After about a year of riding the Ibis I decided to proceed with the planned upgrade of the drivetrain. After my experience with Rene Herse cranks and chainrings on my Fuji, I decided to buy a tandem set from Compass and convert to 10-speed while I was at it. I bought an ultegra 10-speed rear derailleur and a CX70 front derailleur as well as dura ace 10-speed barcon shifters.
The installation went pretty easily and after I rode it a few hundred miles I was pleased with the change. Then I missed a downshift climbing out of the Arboretum and got the chain caught between the middle and granny rings and it stopped shifting into the smallest ring at that point. The guys at R&E figured that I had bent a tooth on the small chainring and fixed it for me. I haven’t had that problem since.
Since the conversion I’ve ridden several thousand miles on the Rene Herse cranks and I’ve traded out the largest and smallest rings for different sizes. It definitely puts more of a premium on rider skill but I think it makes the bike look better and I like how it works.
