Double Chain Ring...yikes

[chicago]

I'm soon going from a triple to a compact...

[mimitabby]

My easiest gear on my Roubaix is 36/27, or 35 gear inches. That is considered pretty wussy by a lot of my friends. I don't use the 27 much..mostly for stopping and starting in traffic on hills as I really suck at getting going in a "hard" (for me) gear.

I hope you don't let your friends' attitudes bother you.
You can ride all day if you want on your top chain ring, but if you NEED
that granny gear, it's there.

[alpinerabbit]

Yeah, I see now that I look more into it, top-end racing bikes generally come with 53/39 whichever gruppo they have. But lower-end bikes and "sport-tourers" like the compact version of my Synapse seem to come with 50/34.

erm. I tend to think most package deals are less of an end than any custom build. a top-end bike comes any way you want...

Top-end riders, of course, ride 53/39 or even more than 53 but that's out of my league. I started like that and hurt my knees.

I really fought on a hard long climb last Sunday with 34/27 as my last resort and I would hate to try anything beyond 20% or even 17.

[Chile Pepper]

No one (but pros) should be climbing in a 39-25. OUCH

I beg to differ. I'm riding a classic steel with the original 52/42 chainrings and a 13/26 cassette. My lowest gear is 43.6 inches. I tried to change out the smaller chainring to a 39, but it didn't work (it rubbed)--and I have no intention of changing out the whole gearing system (or buying a new bike any time soon). I live in Chile, so nothing is flat, and we have a lot of very steep sections. Sure, it gets tough, but I haven't fallen over yet! As my husband likes to point out, if he did the Death Ride twice on 52 / 42 gearing, then I should be able to handle my regular climbs. It works for me (although the triple I rented in California last year sure was fun).

[kfergos]

I am interested in this same question! I have a compact double. I seem to be in the lowest gears all the time! We will come to a hill and half way up DH is telling me to shift to an easier gear and spin...I am out of gears!!

Me too! This is very timely, since I've been thinking about either going for a triple ($$) or getting some smaller gears. My ratio is 46/38 in the front, 12-27 in the back. Does that make me a total wuss to want lower gearing than that, and to never really use the 46 in daily use?

[violette]

I checked this morning; on the big ring, it says 53-39 and on the small ring, it says 39. Is this bad ???

[motochick]

It is not bad, but more important to know is what is the biggest one in the rear. Count the teeth.

Brenda

[Andrea]

I checked this morning; on the big ring, it says 53-39 and on the small ring, it says 39. Is this bad ???

In my (humble) opinion, it's not necessarily bad. Before you go out & spend money on a compact or triple, check your rear cassette. For help on the hills, the cog with the most teeth should have 26 or 27 (or even more, but that can leave you missing a few gears in the middle that you'd want on the flats). Buying a cassette with that gearing will cost less than a new crankset.

Give it a chance. Yes, it's going to seem harder at times, but chances are, if you keep pushing yourself, you'll get better at using the slightly harder gearing to climb hills. To quote something that another TE-er said to me once: "No self-doubt, please!"

[OakLeaf]

I think if it's 53/39 it's already a compact? Would a standard double accommodate a 14-tooth difference?

And no, it's not "bad," there's no good or bad gearing, there's just whether it's appropriate to the rider's strength and the terrain where the bike will be ridden.

Andrea, I do hear ya, but I think we can also agree that if the strength demands are too high, then someone won't be able to progress, and will just get frustrated or even injured. It's no different from a deconditioned person trying to learn to bench press with no options but a 45-lb bar. And, not everyone here is even trying to build strength. Or has the joints to support very high strength demands. For a lot of us, increasing or just maintaining endurance is enough.

Violette, do you know what your largest cog is on the freewheel? (if you can't see where it's stamped, you can count the teeth)

I might change out the chainrings before replacing the cassette - five teeth in front will make MUCH more difference than two in back.

Does anyone know what's the maximum differential in a compact? Can she do 53/34, or would that result in poor shifting and/or a lot of cross-chaining?

[violette]

Do you mean change my small front chainring? Do you know how much that would cost. I don't think it would be a big job.

[violette]

I just checked, it says 12-25.

[Andrea]

Usually compact chainrings are 34-50 or 36-50. There are a couple of other combos out there, but those are the most common.

[VeloVT]

Originally posted by Oakleaf:
I might change out the chainrings before replacing the cassette - five teeth in front will make MUCH more difference than two in back.

Does anyone know what's the maximum differential in a compact? Can she do 53/34, or would that result in poor shifting and/or a lot of cross-chaining?


Whether or not you can go down to a super-small inner ring depends on the Bolt Circle Diameter of your crankset.

I believe standard road doubles (53/39) have 130mm BCD's -- if this is the case with your cranks, you are limited to a 38 small ring.

Most compact doubles have a 110mm BCD; if somehow you ended up with a 110 mm BCD, you can go down to like a 33.

Sheldon Brown has a little information about this on his website, and you will get more if you google some combination of "BCD" and "chainrings".

[motochick]

If I was in your shoes, I would change my rear cassette to a 12-28. That would be a good place to start...and the cheapest. If that isn't enough, then come back and tell us and we can make another suggestion.

Brenda

[rij73]

Violette, you have standard gearing. If you are hurting, first thing to try is a 12-28 cassette in the rear. If you are still hurting after riding that for a while, you can look into getting a 50/34 compact crankset. That's my 2 cents from thinking about gears a lot.