Is 52/36 and 36-11 Possible on a road bike

BikeCrusher

I am a big guy and I am desperate to keep my descending gears but add a huge granny gear so I can get up the big hills without walking. SRAM have a road based 11-36 but they don't seem to promote it with a double, so I was wonder will this work?

Rear Mech (10/11 speed)
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-force-1-rear-derailleur

Cassette (11 speed)
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-pg-1170-11-36-cassette

Shifters (11 speed)
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-force-22-doubletap-mechanical-shifters

Front Mech (11 speed)
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-force-22-yaw-front-derailleur

Crankset (52-36)
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-force-22-crankset

Chain
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-pc-1170-chain

keezx

For decending you don't need gears, just bend yourself over the bars and look sharp....

Semantik

It would probably work but chain length could be an issue as the chain will have to be long enough to cope with the 52 front/36 rear combination but also be able to cope with 36 front/ 11 rear. Chain could end up being longer than ideal for the small/small ratios.
I would try a 50/34 up front and an 11-32 rear. Lowest gear only an inch or so more than with your suggested choice of components and closer spaced ratios at the rear to make the bike more rideable in most situations

jgsi

For you laddy, I do believe SRAM has addressed the need with its 1 x groupsets for various requirements.
effective, but hardly pretty.

t4tomo

You need a triple if you want that gear range. End of.

markhewitt1978

Which is the correct answer. Triple is the way to go. Unfortunately triple isn't available in most of the higher tiers of road groups these days. Thankfully it *is* still available with Tiagra on the new 4700 groupset.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-tiagra-4700-triple-10-speed-crankset/rp-prod137766 looks pretty nice with new style shifters and under tape cable routing.

Then you'd be able to have 30/30 as your lowest gear.

Rightarmbad

50 x 11 is still a bloody big gear.
I descend quicker than anybody else I ride with and the secret is to tuck and stop pedaling.
A quick sprint and tuck will beat anybody pedaling because of aero.

We were riding a slight downhill on the highway the other day and a quick glance at the GPS showed 66km/h and I still had a gear to go, how fast do you want to go?

50/34 x 11-32 will get you towing caravans uphill and if you are heavy, a smart tuck will get you to the bottom quicker than anybody else.