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forum
Another new first-time 'road' buyer seeking advice on setup.
Hi There,
I'm a long time reader of road.cc, but have only just signed up. I bought my first road gravel bike earlier this week, a Specialized Diverge E5 2018 - the entry level model. I took it out for my first ride and noticed following issues, and thought I'd seek some advice from more experienced folk then myself,
- The brakes (Tektro Mira - mechanical discs) were spongey. My last Spesh was a Hardtail with super-sharp hydraulics, so I initially thought that this was how mechanical discs are. There's no barrel adjustor that I could identify, so I resolved this by adding more tension on calliper (so the pulling arm is at a more acute angle), and now they feel pretty responsive. Is this the right thing to do?
- Gear-changing was horrible, though it's my first time using gears on a bike with drops, so could be part poor-shifiting. Easing in to gear changes, as opposed to tapping them seemed to improve some shifts/slippage, but pretty sure that's not needed and that they should be responsive. When I cycled through the gears at home, I realised that it wouldn't downshift from second largest to largest (34t) gear in the sprocket, regardless of the chain ring. Could this just be an indexing issue? The bike is brand new so I feel that both the gears/brakes were setup by the store in a rush.
- The bike comes with a Shimano Claris (8-speed) groupset, with 34/46t chain rings. Gearing woes aside, I was quite comfortable riding in the highest gear in large portions of my test-run - a few miles of mixed terrain with low but very variable elevation. Is this an indication that I went for too low gearing? For context, I've commuted the past few years on a 6-speed Brompton through London, and am mostly in the highest gear. It has a 50t chain ring, so I'm wondering if I should've gone for something with a bigger, outer chain ring. Even the cassette, I wanted more gears but coming from a Brompton with just 6, didn't think I'd need so many.
I picked the bike up new from Herts and live in East London, so won't be able to go back to the store until a few weeks to have these issues looked at. But these issues feel and sound as though they could be resolved at home, easily at that. Any suggestions? Thanks.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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12 comments
I took the bike out for a proper commute yesterday, 13 miles each way. High gears were still slightly out of alignment on the way in, but fixed this by reindexing before my return ride. Changing was super smooth and despite only 8 cogs, I didn't notice the jump so much, especially on the higher end where it would matter more to me, but that goes without saying as they have less teeth/smaller jumps between them.
With London's flats, I only needed my smaller chain-ring on the last stretch near my house. I didn't realise how much speed I was losing on climbs in the Brompton. From Kings X up Pentonville Road you have that gradient which was a breeze on the new ride, but has always been a bit of a challenge on the Brompton.
The tires didn't soak up shizzle but I haven't let out any pressure since purchased. Overall though, they were far more stable on the loose gravel in Lea Valley than my Brompton on slicks.
kil0ran, I'll looking into them. I ride on loose gravel/stone but they're not large/sharp pieces. Canyon48, I've always gone for wired beads as they're normally cheaper, but with your point in mind I'll definitely consider folding ones.
Thanks Guys!
As to tyres I can recommend GravelKing SKs - plenty good enough to deal with dry off-road paths and still very fast on the road. Did RideLondon on mine and they never felt draggy or slow, and grip was plenty good enough. They'll handle light mud too - I just wouldn't chuck them at anything too flinty or very loose as they don't have the puncture protection of something like a Gatorskin.
You probably won't get the indexing absolutely perfect for big/small and vice versa, even with the trims set right so I wouldn't go chasing that.
The chainring spacing thing is only something like 0.5mm wider on the latest 105/Ultegra/Dura-Ace groups so it might be overstated. Those groups also have a improved front mech geometry which makes front shifting much lighter and easier (less lever swing and force required). Does take a bit of getting used to compared to trigger shifters.
The good thing with Claris is being 8-speed the range of acceptable indexing adjustments is much wider, simply because there are wider spaces between the rear cogs.
Also, you may not get Claris perfect in the extreme combinations on a bike with disc rear spacing. Shimano higher end groups have just started to receive revised front mechs and chainring spacing to address this but I don't know if its trickled down to Claris yet.
I found the best resource for setting Shimano shifting, particularly trims, is the Shimano Dealer Manual (freely available online)
Have a look at hybrid calipers if you want to improve braking performance - either TRP Hy-Rd or Juin-Tech. Not as good as full hydros, but a definite improvement. As we head to autumn also look at sintered pads - less squeal and more bite at the expense of greater wear.
The Spesh is a great frame and a good platform for upgrades if you get the road bike bug.
I'd heard of these semi hydro brakes in passing and have just taken a look, nice! If stopping power becomes an real issue I'd definitely consider. Hah! Road bike bug... I've already considered some changes, but mainly for comfort/ease of use. Not really entered the speed/weight territory yet, if that's what you mean; I like going faster and beating my PRs, but I don't plan on racing. Though it seems some of the generally superior tech/components naturally come with speed/weight in mind.
Back to shifting, I'm glad you mentioned that point otherwise I may lose more time on them. Though I'd expect that the combo of whatever gen of Claris on an '18 bike with discs was considered by Specialized.
The Shimano dealers manual did guide me through the process, but was confusing. In retrospect the tricky parts now make more sense. More than anything, I learn best in person so maybe one of these short maintainence sessions that bike shops (Evans, Cycle Surgery to name a couple) offer will help.
First off, welcome to the forum
Also great that you've made the jump to a very capable bike.
Secondly, I'm jealous, the Diverge E5 looks absolutely fantastic! Even better when you consider the value. It's great for both road and a bit of towpaths, gravel and even cyclocross. Spindatt really rates the bike, well worth watching his review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n3rI-JHBpo&t=153s
The issues you've mentioned;
Assuming you bought the bike from Evans, they should be able to sort any small gear issues. I have been consistently disappointed by Evans' bicycle servicing and bicycle setup. My other half used to work in a bike shop and many times they had people come in who had bought a brand new bike from Evans but the bike wasn't changing gear properly etc (in fact, my other half bought her first bike from Evans and I had to set it up properly because Evans didn't seem able to do so, this may have only been a problem with the Evans near to me, but I don't know).
Sorting all these issues yourself us really really easy once you know how. It takes a little while to learn and you have to buy a few tools, but believe me, in the long run, it is VERY worth it. You can't go much wrong by watching GCN's "How to" videos, they taught me everything I know about bike mechanics, I have no issues servicing road bikes with hydraulics and Di2 that cost ££££!
Here's their video on adjusting gears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbk5RcH0bbQ&t
Getting the knowledge and tools to fix bikes takes a little while and a small bit of effort, but it'll save you lots of hassle and money in the future.
As I mentioned, I'd be reasonably surprised if you needed a larger gear for commuting, but on longer downhills you might run out of gears.
I think it'd be best to get the bike and get used to riding it, work out exactly what you want to use it for (road/gravel/commuting/or some mixture of all of that) and also work out what you might want to change (gears and brakes in the long run)? You could then think about upgrades in the future.
Regardless, you have a really capable bike that looks awesome getting out riding and finding out what you and the bike are capable off is a must
Thanks kil0ran. An eye-opener indeed! The adjustments are too my liking now, though I'll probably know for sure on my next commute. I went for a second test-run this morning and shifting was nice and smooth. Might need some slight adjustments, but I'll worry about them once the cables get some mild use. For the chain-ring, again I'll probably know once I've ridden more if this is a decision I want to make. And yeah, I did find a 50t/30-something Claris cranksets in the £30-£50 price bracket .
Canyon48, thank you. I saw that review before buying and it did help push me over
. I was settled on a Specialized Crosstrail for a long time as the Diverge with the specs (Hydraulic brakes, more gears, FutureShock) I wanted was out of my price league. I made a last-minute switch to the Diverge and am glad I did. Yep, the best looking Diverge this year IMO, and better than all the other bikes I considered.
My only gripe so far are the tyres seem too roady - for an adventure/gravel bike. Given I'll mainly be using it for London roads, this may work out well - but I wanted something more able to tackle rough portions of my commute and for riding with the family off-road. On that note, even the roads around my area are pretty poor, though slowly being resurfaced, and I really do feel the bumps. I'm surprised how much the Brompton suspension block soaked up, especially as I'm quite a heavy (~90kg) rider. I've seen an after market stem suspension that could make up for the lack of FutureShock, which recieved some decent reviews: https://redshiftsports.com/stem, though lower pressure off-road tyres should help. I'm willing to invest in comfort though - something I once neglected but commuting has taught me to pay attention to.
So I spent the whole night re-indexing - it was my first time on non-hub gears. The rear was easy enough and I can now move into the largest ring, though 1/5 times it still takes a second attempt. I've decided to leave it for now until I've ridden more and will just keep my eye on it.
The grinding was resolved by adjusting the limit screws on the front derailleur, though I started from scratch and re-indexed. I read the Shimano manuals and didn't quite understand what trimming is - let's just say I didn't realise they were actual positions that the levers could adjust too, so spent hours re-indexing the front not knowing why I was still getting grinding in some combinations lol.
I'm going to stick with the 46/34 and see how I get on - my prelim thoughts were that I'll soon want to change, but that's a hypothesis yet to test.
I bought from an independent retailer who were happy to sort the gearing out. The problem was I'd have to wait a week till I could go back, since it isn't local. I've been quite desperate/impatient to get a full-sized bike for commuting this summer, as during school holidays my commute length doubles - 27 miles total a day isn't that much fun on a Brompton and isn't practical for changing up my journey to include some off-road destress time. I've learnt a lot from the indexing myself though, and can see how much money this might save me in future!
I totally agree. Over the years I've been buying specific tools as and when I've needed, learning to do certain jobs one at a time. I love GCN/GMBN in genral, and even Park Tools do some good videos.
Overall I do agree that it does seem very capable, and on paper at least, ticks all my boxes: leisurely mixed terrain rides, slightly more serious road rides, commuting (when the Brompton is impractical), cardio at home (with a turbo trainer) during winter etc.
Sounds like you're on top of it all!
For added compliance, you could definitely do with some tyres that are at least 32mm wide, makes a massive difference!
My other half actually bought a Specialized quite a while ago, the tyres do let it down a bit. Fortunately, tyres a relatively cheap, getting some supple and wide (at least 32mm) tyres would make a big difference.
The first thing I was going to purchase after the bike were new tires - I was looking for cheaper/similar tires to the Schwalbe G-Ones. Much like the 50t chain ring I figured I should give them a fair run first.
Funnily enough, I just looked at the technical specs and the Diverge E5 uses Specialized Espoir Sport tyres - exactly the same as what my other half's bike came with.
These tyres seemed to be too rigid and not particularly grippy (they are wired and have a fairly low TPI, hence being pretty rigid). Anything with a folding bead and high TPI (as well as a greater width) will be noticeably comfier!
If you're used to decent hydros mechanical discs will be an eye-opener.
Claris should shift reasonably well and you usually need to adjust gear cables after a couple of weeks, but only with a cable adjuster. Sounds like it wasn't set up correctly by the shop. Chainring easy enough to swap but you'll need a new chain - £50 job thereabouts
I think I resolved the second issue by re-indexing both the front and rear derailleur - a first for me. The trim positions in Shimano STIs really through me off for a while, until I realised what they were.