Replacing Campag Record 12-25 10 speed for Range/Hills

PaulHass

I currently have compact 53/39 double 10 speed 12-25 rear cassette. To make life living with a compact going up hills that bit easier I want to replace it for my next sportive which is the Polocini B*STARD

what are my best options 11/28 can i get 12/28 i am new to cycling let alone changing anything on a bike i would normally buy a bike and run it till it dies wrong i know but i have now learned cycling is more than a supplement to my running and take cycling that much more seriously now that i can no longer run ?

or would it be cheaper / easier to change my small chainring ?

Thank you in advance

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

53/39 isn't a compact, a compact is normally 50/34

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

You can't fit a smaller chainring than a 39 on a standard chain set so your cheapest option is a different cassette.

PaulHass

xdoc wrote:

53/39 isn't a compact, a compact is normally 50/34

I thought a compact refered to a double chainring and not the amount of teeth on a ring as i have said i am new to this technical side of cycling ?

so i cannot change my small chainring what are my options regards the cassette

thank you for your replies

FatTed

I would get a 50/34 upfront, (if Shimano, you will need a different Bottom Bracket), I don't know if your RD will take a bigger cassette, and if you changed the cassette the jumps between gears gets larger than I like.

PaulHass

FatTed wrote:

I would get a 50/34 upfront, (if Shimano, you will need a different Bottom Bracket), I don't know if your RD will take a bigger cassette, and if you changed the cassette the jumps between gears gets larger than I like.

Sounds expensive :roll:

rolf_f

You can fit a 13-29 cassette almost certainly (I have done this but it is technically more than manufacturers recommendations - but that is because it might not work on all bikes) but with 53/39 upfront you still won't exactly be low geared.

Still, you can get the cassette for about £35 and you'll probably need a longer chain (but those are consumable anyway) so you can try that out and see if the gears are low enough. If not, you'll need the compact and yes, that is expensive. Particularly for Record........

PaulHass

If i was to change my standard 10 speed chainrings for compact

Can i buy 11 speed record compact and it will be compatable with the rest of my 10 speed chainset or do i have to change everything to 11 speed ?

if i buy a 10 speed compact will it compatable with the rest of my standard 10 speed chainset ?

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

I would get the 10 speed compact chain set if you intend sticking with a 10 speed set up for the foreseeable future.

gfk_velo

Hello Paul,

your best bet is to go for a 10s 50/34 chain-set and retain your existing 12-25 cassette.

As you are running 10s and the Record 10s equipment is now being removed from the Campag range, you'd need to go for Veloce or Centaur PowerTorque, unless you can find an old stock 10s Compact (also known as CT) in the Chorus / Record / Super Record ranges.

If you go the Veloce or Centaur PT route, you will need to change the bottom bracket cups to suit - they are different to the Record ones & not compatible.

34 x 25 will give you a bottom gear of around 36", 39 x 29 will give you (on the assumption that it will work on the Damocles - I'd suspect not & as Rolf F says, it is outside Campag's spec in any case) about the same.

With the 50 / 34 CT chain-set, if at a later date you wanted to go to a still lower gear, you could, by changing your cassette and chain once they reach the end of their service life (beyond a certain point in the life of the chain, the cassette and chain should be changed together).

Don't be tempted to go to an 11s chainset with a 10s system - the front derailleur will not set up correctly, plus due to the narrower spacing between the chainrings, you will run into problems with the chain "tinkling" against the back of the big chain ring when in the higher gears on the cassette - it's bad practice in any case to use the 34 x 12 combination, but you'll get noise and the possibility of the outside chairing "picking up" and jamming the chain against the frame on probably the 12, 13 and 14 if you use an 11s chain set with a 10s chain on a bike with a short rear triangle like the Damocles (or indeed virtually any modern racing frame).

HTH
Graeme FK
Velotech Cycling Ltd - Campagnolo main UK Service Centre | Velotech Industry-Standard Mechanics Training

PaulHass

Many thanks for your in depth reply and i am going to get a compact 50/34 chainring and retain the cassett as you advise