I have an old 10sp Shimano 105, Canonndale I use exclusively on my trainer, and currenly only with Zwift. My groupset is dying due to lack of maintenance (honestly) and whilst I’m soaking it to death right now I don’t know if I can recover it… Specifically my front derailleur won’t budge, but the rest isn’t in great shape either.
If I was to replace the derailleur(s) it looks like I’d need to get an old 11sp or new 12sp, which I presume means changing everything from my cassette to my shifters (everything but the brakes, which are a bit unnecessary indoors). That looks like $1k-ish worth of stuff for a trainer-only bike.
Does anyone have any better suggestions? I’d consider virtual shifting (but am just a little concerned that it would lock me into Zwift, although I’ve been on it for 5 years so far, so maybe I’m already locked in!), simpler/cheaper components (weight doesn’t matter), a cheap replacement bike just for the groupset (my frame is huge, so I’d swap it), or anything else creative enough to save me a bundle of money!
Depending on the workouts that you do, I would consider buying a Zwift Cog (€80 new) and then you can ignore front derailleur shifting, and do all shifting virtually with the cog. For non-zwift workout like sufferfest they should work fine as long as you are in ERG mode (I think I did almost all workouts in ERG mode).
Thanks.
Any workout I do is in ERG mode, but most of my activity is just riding routes, or in events. I had considered the Cog as an option, but as it is it appears to be only compatible with Kickr v6, and mine is v5. I thought they were going to support both, but last I saw the v5 support went silent… I could use it on my Elite trainer, but then I’d lose my Kickr Climb, or have to but the Elite version.
I’ll continue to watch to see if they add Kickr v5 support though, it certainly seems like the cheapest and simplest solution if they do add the support.
I am wondering whether the compatibility is just for the virtual gears and if you could just install a single speed cog on your freehub and then just do everything in ERG. Might be the cheapest option for a bike that’s dedicated for indoor training.
True, but that would limit me to workouts, and I love the free riding. Currently the rear deraileur still works and I could clean it up, it is just the front that is already dead, and has been for months, so I’ve just been riding in the small ring.
I suppose an alternative question, is there actually any difference in the front derailleur for 10 or 12sp (i.e. if I can’t get a 10sp replacement can I just use a 12sp front derailleur)? I was assuming that once I started replacing on thing it would cascade across the rest of the setup.
Google is mixed on the topic. I suppose I’d need to check the chain ring spacing of the 12sp. The chains are thinner, so the ring are probably closer and the derailleur may not move across enough, anlthough I’d be pulling with the 10sp shifter, which may be what governs that. I’ll do some more research unless someone says it doesn’t work and saves me the time!
This is the current Shimano compatibility info. It looks like your shifters would be compatible with 10-speed Ultegra, 105 and Tiagra 4600 front derailleurs.
FWIW, I run an 11-speed 105 5800 FD on an otherwise 10-speed Tiagra 4700 drivetrain on my turbo bike and, aside from an annoying amount of chain rub, it works fine.
Here’s a trick we used in a bike shop to free up frozen FDs. Remove it, put it in a bowl, pan, or cup with enough water to cover it. Boil the FD in the water either on a stove or microwave for 5 minutes or so. Let it cool until you can remove it and rinse it well under warm running water working it through its motion. Blow it out thoroughly with compressed air. Liberally apply an appropriate lube and work the derailleur by hand a bunch of times through its full motion. Reinstall it.
I’m kind of in the same boat. I currently have a 10-speed Ultegra 6500 set that’s 12 years old.
I’ve replaced both rings and cassettes in the past couple years. I’ve indexed the gears on the cassette many times. But the front rings don’t shift that well anymore. Plus I’m always under-geared for the climbing I like to do.
I’d like to replace it with a new 11-speed set. And virtual gearing is nice for indoor riding, but I have plans for outdoor riding. Plus I use IndieVelo and SYSTM, not Zwift, so the Zwift cog won’t help me. And a full new 11 or 12 speed set will set me back more than I can currently spend.
Sorry if that wasn’t helpful. I guess that was more of a rant. lol. But I would like to know (and I highly suspect) that it’s they that the latest 105 group sets are just as good if not better than my old Ultegra 6500. And what some good options are. When I got look on websites my eyes just glaze over. I don’t know how much I have to replace or if I really do need to replace the whole thing.
Perhaps if it was just the metal, but submerged in water per my instructions, there are no sparks of fireworks. We resurrected many frozen FDs using this method. The microwave was convenient, but boiling it on pot on top of a range works just as well.
You should be able to put a 10sp 34t cassette on there, which should make climbing better, it is what I use. Having the 11th gear doesn’t necessarily make it better unless it >34t.
Thanks. I saved it. Technically not by boiling it, but it probably helped. I still couldn’t budge it but some combination of an overnight in degreaser, boiling and a truck load of WD40 got it going again! I think I need to make a little rain jacket for it, to keep my trainer sweat off!
Great you got it working again. The usual culprits seemed to be sweat, sports drink, and/or perhaps other human excretions. These are typically soluble in aqueous (water based) rather than non-polar (oil based) solutions. The idea behind boiling is that the hot water and agitation thoroughly dissolves and helps remove contaminants from the pivots.
