measly 28 teeth on the smallest of my three chainwheels. A very quick google shows that there are some models of Ultegra (how compatible with his setup, I don't know) with a larger chainwheel of 46 teeth.
 
He needs to take it to a friendly LBS and get their advice and skill to work on it. It depends on the capacity of his rear derailler, the PCD of the cranks and what is available near to where he lives. It might be easier to just throw a triple crank on the drive side and use one of them but then he'd need a new( used is fine) FD and Shifter. In short no you can't use his current gear and get a compact set up. Smallest inner chain ring would be a 38, 37 if he's lucky. Good on him and I think his son needs to shout him a triple crankset upgrade with the FD and 6603 shifters.
 
It might be easier to just throw a triple crank on the drive side and use one of them but then he'd need a new( used is fine) FD and Shifter.

. . . and bottom bracket, no? (The component itself wouldn't cost much, but the transplant does require expertise.)
 
Good on him and I think his son needs to shout him a triple crankset upgrade with the FD and 6603 shifters.
Yes, I was just going to say "triple".

Get one for yoursel' too, @wexford, while you're shopping.
 
I just upgraded from 6500 to 6600 so hope this helps.
Rear cassette - 11 to 28 available and rear derailleur will work fine with that
Front compact 50 - 34 should be fine if he has a 52/53 at the moment - just lower the front derailleur in the frame. I still have my 6500 front cranks as I like the 45 / 39 I use.
 
6600 is a 130 bolt circle diameter so probably not possible to change to a 34 on the small ring (110 bcd).
Long term a triple is probably the way to go, though he might not take kindly to being underestimated by a whippersnapper.
 
Not sure about changing the setup he has now (although it looks like @Chris Williams has answered that one) but if I were him, I would get the new 105 groupset. It comes in a compact and a 32 on the rear cassette if you get the long cage rear mech.
The 8 piece set can be had here for just under 50,000. Obviously, he will need to have an 11 speed compatible freehub on his rear wheel.
 
Long term a triple is probably the way to go, though he might not take kindly to being underestimated by a whippersnapper.
Totally agree if he wants to go full way - change the lot to triple.
 
Thanks so much for the initial feedback. I didn't even think of a triple. That's probably the easiest route as then his rear cassette and rear mech can stay the same. I've been telling him to get into the LBS in town but it seems like he doesn't really want to go there for some reason. Not sure why. I'll try convince him.

Triple Option:
  • Bottom Bracket - need to be changed?
  • Crank length - same as he has now should work. Need to find out.
  • Front mech - special for a triple
  • Brifters - required for the front mech. probably get two matching ones so a 10 speed one to match the back? Do they need to closely match with particular mechs or will any 10 speed shimano brifter do? Worst case is mismatching brifters.
  • Chain - compatible with existing rear cassette and front rings.
Hmmm. almost like buying a groupset really.

Groupset Option:
  • Look for a 10 speed 105/Ultegra or similar with a triple option so that it will suit his current wheels.
Either way, he's gonna have to get someone to fit all this. So I think the LBS is the way to go. They might fit the parts if I can find them though. I'd gladly update my dad's bike. So proud of him and it was him that got me back on it in the first place.

Guess. I'll poke around the Internet a little tonight to look at what groupsets come with triples. I had a look at the one @leicaman mentioned but looks like they only sell groupsets with two rings at first glance.
 
Triple Option:
Bottom Bracket - need to be changed? NO
Crank length - same as he has now should work. Need to find out. YEP Drive side only should suffice. BIMBW
Front mech - special for a triple Yep
Brifters - required for the front mech. probably get two matching ones so a 10 speed one to match the back? You only need a left side (front) one. the rear side doesn't change a thing
Chain - compatible with existing rear cassette and front rings. All the same Maybe a shorter one

Can you call the LBS and get their tech guy to do a house call, pick up and delivery? . It is a PITA to take a bike into the LBS if you need to leave it there.



So proud of him and it was him that got me back on it in the first place.

best part of this thread!
 
Cool. Thanks for the rear mech advice. I wouldn't have thought of that.
 
Hi all,

Do the following parts make sense?

- 105 Triple Crank FC-5703-S (30T-39T-50T teeth on each ring) 12,500 yen
- 105 Triple Front Derailleur FD-5703-F-S or FD-5703-B-S 2,500 yen
- 105 Triple Brake/Gear Lever ST-5703-S 17,000 yen
- 105 Rear Derailleur RD-5701-GS-S (Need longer GS model for triple) 4,000 yen
- Ultegra Cassette CS-6700 (12-30T) 5,000 yen
- Ultegra Chain CN-6701 2,400 yen

Parts total: 43,400 yen (ouch)

It's almost a group set!!! I guess he should get new cables also while we are at it.

The prices might be more or less. Will look around assuming these parts should be compatible. Can't seem to find a 105 cassette with 30 or 32T so went with the Ultegra. A 30/30 combo should get him up a cliff no?
 
30T-39T-50T teeth on each ring

The design allows for swapping rings. Does Shimano actually sell rings of different sizes? (I took a quick look but couldn't find anything.) I'd prefer 28T-something-48T myself. (Right now I'm happy with my own 28T-42T(?)-49T, but this is a 1980s Sugino crankset. Which is happily working together with 1980s Deore XT derailers, a 10-speed cassette and Dura-Ace (!) shifters (not brifters). Yes, yes, it's probably a bike crime.)
 
For a new groupset (which you could get for the price) another option is SRAM Apex (not that I`ve ever tried it, so can`t comment on it).
For 43,000 yen and no shipping you can get the full groupset. Whilst it is only a compact, you can run a 12-36 cassette which would give you a lowest gear equivalent to a 30-32. Personally, I wouldn`t have thought a 50-34 with a 30 bottom gear would be low enough, and even then, I would say a 32 is pushing it. Depends on the size of them thar hills he is facing of course, and of course his fitness. Even Contador is caught on a 34-32 from time to time, so if he thinks that is necessary, the rest of us are way overgeared.

For Shimano, if you want a lower bottom gear, I think you can pair the rest of the road groupset with a mountain bike rear derailleur and cassette (I think 9-speed mountain bike matches 10-speed road) but you`d need to ask the more technically minded. That would get you a triple and a bigger bailout gear e.g. 30-36.

As you mentioned, you need to check how amenable the LBS is to fitting things that aren`t purchased through them.
 
Mountain cassette needs mountain rear d, its not just a question of having a long cage. And you would have to go mountain shifters instead of brifters because the cable pull is different.
 
A 30/30 combo should get him up a cliff no?

I use a triple (50/39/30) with a 11-28 cassette on my 20" wheels, which is like having a 15-37 cassette on a 700C. Maybe your dad is in much better shape than I am, but on Wada East I wouldn't want to have any higher gearing!

There are two more options to get lower gearing than what's available with Shimano road standard 50-39-30 triple + 12-30 setups on a 700C:

One is to replace the smallest chain ring on the triple for 28T or 26T (for example, TA 74 PCD Zelito). The small chain ring is bolted on to the middle chain ring. Shimano STI triple FDs are particular about relative sizes of middle and large chain rings, but will tolerate different little ones.

The other is to use a 48-36-26 Deore 10sp triple with a 105 FD (you can't use Deore FD with STI shifters because of different cable pull).
 
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