New rider, new bike , some questions

chiv30

Hi All , I've Just managed to bag myself a 2010 Scott speedier s20 at what I hope was a bargain price of £400, now from what iv read its fitted with shimano 105 gear with a compact crankset , however I was under the impression that a compact was a 50/34 whereas this is running a 50/39.

I guess my question is am I running a compact ?

Also are all spd-l cleats plastic or can I get metal ones like my spds I use on the mud plugger?

Cheers

rpd_steve

Compact doesnt have too much of a firm meaning... Anything with a 50T big ring is called a compact. 50/39 is a bit of an odd setup as you normally ger 53/39 or 50/34. The main differentiating factor is the PCD of the holes where the chain rings bolt to the spider - compacts are 110mm and std is bigger. It could have been a standard that someone has change the big ring on or a compact that someone has changed the small ring on.

It doesnt matter either way. The closer the rings are in size the crisper the front shifting, with an 11T rear ring a 50T does most people well to 45 mph, your just loosing some of the smaller hill gears 34 would gain you, but gaining more overlap of ratios with the big/small ring in return.

All SPD-SL scleats are plastic. Its how they vary the float and they need to wear as they move to prolong the pedals - ive never seen metal ones. You wouldnt want to walk in them if they did anyway!!

chiv30

Thanks for the helpful answer , coming from a mud plugger I was expecting a lot worse

Btw if it is a 110pcd I take it replacing the inner isn't a hard job ( never did it on the mtb thanks to the triple) , I'm just concerned ,living in s.Wales that I am gonna need a smaller ring than the 39 for our hills / mountains

And as for cleats only ever walked in mtb with metal spds which weren't an issue but I'd assume its due to the outers having non flat soles

Again Thx for any further advice

andrewjoseph

Chiv30, I had a boardman comp compact, to manage the hills without hurting my feet, I had to put a bigger cassette on the back (from 25? to 27) and a smaller ring on the front (from 36 to 34). Not big changes, but made life easier for me. i could spin up steeper hill with less pressure on my knees and feet.

and I stick to my my mtb pedals and shoes. I don't see much point in swapping, just get the same type of pedals for the road bike as you have on the mtb, no fiddling with new shoes and cleat setup.

mattshrops

The main point of having a 50 on a compact is so that the step down to the 34 is not too big. The whole purpose of the compact IS the 34, lets face it who,d have a 50 given the choice? If you want to stay compact (for easier climbing gears) i suggest you change the inner ring. Not sure about the pcd(often called bcd) and like has already been said you may have a std with a smaller big chainring on ,or a compact with a bigger small chainring. I'm guessing the former. which if the pcd thing is correct you may need a new chainset??

chiv30

Ok again big thanks for all the advice ill try to get a measurement and some std specs of the bike direct from Scott , at least ill know what I should be looking for , anyway ill post back when I know for sure,

as for changing the pedals, I managed to bag shoes and clears with the bike so ill see how I get on with spd-l if I can't then ill go with the same pedal setup as the mtb.

finally in respect of my climbing ability, I can get up most things on my mtb in the mid ring upto about 8.5% sitting and spinning , so I'm just concerned on a few 10% avg climbs local to me as even on those I'm in the granny as parts ramp to 22%

centimani

I ran a 50/40. The original spec was 50/34 (although 50/36 is quite common too), but with my terrain not requiring a 34 at all, so i simply fitted a 40. Its reasonable to assume previous owners modded it, perhaps for similar reasons.

Came back to this to edit it saying..mine was a Bianchi, but the brand is irrellevent. Selling a compact clad bike on the edge of the Fens is like selling fire extinguishers to divers...pointless. But, a compacts what the bike came with, but its easy to modify to suit local terrain.

chiv30

Ok Just to update You All ..... yes I'm a noob It's actually a 53/39 110bcd compact

In this case would it be cheaper to Get a new cranks or look to Get a 50 big ring and a 34 inner as replacements?

Again Thx for The help

nochekmate

Just get some miles in and unless you live somewhere really hilly, 53/39T front with 25 cassette on the rear will be fine - see earlier thread re advantages/disadvantages of compact chainsets. Will cost you to change to compact since these chainsets are in greater demand these days and are priced accordingly.

chiv30

nochekmate wrote:

Just get some miles in and unless you live somewhere really hilly, 53/39T front with 25 cassette on the rear will be fine - see earlier thread re advantages/disadvantages of compact chainsets. Will cost you to change to compact since these chainsets are in greater demand these days and are priced accordingly.

It is a compact already ,Just a 53/39 ...
As for living somewhere really hilly.....

S.Wales near Caerphilly so I get to ride that mountain as well as the Blorange and most other great climbs down here....
Unless ur a mountain goat id call that pretty hilly

andrewjoseph

53/39, isn't that 'standard double?'.

i wonder if it's not the frame that is 'compact' style?

I'd give it try up a steep hill, see how you get on. if you can manage it try it for a while to see if you get stronger. if it's too much (i suspect it will be really hard, like getting up a steep hill on your mtb in big ring and half way down the block), then you may have to fork out for:
new chain rings (if you can get the 50/36-34 on the spider)
new front mech if original won't play nice with new chain ring setup
new compact crankset + new front mech.

andrewjoseph

a quick google shows Scott Speedster S20 CD20 2010 has Hollowtech II 50 x 34 Teeth crankset. So your's may have been changed. if it's the same crankset then you can get smaller rings to fit.

chiv30

Again thanks for everyone chipping in with the advice, It def says on the big ring 53/110 compact then on the inner it def says 39/110 compact .

If anyone can clarify what that means then I'd be more than grateful ...

With regards to the 2010 s20 spec I agree with what has been said previously it comes with a 50/34 hollowtechII crankset

How much of a difference would a 12/30 rear cassette make with the current setup? I know I can get a 10speed Tiagra from Evans for about £30 or a Campag Veloce 10speed 12/29 for £40

Sorry for all the questions but I don't want to ride it locally and fall out of love with it due to the mountains

Mike39496

chiv30 wrote:

Again thanks for everyone chipping in with the advice, It def says on the big ring 53/110 compact then on the inner it def says 39/110 compact .

If anyone can clarify what that means then I'd be more than grateful ...

With regards to the 2010 s20 spec I agree with what has been said previously it comes with a 50/34 hollowtechII crankset

How much of a difference would a 12/30 rear cassette make with the current setup? I know I can get a 10speed Tiagra from Evans for about £30 or a Campag Veloce 10speed 12/29 for £40

Sorry for all the questions but I don't want to ride it locally and fall out of love with it due to the mountains

Not sure how much of a difference it would make with the 12/30, it would help definitely though. You couldn't use the Campag one since your groupset is a Shimano fit not Campag.

chiv30

Mike39496 wrote:

chiv30 wrote:

Again thanks for everyone chipping in with the advice, It def says on the big ring 53/110 compact then on the inner it def says 39/110 compact .

If anyone can clarify what that means then I'd be more than grateful ...

With regards to the 2010 s20 spec I agree with what has been said previously it comes with a 50/34 hollowtechII crankset

How much of a difference would a 12/30 rear cassette make with the current setup? I know I can get a 10speed Tiagra from Evans for about £30 or a Campag Veloce 10speed 12/29 for £40

Sorry for all the questions but I don't want to ride it locally and fall out of love with it due to the mountains

Not sure how much of a difference it would make with the 12/30, it would help definitely though. You couldn't use the Campag one since your groupset is a Shimano fit not Campag.

Ok thanks for pointing that out at least I have the Tiagra option

andrewjoseph

you may have a problem putting a 12-30 cassette on, the rear mech may not like it, I think most short cage mechs are max of 28?

i had a new medium cage rear mech the other day, but it wouldn't work with my 36t mtb cassette, so I had to put a 32 t cassette on. the jockey wheels were contacting the 36t cog and not happy about it.

i think that 28 may be the max if you have a short cage mech.

Have a look at the bcd and try getting a 36 or 34 inner ring to match. then a 28t cassette, should be much better, like middle ring and 3rd-4th on the mtb. bearing in mind the road bike will be lighter, have slick tyres and the road surface will be a constant gradient (compared to riding over rocks), you may not need exactly the same gearing as the mtb.

chiv30

andrewjoseph wrote:

you may have a problem putting a 12-30 cassette on, the rear mech may not like it, I think most short cage mechs are max of 28?

i had a new medium cage rear mech the other day, but it wouldn't work with my 36t mtb cassette, so I had to put a 32 t cassette on. the jockey wheels were contacting the 36t cog and not happy about it.

i think that 28 may be the max if you have a short cage mech.

Have a look at the bcd and try getting a 36 or 34 inner ring to match. then a 28t cassette, should be much better, like middle ring and 3rd-4th on the mtb. bearing in mind the road bike will be lighter, have slick tyres and the road surface will be a constant gradient (compared to riding over rocks), you may not need exactly the same gearing as the mtb.

Again can't thank everyone enough
The bcd is def 110 , would I have any issues with the front mech going 53/34 ,if of course , I can source a 34 inner ?
As for the rear mech I'll try to get the spec , I know its an ultegra short atm and that's it lol

andrewjoseph

I think spa cycles might do the rings you want. I suspect you may get problems shifting a front double mech from 34 up to 54, it may work but possibly less than crisp. i suggest getting a 49-50t big ring and a 34-36t inner, there isn't such a big jump, it may make things easier out back too as the rear mech is not suddenly taking up so much slack. if you do this you will have to shorten your chain, depending on what size cassette you put on.

My ultegra medium cage works with a 32t but not 36.

I have put an mtb rear mech on my wife's tourer (triple chainset) so she has mtb gearing front and back: 36-11 cassette, 46-34-24 front (i had similar on th eback until my rear mech broke). she doesn't go fast but gets up most hills fully loaded! ;-)

andrewjoseph

chiv30, i have a 46th 110 bcd stronglight 5 arm ring if you want. Pick up for £5 or I can post to for £5 plus postage... £6?

They are used (2600km), had them on my tourer for a while but wanted bigger big ring so got a 49t.

chiv30

andrewjoseph wrote:

chiv30, i have a 46th 110 bcd stronglight 5 arm ring if you want. Pick up for £5 or I can post to for £5 plus postage... £6?

They are used (2600km), had them on my tourer for a while but wanted bigger big ring so got a 49t.

If it was the outer that was worrying me I would have jumped at the chance but its my inner 39 I'm worried about with the 11/25
Really appreciate the offer though

I've just had another look on Evans and I can get ultegra 34T inner and a 105 50T outer for about £60 delivered so may go down that route

And whoever said 28T max with the short mech is spot on , shimano spec is 16T max difference so its a 12/28 rear