Cassettes just aren't worth spending a ton of coin on, they shift the same, and weigh slightly less for an expensive one, why bother?
Shifts perfect, under load too, it's perfect. Whatever Shimano did with Hyperglide 2, it's incredible. Never misses, never really does anything wrong either. I always replace after 3 chains, so they get usually 15000 miles on them and even in the middle/common gears, they are still fine, but that's just my rule.
No issue. Like the 11/34 spread with my 54/40 up front, got gears on all sides that way and almost never need more.
?I upgraded to the 165mm SRAM RED E1 DUB arms, and the difference is incredible. These are absurdly light, you can instantly feel the weight savings over the old generation. The carbon stiffness is phenomenal; every watt goes straight to the wheels.
?Switching to 165mm has been a game-changer for my fit, boosting my cadence and reducing hip fatigue on long climbs. Installation was easy thanks to the DUB spindle standard. My only complaint is the price, but if you want the absolute best and lightest crank arms for your build, these are it. A truly premium, five-star upgrade.
With more Gravel riding under my belt this year, I realized that having an alternative location for shifting would be helpful, for comfort and for aero riding on the tarmac or smoother trails. Adding them to the crossbar, fairly close to the stem, was a great solution. After 5 days of gravel riding in Kansas, I realized just how wonderful they were. The only hard part was wrapping the handlebar tape around them to hold them in place and keep the wrap relatively smooth. The neighborhood bike store was very helpful in doing that as they wrap handlebars frequently.
Caught a sale, and I'm about to move some levers over to another bike, so got some new lines. No issues, work perfectly.
Sram - if you read this, can you stop sending your brake/caliper kits FILLED with fluid? We have to cut them anyway, it makes a mess, and we have to bleed, just send empty lines with a bottle of fluid if you want to be helpful. I don't see the point, I mean we have to at the least shorten them, not counting the internal routing factor.
