Compact

fluided

I have a 53 -39 with 11 - 23 on my winter bike and a compact 50 - 34 with 12-25 I find it much slower and harder on the compact than the normal :? , does anyone else find this. I'm thinking of getting rid of the compact.

Jon_1976

I can understand slower, but harder? I've never ridden a traditional double though. I'd die if i had a ride a 39-23 round here

goonz

MTFU

Gizmodo

Quite the opposite, my first bike was a standard and I really struggled up the hills. Moving to a compact I found it much easier and I can go faster, uphill anyway. I've done just over 40mph on a descent on a compact which is enough for me - I don't think I would like to go much quicker on British open public roads!

Obviously the fact that I'm, much stronger now after 18 months of cycling, but I still wouldn't like to go back to a standard.

Each to their own.

MartinB2444

If I lived around London or Lincolnshire I would ride 59-39 with 11-23, but living in the Peak District its a compact and 11-28 thanks

bernithebiker

fluided wrote:

does anyone else find this.

No.

imposter2.0

I've got 52/38 on one bike and 50/34 on another - I can't tell the difference...

fluided

It must be just a head thing, I'm sure I will get use to the compact.

Thanks

simon_masterson

Do you find that you naturally pedal at a higher cadence on the compact?

imposter2.0

Simon Masterson wrote:

Do you find that you naturally pedal at a higher cadence on the compact?

There's no reason why you should. I tend to pedal in the same gear combinations on both bikes, mostly...

fluided

Yes I do, and I have never been a spinner.

oldwelshman

Cant believe some of the comments or the OP being a compact or standard has nothing to do with how hard or fast you go, it is the gears you "chose" to pedal that determine how hard you pedal. getting rid of the compact will make no difference at all, and of course you should notice no difference in general riding, it is only when you do longer harder climbs you may notice lack of low gear on standard set up.

oldwelshman

In fact I would put the 11 x 23 on the compact bike :-)

simon_masterson

Imposter wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

Do you find that you naturally pedal at a higher cadence on the compact?

There's no reason why you should. I tend to pedal in the same gear combinations on both bikes, mostly...

My thoughts exactly, though I've never owned a bike new enough to have a compact. I'm aware that some people find that they stop mashing when they switch and naturally pedal at a faster rate; just trying to ascertain if the OP is one of those...

Bozman

My cadence went up by 10 when I swapped to a compact, this wasn't over night it was more like 18mths. I also find hills more of an issue since the swap too.
Will a higher cadence lead to less muscle development due to less resistance, probably crap but doesn't high resistance create muscle growth and strength.

DavidJB

I just ride 53/39 12-25. Its easy. I climb standing so 39-25 has always been fine even on the longest and steepest climbs...although I'd probably ride a 12-27 if I went to the alps

rolf_f

oldwelshman wrote:

Cant believe some of the comments or the OP being a compact or standard has nothing to do with how hard or fast you go, it is the gears you "chose" to pedal that determine how hard you pedal. getting rid of the compact will make no difference at all, and of course you should notice no difference in general riding, it is only when you do longer harder climbs you may notice lack of low gear on standard set up.

I don't think this is strictly true. Obviously, discussing the chainset without looking at the cassette as well makes the discussion partly meaningless - but not entirely. I think a lot of people will tend to use a compact differently - I certainly do. The big gap at the front influences how long you stay in a particular gear at the back - eg if you are in the small chainring, a fairly small sprocket and accelerating but approaching a gradient, you might just spin a bit on a compact (rather than either crossing the chain or doing a double shift that would immediately need to be undone) whereas on a standard you shift to the bigger ring. Maybe not a good example but I think reasonable!

Ultimately, I think that standards encourage a more controlled, narrow cadence band than compacts - which implies that compacts will probably tend to encourage spinniness.

Of course, the proof would come from people who casually record cadence (ie aren't deliberately working on it) and have switched from standard to compact. If there is a statistically significant increase in cadence after changing then the point is proved.

bernithebiker

Compacts allow you to have a really tight cassette.

I use a 34-50 compact with a 21-11 cassette. So no jumps at all in any gear change, and this setup is good for everything but the Alps, where I switch to my 28-11.

Cadence is what you make it. I can have cadence of 110 with a standard or 80 with a compact or vice-versa, that's for you, the rider to control.

imposter2.0

Bozman wrote:

My cadence went up by 10 when I swapped to a compact, this wasn't over night it was more like 18mths. I also find hills more of an issue since the swap too.

My cadence goes up by 10 when I change down a couple of gears. Doesn't mean anything. As Berni says, cadence is a product of gear choice, not crankset choice.

Bozman wrote:

Will a higher cadence lead to less muscle development due to less resistance, probably crap but doesn't high resistance create muscle growth and strength.

That's a false premise. You don't need strength to ride a bike, and riding a bike will not typically increase your 'strength'. It will develop your aerobic fitness though.

Bozman

Imposter wrote:

Bozman wrote:

My cadence went up by 10 when I swapped to a compact, this wasn't over night it was more like 18mths. I also find hills more of an issue since the swap too.

My cadence goes up by 10 when I change down a couple of gears. Doesn't mean anything. As Berni says, cadence is a product of gear choice, not crankset choice.

Well I generally rode with a 53 for years, I now ride with a 50 and I'm using the same size cassette with the chain sitting on the same sprocket , my speed is the same but obviously my cadence has increased.
A mate of mine has recently swapped to a compact after 20 odd years on a standard chain ring, he can't get on with it and wants to go back to a standard chain ring, his cadence increased too.

bernithebiker

Bozman,
Clearly, if you swap chainsets but pedal the same gear in the back, your cadence will rise.

But the point, surely, is you just change down a gear so that your cadence is the same as it was before.

At say 30kmh on the flat you were pedalling at 90, in 53/19.

With a 50 on the front and doing 30km/h with cadence 90, you'd be in say 50/17.

So just choose the right cassette gear to compensate. No reason your cadence should change.

Bozman

bernithebiker wrote:

Bozman,
Clearly, if you swap chainsets but pedal the same gear in the back, your cadence will rise.

But the point, surely, is you just change down a gear so that your cadence is the same as it was before.

At say 30kmh on the flat you were pedalling at 90, in 53/19.

With a 50 on the front and doing 30km/h with cadence 90, you'd be in say 50/17.

So just choose the right cassette gear to compensate. No reason your cadence should change.

True, initially I swapped the cassette for a 23/11 but for some reason there was no rhythm, so I swapped back to a 25/12 and gradually synced in again and the cure was a small increase in cadence.
My mate is going through this issue at the moment but he hasn't got the patience to find an answer, both of us had been using a standard chainset for 20ish years so maybe your body just gets used to something and refuses to let go.

rolf_f

bernithebiker wrote:

So just choose the right cassette gear to compensate. No reason your cadence should change.

It's not that simple.

imposter2.0

Rolf F wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

So just choose the right cassette gear to compensate. No reason your cadence should change.

It's not that simple.

It doesn't need to be that difficult either. My preferred cadence is the same/similar on both a compact and a standard chainset. The only thing that changes is where the chain sits on the cassette.

rolf_f

That's fine and true when travelling at a constant pace. As soon as you are changing pace, then the next gear to change into comes into play. That can have an impact on how long you stay in a particular gear and therefore what cadence you use.

dennisn

oldwelshman wrote:

Cant believe some of the comments or the OP being a compact or standard has nothing to do with how hard or fast you go, it is the gears you "chose" to pedal that determine how hard you pedal. getting rid of the compact will make no difference at all, and of course you should notice no difference in general riding, it is only when you do longer harder climbs you may notice lack of low gear on standard set up.

+1 on this.

drlodge

dennisn wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

Cant believe some of the comments or the OP being a compact or standard has nothing to do with how hard or fast you go, it is the gears you "chose" to pedal that determine how hard you pedal. getting rid of the compact will make no difference at all, and of course you should notice no difference in general riding, it is only when you do longer harder climbs you may notice lack of low gear on standard set up.

+1 on this.

+2

upperoilcan

Compact's on Aero bikes.....

Is this frowned upon ?

paul2718

A compact, being smaller, has less drag.

Paul

bernithebiker

paul2718 wrote:

A compact, being smaller, has less drag.

Paul

True, but by a tiny amount.

The danger of running a compact on a TT bike is running out of gears on slight downhills. My 50/11 gives me 55 kph pedalling fast but controllably, but 60 is getting a bit silly, and a 53 up front would then make more sense.

FWIW, TT is about the only sensible application for a standard that I can see, unless you are CAT 1 and above.....

upperoilcan

When i say Aero i should have stated a non TT bike,something along the lines of a Cervelo S2 for instance.