My 3T Exploro build

I have a love/hate relationship with my 3T Exploro. On the one hand, it's insanely fast. On the other hand, it's a bit of a pain in the ass. In any case, I just replaced the crankset, and I felt like writing up the overall build.

Intention

This bike is my "gravel race bike" or "road bike" or plain ol' "fast bike." I'm not going to go camping on it. If the road is super rough, then the Fargo is the choice. So I'm biasing my choices towards fast and light.

Drivetrain

When you're picking out a gravel bike drivetrain, you need to decide on 1x or 2x. I wanted a 2x - after all, I'm taking this out on road rides, too. SRAM's 2x choices these days are all eTap AXS - and wildly expensive. So that leaves Shimano.

Shimano hydraulic road brake levers are extremely expensive, so I scoured eBay and managed to find a set of new take-off Shimano 105 R7020 levers and brake calipers. These have been working great, and I'm happy with them. Ultegra or GRX would have saved a tiny bit of weight (~50g), and GRX maybe had some better ergonomics, but the 105 works great. 

I initially had a 105 R7000 rear derailleur, but it seized up within 100 miles of installation. The shop put on an Ultegra RX rear derailleur, and it's been fantastic, about 1,200 miles later. GRX 810 adds a tiny bit of weight (2g) and adds a single tooth of gear capacity. Probably not worth worrying about in either case.

The front derailleur is a 105 R7000. It's a bit stiffer than the XT front derailleur on my Fargo, but it's worked about as well as you can expect a front derailleur to work. Ultegra saves 3g and Dura-Ace saves 25g - not really worthwhile.

Crankset and Bottom Bracket

The 3T Exploro has a BB386 press fit bottom bracket standard. I've been generally impressed with Wheels Mfg "Thread Together" bottom brackets - they eliminate most of the downsides of Press Fit and perform really well.

The BB386 standard is wider than the old BSA standard, in part to support larger 30mm axles without resorting to tiny bearings that fail immediately. This means that I can pick a 24mm or 30mm axle. I initially was going for a Shimano Ultegra R8000 crankset with Stages Power Meter, so I selected the 24mm Shimano bottom bracket.

However, the Shimano asymmetric cranksets make the power meters completely unreliable, so I've swapped to a Rotor Aldhu 24 with power2max NGEco power meter. While making this choice, I had to consider swapping bottom bracket and going for a 30mm. PowerMeterCity.com had the carbon Praxis Zayante cranks on a big sale, only $725 with the power meter. That's $20 more than the alloy Aldhu24, but I'd need another $130 for a new bottom bracket.

So, let's compare weights and prices:

  • Shimano R8000
    • Weight: 539g (published figures include chainrings)
    • Price: Current 
    • Power Meter: Bad
  • Rotor Aldhu 24 Alloy w/ power2max ngeco
    • Weight: 661g
    • Price: $690
    • Difference: +122g (ouch)
  • Rotor Aldhu 30 Alloy w/ power2max ngeco
    • Weight: 621g (and another 8g less for the BB)
    • Price: $690 (+$140 for the BB), total $830
    • Difference: 
      • +74g over Shimano
      • -48g over Aldhu 24 for +$140, $2.91/g
  • Rotor Aldhu 30 Carbon
    • Weight: 517g (again, -8g for the BB too)
    • Price: $890 (+$140 for the BB), up to $1,030
    • Difference: 
      • -30g over Shimano
      • -156g over Aldhu 24 for +340, $2.18/g
  • Praxis Zayante
    • Weight: 567g
    • Price: $725 (+$140 for the BB), up to $865
    • Difference: 
      • +20g over Shimano
      • -104g over Aldhu24, $1.68/g
So one thing that jumps out at me is how goddamn good the Shimano cranks are. Despite having a 24mm steel axle and alloy arms, they're lighter than the Praxis Zayante carbon cranks. Wild. It's a damn shame that the power meter sucks. Unfortunately, the 3T Exploro doesn't have room for the left-hand side power meter, so I'm stuck choosing here.

The Zayante cranks are a remarkably good value at $1.68 per gram saved. However, I didn't feel like buying a new bottom bracket and doing even more work on the bike, so I stuck with the Aldhu 24. If I end up selling the 3T frame and getting a frame with a smaller BB standard, then I won't regret it, at least. Adding 122g sucks, but it's not the end of the world - the bike is still crazy light.

Wheels

I'm actually really proud of these. I built them. Nextie rims, Sapim CX-Ray spokes, Bitex hubs. They're absurdly light and feel very fast. Currently running Pirelli Cinturato M tires, and very happy - they're faster than the Vittoria Terreno Dry they replaced and have more grip.

I have another set from Light Bicycle with 50mm deep aero profile and 32mm Schwalbe Pro One tires, which are absurdly fast. Also Bitex hubs.

Who cares

Honestly, I don't blame you, none of this is particularly interesting.

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