Wolverine Update

When I traded for the Wolverine way back in January, it was in dire need of a new chain. Since I intended on swapping out the entire drivetrain and shifters to some new 11-speed SRAM I have tucked away in The Archives, I didn't want to invest in a Shimano chain that would be short-lived. The desire for a drivetrain change was because at first, jumping back and forth between STI and the Double Tap on my other bike was very frustrating. However, the human brain is pretty adaptable, and eventually it made the connection that the orange bike equals STI. I might miss one shift at the beginning of a ride, on either bike, but then I would lock in. No problem.

The other thing that happened was I kind of liked shifting with STI again. When I first moved to SRAM almost eight years ago, I thought it was superior. Perhaps it was the novelty, or a new take on shifting, or the fact that my Dura Ace shifters were very old that swayed me. Who knows. Now that I am using both, I am not so sure.

At any rate, I decided the STI would live on for a while longer. I replaced the shitty KMC chain and E-Thirteen cassette with an Ultegra chain and a Deore 11-42 cassette.

Afterwards she ran a lot smoother, as new parts tend to help with. The drivetrain was a bit noisy on the first ride, but I know this is simply a Shimano quirk. It goes away. By the time the third ride rolled around, my bike was smooth and virtually silent.

There are people who will tell you any old chain will work fine with a Shimano cassette. Sure, I guess it will work. It just won't work as well. To assume that a group of Shimano engineers aren't designing their own cassette-chain interface to work better than any other combination is asinine. All those ramps and slots, the short teeth and twisted teeth, are working in conjunction with the specific shape of the chain. But go ahead and get that cheap chain off of Amazon and tell everyone it works better than Shimano. You do you.

At any rate, the Shimano versus SRAM battle will rage on in my garage. Currently Shimano is winning 5-3. Jenn's single speed looks on with mild indifference, the Switzerland in this drivetrain war.

In the end, difference is good. I have a number of bikes because after over 40 years of this, jumping back and forth between bikes keeps things fresh. In much the same way, bouncing back and forth between STI and Double Tap also keeps things interesting. Vive la différence!

Later.