# Z5 conversion to triple crankset



## JogBike (Nov 17, 2010)

Was looking for a carbon plush road bike. Needed a triple - age 69, ride hilly terrain, and a weak leg from stroke. My aluminum bike with very stiff frame and typical race geometry had become too harsh and uncomfortable. 

Test rode a 2010 Z6 at dealer couple of weeks ago. Loved the fit and smooth ride with it's taller head tube and comfort geometry. Decided to get 2011 Z5. Uh, oh, deal breaker! Z5 is made only with a compact double. :cryin: 

Dealer said "no problem, let's convert it to a triple". He exchanged the Shimano 105 compact double crankset, brake lever-shifters, and front & rear derailleurs with 105 triple components. Voila! A perfect setup and a delightful ride.


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## Don4 (Jul 29, 2010)

Sounds like your dealer is a keeper! Enjoy your new Felt and welcome to the forum. I picked up my first carbon fiber bike, and my first Felt (a F3), in September of this year. Prior to that, I was riding a steel 1983 Trek. You are going to enjoy that Z5!


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## natedg200202 (Sep 2, 2008)

Glad they got you in the best setup. Nothing wrong with a triple at all. It's great having bailout gears but still having tight jumps for the middle ring.


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## Camilo (Jun 23, 2007)

I use a triple on my ZC frameset (I thnk it's the same frame as on your Z6). I had problems getting the front derailleur it to work properly and wonder if there is some difference between my older triple and a newer one that would make a difference.

I built it up with the group I took off my Cannondale R2000, an older Ultegra 9 speed triple (6500 series). This is the octalink bottom bracket (internal bearings).

When I first installed the BB and FD, the FD would not move inward enough to set the chain on the inner chainwheel. It could not move inward enough because of interference with the seat tube. Yes, I know how to install and set up a FD. It was not a mounting or limit screw issue. It is also not a spindle length issue because it is a triple BB, which I double-verified.

Adding 3 spacers to the drive side of the BB cup to "push" the crank outward solved that problem but then my chain line was not to spec, and not as functional as on my old bike. It works OK, but I don't have the same "range" of gears for the chain wheel. If adjusted as well as I could, used to be able to shift to to all rear cogs from the middle wheel without rubbing. Only have about 7 of them now. Both the big and small wheels could easily use 7 of the 9 rear cogs, and sometimes 8 if tweaked well. Now neither has that range, more like 5 or 6 nice clean gears.

None of this is a huge issue. I still have plenty of gears and plenty of overlap with the triple, but not as good as it used to be. It doesn't affect my riding in any significant way - it's just not as good as it was before and has caused me to have to shift the front more.

Frankly, I haven't worked really hard on tweaking - as soon as I got it functional, I started riding and tended to backslide on the adjustments as long as it was functional.

This winter I plan to take apart the BB and see (1) if removing one of the three spacers will work better and (2) see if I can just adjust the FD better to give me a little more range. But, I'm about 90% sure it's as good as I'm going to get.

I asked both Felt and my well-respected local bike shop owner/mechanic about this to see if there was something I was missing. Felt never gave me an answer and my local guy is the one who suggested and gave me the spacers. I'd never had to use them before, but my experience is limited on that. I think he expected me to experiment with one and two spacers before trying three, but I was anxious to get riding and just threw the three on there to make it work, and rode. 

I'm glad to hear the triple works well on your Z frame. I love the frame, the way it rides and the way it fits me. 

I also plan to try a compact double group on this bike (I am intrigued by SRAM and want to try it). It's nice to know that if the compact double doesn't give me what I need, I can maybe get a more modern triple to work better.


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## JogBike (Nov 17, 2010)

Camilo - Yes, the ZC frameset appears to be same geometry as my Z5. 

If you are using same crankset and FD and RD as on the old bike, it could be that fatter ZC seat tube is interfering with FD inward movement. 

When dealer converted my Z5 to triple from compact double, he also changed FD and RD due to need for longer cage derailleurs. However, it doesn't appear that applies in your case.

Intuitively, if 3 spacers gives you "too much improvement", then 1 or 2 should be right on. 

The 2011 Z5 is a dream compared to my 2007 Trek 1600 with its race oriented geometry and aluminum frame. It's like the difference between driving a work pickup truck and the family sedan.

I tested the SRAM Apex compact double with 11-32T cassette. Was not especially enamored with the setup. In particular, I noticed the long throw of the double tap left shifter when moving to the big chainring and the large jump in rear gearing when making the last shift from 28 to 32T. While the SRAM is a quick shift, it has a more mechanical feel than the smoothness of Shimano. A SRAM Rival with 11-28 cassette might feel much better than the Apex.


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