compact cranks

[aicabsolut]

SRAM is making an 11-28 now for all you "big range" junkies

Oh yeah, and I had a compact double last year, and it was fine unless I was in a race situation where I needed to go very fast downhill. That's the only reason why I switched to a standard when I upgraded parts, because otherwise, I loved it for hills & long climbs.

For you gals with compacts, how many gears do you actually use?

With my triple, it's the bottom 3 on the small ring, all 10 on the middle ring, and the top 4 on the big ring.

It's not just the range that counts, but also how many different gear choices you have within that range, that will allow you to spin your desired cadence. Even one tooth on the cassette makes a huge difference in cadence and comfort.

I've never actually done a spreadsheet to see how much overlap I have in the gearing, but those are the ones I actually use.

Remember, a 50-11 is bigger than a 53-12. How often do you really need a 53-11? If you love the compact, you can make it work for racing.

I use every rear cog with my compact. It's quite nice for racing overall. The compact lets me spin up big hills (I don't think I'd ever need a 34 for the races I do--the 36 is enough), but the best part is that a greater range of hills are now "big ring climbs" for me with the 50T. So the less I have to shift up front the less I risk dropping my chain, which is nice. Plus, shifting back up is faster when you don't have to jump rings. One thing I really like about the 36-27 is the ability to get started from a stop light on a hill. I appreciate that (which I encounter more often) than the ability to keep going when I really need that gear to get up a hill.