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The Average Mechanic
The Average guy took on the role of
the Average mechanic this weekend. The arrival of my
new Raleigh RM 8.0 Carbon hard tail on Friday led to a
48 hour bike building fest.
Having had a small set-back after my
appendectomy, I am once again not able to ride. So,
all you loyal MTB Online readers will have to wait a
while longer for a review on the new carbon hard tail.
In the meantime, I had a very interesting weekend
playing bike mechanic, bike mechanic. I’d like to
share my SRAM vs Shimano experience with all of you
from a bike build perspective.
 I purchased a complete Raleigh RM
8.0 carbon hard tail. This bike represents awesome
value for money although I was really only interested
in getting my hands on the frame. My intention was to
build a light hard tail to ride in marathon races and
for training. Also, I’m just keen to ride a hard tail
again to see if it’s possible to go back after living
with the luxuries of full suspension for 18 months.
The RM 8.0 has the following spec:
- Rock Shox Reba Race with pop-lock
- Shimano LX Hollowtech Cranks
- Shimano LX Front Derailleur
- SRAM X-9 Rear Derailleur
- SRAM PG 950 Cassette
- SRAM X-7 Trigger shifters
- SRAM PC 951 Chain
- Avid Juicy 5 Brakes
- Mavic Crossland wheelset
- Ritchey Pro bits for the rest
All the above parts would be built
onto a new Raleigh RDS 7.0 frame for my good wife. I
would keep the new Rock Shox Reba and the LX front
derailleur for the hard tail and build my XTR
components from my ageing RDS 9.0 onto the hard tail.
This project provided a good
opportunity to compare the ease of set up between the
two component manufacturers. Basically a SRAM equipped
bike for my wife - and a rebuild of the Shimano parts
for me.
Before we get into the nitty gritty
of the build, let me just say how blown away I was at
Raleigh’s attention to detail on the new bike. I
received the RM 8.0 in 2 boxes. Every single tiny part
is somehow Raleigh branded: The super light foam
grips, the seat post collar, the Jagwire outer cables
and even the carbon headset spacer were Raleigh
branded. When put together, it just looks brilliant!
The Build
I’ll just focus on the component
setup to draw a fair comparison between Shimano setup
and SRAM setup. Brakes
The Avid Juicy 5 brakes came
pre-bled. They also have post disc mount adaptors that
allow you to connect them to international standard
disc mounts. This adds weigh to the package but man!
They are super easy to set up and align. This is the
second time I have built up a bike with juicy fives
and both times it has taken 5 minutes per wheel to get
the discs aligned perfectly.
The Shimano XTR is less easy. Both
front and back callipers have international standard
mounts. This means you better have stacks of disc
spacer washers and stacks of patience! Luckily for me,
the front brake was easy to align as I was taking it
off an existing bike so I just used the same spacers
and it worked perfectly. The back was somewhat more of
a mission. I would say that it took about a half hour
to get the back aligned and not rubbing. And even now
as the bike stands, the back is not perfect, it will
take a few rides for the alignment to settle in.
Rear Derailleur
Both the SRAM X-9 derailleur and the
Shimano XTR were equally easy to attach and align. The
High and Low setting screws are possible slightly
easier to get to on the X-9 derailleur. But I had them
both on and the inner and outer limits set in 5
minutes.
Front Derailleur
Both setups had Shimano front
derailleurs. All I can say here is that the spacer and
sticker on a new front derailleur are really handy to
get the set up spot on. Don’t take them off until you
have it on the bike and aligned.
Chain
The SRAM chain is really easy to get
on. With the power link, it takes about 30 seconds.
The Shimano pin system is, well, let’s just say, less
easy!
Cables and Shifting – Rear
I didn’t have to put the cable into
the X-7 shifters, but it looks like a mission. There
is a cover that must be removed and to do this one
would have to move the brakes out of the way. The XTR
Dual Control has one screw that removes a cover and
the cable can easily be threaded through. I’ve
replaced cables a gazillion times, so I’m really good
at it already! For both systems it was quite quick to
tension the cable and then index the shifting. I was
really impressed with the SRAM shifting – it’s very
smooth although I don’t find the thumb shifting very
intuitive. Obviously, the parts are all brand new so
the chain sails across the cassette and the feeling at
the lever is very light. Having said that …my XTR
equipment has a new lease on life. I finally had to
ditch my Nokon cables as after 2 Cape Epics and 18
months of service they looked a little worse for wear
and weren’t really going to look great on my new
carbon beauty. So, back to XTR cables for the new hard
tail. This turned out to be a great choice as I now
realize that my trusty dual control shifters are not
at all finished after their 18 months of hard work. I
was suspecting them of reaching the end of their life,
but the new cables have shown that they are still as
perfect and smooth as when they were new! I’m really
shocked that my very old Nokon cables were making the
shifters feel like they needed retiring. I now think
there are still many miles of good shifting in the DC
shifters.
There was no real difference for me
getting the rear shifting right on the 2 systems. Even
with the XTR being rapid rise and the X-9 standard
they were both easy to get set up.
Cables and Shifting – Front
Once again, both bikes were Shimano.
I just always struggle a bit with front shifting, but
am getting better at it all the time. I was just very
nervous tightening the front derailleur onto the
carbon seat tube. I hope I have it tight enough!
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Speed machine |
BZ
fire engine |
Conclusion
Well there it is! I am not going to
proclaim one system better than the other. There are
definitely things that are better or worse, but they
all balance out. At the end of the day the bikes took
me the same amount of time to get set up. What I can
tell you with all certainty is that it was great fun!
If you have not yet entered the world of being your
own mechanic, buy a bike stand and get stuck in. I
consider working on my bike a hobby. And you’ll get
better and better at it. Besides, it’s not a
combustion engine!
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