Drops on Chris's Piolet

by Clint

Chris's Piolet.

Winter is a good time to experiment with new builds for the upcoming season. Chris wanted to test out some drop bars on his personal Piolet. One thing led to another and we ended up changing out the entire drivetrain.  

10-speed hydraulic brifters.

Daija Short & Shallow Drops.

New crank for the 2x10.

Longcage Sram Gx, compatible with the brifters and a big cassette.

Hydraulic caliper behind a big cassette.  

Aggressive Ardents.

The new getup starts with the Sram S700 2x10 hydraulic levers. We went with a long-cage 10-speed Gx rear derailleur for a huge range in the back. It's a solid derailleur for the price, and it's compatible with their 10-speed road line.

In the front, we have a X7 double crank and a matching derailleur...should be a good range for any hills around here. To finish it off, I added a couple Jagwire barrel adjusters. Sram derailleurs usually have the adjusters for the road line, and Sram trigger shifters usually have the adjusters for the mountain line. Since we're using a combination, we had to throw in adjusters elsewhere.

It had been a little while since I've played around with hydraulic stuff, but I've now set up both Shimano and Sram hydraulic brifters. The Shimano kit comes with the levers, brakes, brake hoses, and fluid along with some fittings and basic tools. None of the brake parts is connected or bled. The Sram kit comes pre-bled with long hoses in addition to spare hoses. The Shimano system was simple enough to bleed, and I appreciated the use of mineral oil versus the more hazardous DOT fluid that Sram uses in their system. The front brake in the Sram setup was close enough that I left it as is. I shortened the rear hose carefully, and didn't end up having to bleed it, so that was nice.

Without considering compatibility, and despite the easier setup with the Sram system, I prefer the Shimano levers. The cables have a cleaner routing and were easier to access. The calipers also have a bit more clearance with the spokes.  I could see this being a problem on some other bikes. These are all just initial impressions. Stay tuned for a followup after we get some dirt on this drivetrain!