Compact to Double gender reasignment surgery.

Aguila

OK I'm putting down the RLJ hatchet and moving on.

After much p*ss taking from mates at work about my "lady's" compact chainset I've just changed it to an ultegra double 53:39. Will be interesting to see if it makes much difference, will be nice to have a bit of extra top end clout as a fully paid up masher.

Anyone else made the switch?

BTW ultegra doubles 48% off at CRC, bargainitious!

fossyant

No..never had a ladeeez compact or triple.....

Roastie

I miss my compact, sadly I broke it - it was wonderful for wicked acceleration. I've got another sitting on my desk (50/36), I might fit it sometime.

biondino

You ride over 40mph often? That's fantastic - you'll love the double!

whyamihere

biondino wrote:

You ride over 40mph often? That's fantastic - you'll love the double!

Don't you?

always_tyred

Aguila wrote:

OK I'm putting down the RLJ hatchet and moving on.

After much p*ss taking from mates at work about my "lady's" compact chainset I've just changed it to an ultegra double 53:39. Will be interesting to see if it makes much difference, will be nice to have a bit of extra top end clout as a fully paid up masher.

Anyone else made the switch?

BTW ultegra doubles 48% off at CRC, bargainitious!

Um, I've just gone the other way for some big weekend climbs.

What difference do you expect it to make? The big ring ratios will be slightly more spread out, the small ring ratios will be slightly closer. You'll run out of gears sooner on hills. You'll spin out at about 68kph instead of 64kph.

Anyone would think its as radical as swapping a 12-27 for an 11-23.

cjcp

fossyant wrote:

No..never had a ladeeez compact or triple.....

+1.

I'll get a compact if I go the Alps next year. For the UK, it would be cheaper for me to switch to a 27. Unless you're talking about Hardknott etc - I'd fit a compact if I did the FWC too.

Until then, it's Man's Gearing. Ug. Grunt.

always_tyred

cjcp wrote:

fossyant wrote:

No..never had a ladeeez compact or triple.....

+1.

I'll get a compact if I go the Alps next year. For the UK, it would be cheaper for me to switch to a 27. Unless you're talking about Hardknott etc - I'd fit a compact if I did the FWC too.

Until then, it's Man's Gearing. Ug. Grunt.

Admit it, you are secretly hankering after a triple.

I'm told that if you go to the smallest ring on a triple, and the biggest cog on the cassette, you can actually cycle backwards.

cjcp

Never! Besides, think of the extra weight.

Aguila

Wooooo is there some new unwritten law here that we must all slag each other off?

Actually the compact was semi-screwed anyway so not just a swap for the sake of it, just wondered if it would make much difference

always_tyred

Aguila wrote:

Wooooo is there some new unwritten law here that we must all slag each other off?

Actually the compact was semi-screwed anyway so not just a swap for the sake of it, just wondered if it would make much difference

Yes.
In seriousness, the standard/compact thing is not going to change how fast you go. The standard is better, until you entirely run out of gears.

rolf_f

fossyant wrote:

No..never had a ladeeez compact or triple.....

That's because you live in a girly flat location! By rights, in Manchester, anything more than one gear is for the ladeeez

roger_merriman

cjcp wrote:

fossyant wrote:

No..never had a ladeeez compact or triple.....

+1.

I'll get a compact if I go the Alps next year. For the UK, it would be cheaper for me to switch to a 27. Unless you're talking about Hardknott etc - I'd fit a compact if I did the FWC too.

Until then, it's Man's Gearing. Ug. Grunt.

around here yes, and to be honest for most of the hills nr my folks place but there are one or two hills nr there that are steep, in that they are close to or are around the 20% average mark so a compact and 27t cassette make good idea in getting up those short nasty brutes.

il_principe

I'd like a double but then there's no point if I do head to the Alps next year...

gtvlusso

Never ridden compact......biggest "ring" I had was a 57 on a TT bike (single ring).....knee breaker.

Aguila

First ride in on the double today.

Maijn benefit is the return of silence to my drivetrain, absolutely blissful after the clanking /clicking horror show that had been the norm recently.

Otherwise unable to detect much difference, my commute has no alpine sections so I doubt I will miss the compact.

cjcp

Aguila - out of interest, did you ride in a different sprocket?

I suspect I will go compact as I get older. I was having this discussion with Christophe going up Whitedown a few weeks back. I ain't getting any younger and don't exactly have the slightest of frames, so will probably need to fit a compact and spin a bit more to save the knees.

Aguila

cjcp wrote:

Aguila - out of interest, did you ride in a different sprocket?

.

Didn't really think about it to be honest. I dont think so but today was very still so not a high effort ride, might be a different story in a decent headwind, I think that might be the main scenario where the compact might be missed.

roger_merriman

should find better matching between the chain rings ie less of jump, this said i'm of the feeling that one is more likely to run out of low gears than high gears. hence 34/50 compact with a 27-12 cassette.

Aguila

roger merriman wrote:

should find better matching between the chain rings ie less of jump, this said i'm of the feeling that one is more likely to run out of low gears than high gears. hence 34/50 compact with a 27-12 cassette.

I decided this would not be an issue as I had never used the bottom 3 gears when the compact was on.

oscarbudgie

Aguila wrote:

After much p*ss taking from mates at work about my "lady's" compact chainset I've just changed it to an ultegra double 53:39. !

What kind of place do you work where your mates even know the difference?

UndercoverElephant

oscarbudgie wrote:

Aguila wrote:

After much p*ss taking from mates at work about my "lady's" compact chainset I've just changed it to an ultegra double 53:39. !

What kind of place do you work where your mates even know the difference?

To be fair, I was ripping the pish out of a workmate for this very thing only the other day; mind you, his is a compact triple Sadly he beat me up every hill on Saturday.

_Brun_

I've just ordered 50-34 for dealing with this upcoming Wales thing. Never ridden one before so it'll be interesting to see how I get on.

Not sure what I'll do after that, but was just looking at gear ratios and 50-36 with an 11-23 cassette looks pretty similar to my current 53-39 and 12-25. Anyone know what the advantages/disadvantages might be between the two?

Roastie

cjcp wrote:

Aguila - out of interest, did you ride in a different sprocket?

I suspect I will go compact as I get older. I was having this discussion with Christophe going up Whitedown a few weeks back. I ain't getting any younger and don't exactly have the slightest of frames, so will probably need to fit a compact and spin a bit more to save the knees.

You'll need to fit that front mech first! :P

always_tyred

_Brun_ wrote:

I've just ordered 50-34 for dealing with this upcoming Wales thing. Never ridden one before so it'll be interesting to see how I get on.

Not sure what I'll do after that, but was just looking at gear ratios and 50-36 with an 11-23 cassette looks pretty similar to my current 53-39 and 12-25. Anyone know what the advantages/disadvantages might be between the two?

With the compact, you get the advantage of a tighter cassette, you would find yourself shifting the front mech more frequently.
The shifts won't be as crisp, because the chain tension will be sub-optimal in order to accommodate the bigger jump between the front rings (the number of teeth is the same, but I think the difference in radii is bigger for the compact).
With the compact, you can go for a 34 and 12-27 if you fancy tackling the Stelvio.

Might just be mine, but I also find that the setup is less tolerant to crossing the chain than my standard chainset. I know you shouldn't, but everyone does.

benno68

Always Tyred wrote:

Might just be mine, but I also find that the setup is less tolerant to crossing the chain than my standard chainset. I know you shouldn't, but everyone does.

+1

Haven't ridden a standard set up for 15 years so can't really compare. Crossing the chain on my compact sounds terrible, 34-12 is definitely to be avoided!

So far, I haven't had to get off my bike and walk it up hills (not that I go up any major ones), I think I'd struggle on a standard chainset with my current fitness level.

I wouldn't mind trying an 11 tooth sprocket on the back to give me a bit more speed downhill as I can only get to 45mph or thereabouts on the 12.

cjcp

_Brun_ wrote:

I've just ordered 50-34 for dealing with this upcoming Wales thing. Never ridden one before so it'll be interesting to see how I get on.

Not sure what I'll do after that, but was just looking at gear ratios and 50-36 with an 11-23 cassette looks pretty similar to my current 53-39 and 12-25. Anyone know what the advantages/disadvantages might be between the two?

Think JG runs a 50/36.

JG?

cjcp

Benno68 wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Might just be mine, but I also find that the setup is less tolerant to crossing the chain than my standard chainset. I know you shouldn't, but everyone does.

+1

Haven't ridden a standard set up for 15 years so can't really compare. Crossing the chain on my compact sounds terrible, 34-12 is definitely to be avoided!

So far, I haven't had to get off my bike and walk it up hills (not that I go up any major ones), I think I'd struggle on a standard chainset with my current fitness level.

I wouldn't mind trying an 11 tooth sprocket on the back to give me a bit more speed downhill as I can only get to 45mph or thereabouts on the 12.

Benno - don't think you'd struggle, esp if you fitted a 27 at the back if you wanted a get-out.

You could hit 45+ without the 11 though, esp with your size. You just need to pedal like hell and, um, be a bit bonkers. :shock: I don't think the hills round your way are conducive to letting it rip downhill; they're just a bit short and not of the best quality - some of the roads on the Dragon Ride are spectacular and you'd easily exceed 45 in good weather - heck! even I did. You could easily make it coming down the A48 from St Nicholas to Culverhouse X, but it's not the greatest of roads IIRC.

jonginge

cjcp wrote:

_Brun_ wrote:

I've just ordered 50-34 for dealing with this upcoming Wales thing. Never ridden one before so it'll be interesting to see how I get on.

Not sure what I'll do after that, but was just looking at gear ratios and 50-36 with an 11-23 cassette looks pretty similar to my current 53-39 and 12-25. Anyone know what the advantages/disadvantages might be between the two?

Think JG runs a 50/36.

JG?

50/34 on both the carbons. Didn't actually choose those ratios, they were the OTP option. On the planet-x I've used the 34 precisely once: on whitedown and I felt a bit undergeared TBH. 34 on the Scott was used fairly often in the alps

itboffin

I find the 50/34 pretty useless for most tasks in the UK an old school 52/42 would be better, still I struggle on spinning out on the 50 and spinning to death on the 34

roger_merriman

itboffin wrote:

I find the 50/34 pretty useless for most tasks in the UK an old school 52/42 would be better, still I struggle on spinning out on the 50 and spinning to death on the 34

that depends on where you live and visit, i mean yes for a lot of places i mean for the social ride i think i was in the 50T for the most part and the i don't think i went nr the 27t on the back.

but when i go back to wales my folks live on the side of a 1000ft deep gorge so the lanes tend to be steep, as in 30% etc peaks where a 34t-27t can feel over geared...

and only a few miles away are 3 to 4 mile mini alp like climbs/decents.

My bike came with 43/53 has to be said i found it overgeared for some of what i do ie wales or rather the bit around my folks any way.