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The most important driver for upgrading to the Ultegra component set is the 11 gears on the rear over the previous 10. Please excuse the dirtiness; I last cleaned it around 125 miles ago.Previously, the shortest gear on the 10 gear set was a 27-tooth. The new 11-gear set has a 32-tooth gear on the rear; doing some quick math, that shortened up the gearing by ~18.5%. This 32-tooth gear is a life saver on the steep climbs where I ride. The shorter gearing allows me to keep my pedal cadence (rpm) up and prevents me from operating my muscle where they’d produce excessive lactic acid. I really love this gear at the end of a ride when my legs are toast and I have to climb a short but very steep hill near my home.
To enable the use of the 11th gear required new front and rear derailleurs. A long cage rear derailleur is required to use the 32-tooth rear gear.
The last piece of upgrade is the Replay XD Prime X. If you’ve been reading about Project S2000, then you already know the details about the camera (https://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/3757/PageID/8753/Project-S2000-Part-22-Testing-New-Goods-and-More-Intake-Mods.aspx). The great thing about the new Prime X is the two and a half hours of recording time at 1080p and 30 FPS on a single battery charge. This is almost double what I got out of the previous generation camera.
Why a camera? Because you never know when you’ll have a close encounters of the RV kind. I was drafting this guy (old enough to be my dad and he later dropped me on a climb), and this RV went by us a wee bit close.Many thanks to Wheelman Bikes for the advice on the wheels and Ultegra component set. They also handled the install of the Ultegra components. So if you’re in the LA area in need of bike parts and/or maintenance, check them out!
