Hello! Questions on compact and Kalibur

Yodamiester

Hello,

Just joined and would like some advice on compact vs triple front chainring. I'm thinking of buying a Kuota Kalibur with compact to replace my five year old Specialized Comp triple.

I live in the Swiss Alps and regularly train on some fairly serious mountain passes. I do this triathlon http://www.inferno.ch/triathlon/fr_main_e.html which is on the 18th - here is the profile and also compete in Ironman.

I've been told the compact will be fine, but also advised the triple is necessary for all passes I do.

Also any comments on the Kalibur would be appreciated.

Cheers Yoda

John Stevenson

What chainrings and sprockets do you currently have on your triple?

nmcgann

Yodamiester wrote:

Hello,

Just joined and would like some advice on compact vs triple front chainring. I'm thinking of buying a Kuota Kalibur with compact to replace my five year old Specialized Comp triple.

I live in the Swiss Alps and regularly train on some fairly serious mountain passes. I do this triathlon http://www.inferno.ch/triathlon/fr_main_e.html which is on the 18th - here is the profile and also compete in Ironman.

I've been told the compact will be fine, but also advised the triple is necessary for all passes I do.

Also any comments on the Kalibur would be appreciated.

Cheers Yoda

All you need to do is find out what gears you are already using to climb the passes and then go to Sheldon Brown's gear calculator (http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/) and see if you can get similar ratios with the compact gearing.

Neil

Yodamiester

Thanks Guys.

I'm not particularly technical when it comes to my bikes - just jump on and ride.

The triple is Shimano SG 52-42-30 and the rear cassette (9-speed) ranges from 23 down to 12.

Not sure what the new compact will be.

amaferanga

With your current set-up your lowest gear is 34.3 gear inches. If you swapped for a compact 50-34 and fitted a 12-27 rear cassette your lowest gear would be 33.1 gear inches. If you used a 12-25 cassette with the compact then your lowest gear would be 36.7 gear inches.

So if you're fairly happy with your current lowest gear, but think you could increase it a bit then fit a 12-25 cassette with the compact. Or if you think you'd like a slightly lower gear then go for the 12-27 cassette.

Yodamiester

Excellent. Starting to make sense now.

Looking at a Zipp 303 wheelset. Any good?