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@cowhead17
Hi,
I recently bought boardman road pro carbon slr 2014 second-hand. Unfortunately, the bike comes with quite a limited gear ratio, running 53/39 on the front and 11-25 at the back, and it has an ultegra 6800 short cage rear derailleur (whole groupset is ultegra 6800). I am basically looking for a relatively cost effective way to increase the gear ratio.
In terms of what I want from gears, I live in London and ride regularly but only casually. Obviously the hills are not bad here at all, however on the last few rides I've been on, on steep sections the burn has been pretty considerable on 39/25! Outside of lockdown I would usually do approx fortnightly 100km rides to Kent, which is obviously more hilly but not exactly the Pyrenees. I would just quite like a ratio that would permit me to stay in the seat more and maintain a higher cadence.
So from what I've read, these are my options - although I'm no expert at this, so please correct me if I'm wrong anywhere:
1) Buy an 11-30 cassette - the short cage derailleur I believe can only handle up to 30 teeth (I think Shimano technically says 28, but apparently 30 should be doable) - price approx £35
2) Buy an 11-32 cassette and medium cage derailleur - I think from what I've read the shimano medium cages can handle a 53/39 and 11-32 at the back, although I'm not 100% on this. Price approx £70. This is with buying the 105 R7000 medium cage rear derailleur. I would love to maintain all ultegra, but feel it is a little expensive, however any advice on the differences between them, and any limitations of mixing would be appreciated.
3) Buy a compact crankset and a cassette and possibly a medium cage derailleur - I can get the 105 R7000 compact crankset for around £90 and then would be obvs be the cassette/derailleur cost on top of this. Again any advice on ultergra/105 differences/compatibility.
I know there's not really a question in there, but any advice you guys could offer would be very much appreciated!
Cheers