Can I fit 53/39 rings to a Chorus compact chainset?

racingt

Hi guys, as the title suggests, I want to 'uncompact' my Chorus Utratorque chainset!
Although its only 3 teeth on the big ring and 5 on the smaller, I'm guessing its going to be impossible, or prohibitively expensive!
Or is it better to buy, say, Athena chainset and switch over at will?
Thanks for all advice!

DHTT

Should be possible with some Stronglight rings, I've done it to get 52/39. I got my chain rings from Spa Cycles:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s149p0

ice climber

A compact has 110 BCD and a double is 135 BCD, campagnolo rings will not fit if you wish to use them. May be possible to find some other makers but I didn't find any and I ended up buying a complete chorus set that was going cheap and I just swap over when I need to. Don't forget chain length as well!

rolf_f

Current Athena will mean new BB and a lot of hassle. I'd stick with Chorus if you do change crankset - or find old stock Athena from before Powertorque.

Can you up your gears a bit with a smaller cassette?

Barbarossa

Specialitès TA do 110 pcd chainrings up to 60T!! Spa Cycles

racingt

Thanks guys, I will call Spa cycles tomorrow.
The alternative of an Ultratorque Athena chainset, then swapping over is also worth looking at.
Really don't want to go down the smaller cassette route cos I want to push a 52 and get rid of the 34. Largely psychological, I know, but its all a mind game isn't it!!
Thanks again

rolf_f

racingt wrote:

Thanks guys, I will call Spa cycles tomorrow.
The alternative of an Ultratorque Athena chainset, then swapping over is also worth looking at.
Really don't want to go down the smaller cassette route cos I want to push a 52 and get rid of the 34. Largely psychological, I know, but its all a mind game isn't it!!
Thanks again

Swings and roundabouts. Most folk would be over geared on 50-11 - you might disagree but it depends on what you are going to pair your 52 with. And you could, for example, put a 36 tooth inner ring on the front. 50/36 is only one tooth bigger a gap than 52/39 so a small cassette and a 36 tooth inner (which Campag do produce) will go happily on the compact.

Incidentally, that reminds me, Campag themselves now do 52/36 compacts so you can certainly get a 52 outer ring from Campag though it would cost you. Here is the Chorus 52/36 crankset - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/campagnolo-chor ... -chainset/

racingt

Rolf, I could also fit a triple, but I really like the low Q factor.
This isn't logical, I know the ratios will be similar, but I'm happy to ride on a 39 in winter, but feel a 34 is too small.
I just don't put as much effort in. Same with pushing a 52 compared with a 50. Not much difference, but psychologically, I find I do push harder.
Is swapping cranks over easy? I haven't took mine apart yet.
Regards
Phil

rolf_f

But as I say - is 36 so bad?

But anyway, in some respect it is better to get the new cranks - Campag rings on their own are stupidly expensive. If you sell the old ones, you might even make a profit on similar condition used standards as most people swap the other way.

Changing the cranks is a doddle. You need a long allen bit (forget the size - Campag sell them but you can no doubt get cheaper elsewhere) and a big wrench to split the halves of the axle and then a small screwdriver to lift a springclip out. And that's it. Much easier than faffy Shimano cranksets IMO.

A specific torque is given for reassembly. No idea how critical it is as I already have a big torque wrench (£15 from Aldi) so I just followed the instructions but you might be happy not to use one.

racingt

Ok that's good. Rings are around £80 or a Chorus UT chainset for £200. I'm thinking fit the compact for the hills, along with climbing wheels , most of the year ride the Road ratios.
Or should I just fit a triple, and forget the increased Q factor ?