Questions on Gearing
napahighcycling
Posts: 23
I have a full ultegra 6600g setup (ultegra sl), and I have a 50/34 crankset with a 14/25 junior cassette.
I find that it's very difficult to cruise at lowerspeeds or against strong headwinds because the little front chainring is so lowly geared (I end up cross chaining, and don't like to mash the 50 by 25 or 23).
I would like to get a standard, but I really enjoy the 34-25 low end, and I do a fair bit of climbing, and hit grades of about 17% every once and a while, which are difficult, but I can handle it.
I would like to know if I can switch to a standard setup with a 52/38 crankset and a cassette with a 28 largest cog (hopefully a 14/28, but that's just a matter of finding a company that makes one), but I'm not even sure I can with my components, and, I would like to keep the 38-28 gear, because it is pretty much identical to the 34-25 (but I won't have such and awkward little chainring in front).
Can I do this? Is there a better option?
I find that it's very difficult to cruise at lowerspeeds or against strong headwinds because the little front chainring is so lowly geared (I end up cross chaining, and don't like to mash the 50 by 25 or 23).
I would like to get a standard, but I really enjoy the 34-25 low end, and I do a fair bit of climbing, and hit grades of about 17% every once and a while, which are difficult, but I can handle it.
I would like to know if I can switch to a standard setup with a 52/38 crankset and a cassette with a 28 largest cog (hopefully a 14/28, but that's just a matter of finding a company that makes one), but I'm not even sure I can with my components, and, I would like to keep the 38-28 gear, because it is pretty much identical to the 34-25 (but I won't have such and awkward little chainring in front).
Can I do this? Is there a better option?
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Comments
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I'm new, this doesn't look like it's posted in the correct place, but I can't figure out how to delete it.0
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'm no expert on gears but iIf you're saying you most frequently use the 50/25 or even 23 then you don't want to be going up to a 52 or 53 in my view. Wouldn't you be better off staying in the 34 and maybe changing the cassette to a 11-26 if you want to avoid cross chaining? You can then maybe find your current cruising speed in the 34/11-14 range. I don't know about Shimano but SRAM for instance do cater for a change of longer rear derailleur that allows you to run a cassette of 11-32 to give a better top speed but a get out of jail crawler gear for climbing. Shimano must do something similar. The disadvantage is the wider range between ratios potentially meaning more gear changes.I ride a bike. Doesn't make me green or a tree hugger. I drive a car too.0
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quick question, are you under 16 therefore needing a junior cassette? if so, and if you are if you're a member of a club then your club members should be able to help out on this score.
buying a new chainset and a new cassette seems like an expensive way of doing it - you could have a look for a 27 cassette and get a bigger ring to put on the compact
an 11-27 would give you the top range with the existing compact and may also help with the lower gear cruising as there are more small/small options, there is usually some cross chaining going on with a compact anyway"I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
--Jens Voight0 -
I'll definitely get shot down in flames here, but this is the precise reason why I'm a recent triple chainset convert.
With an 11-28 cassette, the front 40 ring can use every one of the 10 sprockets without crosschaining or chain rub and gives me a huge range of ratios for 90% of rolling terrain. On a compact set-up I'm constantly going up and down the big-gapped front rings and seem always to need "big-big" or "small-small" both of which I can't used due to crosschaining.
The general advice on this forum though is that the extra 100g (gasp!) of a triple, the "additional complexity" of the system (nonsense) and the (horror of horrors) aesthetic drawbacks of a triple (and the fact that everyone is bound to think you have a small penis) mean that the only thing to do is stick to the compact with all the disadvantages it has over a triple.
A triple would actually solve your problems and give you an extra handful of ratios for very steep climbing, but I realise that it would require the purchase of a lot of extra hardware.
Not to mention that it would require you to depart from the big flock of sheep. Baaaa!!0 -
Yes I am under junior gearing, 50/14 or 52/14 as the highest, so as you can see, I'm not worried about high-end.
I shift between the front chainrings a lot when I'm climbing or cruising at 14-17 mph, and I think that a 38 tooth will eliminate the cross-chaining that I get because of the limited cassette.
So I'm thinking of getting a 52/38 setup, but I'm worried about the low end. I would try out the 38/25 and see if I can handle the tougher gearing on climbs, but if it's too tough I'll look for a 14-27 or 14-28 cassette (if I can find one).
I'm wondering if my gruppo can handle the chain wrap of a standard setup with a 27 or 28 largest cog.0
