Replacement 11 speed chainrings

royalmile

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere.

I'm thinking about changing the chainrings on my 11 speed 5800 Shimano equipped road bike.
The cranks are FSA Gossamer (5 arm, 110 BCD compact), the existing chainrings are stamped 10/11 speed.

There are loads of low-cost aftermarket chainrings available from Stronglight and I quite like the polished finish but they are marketed as 9/10 speed. I spoke to a couple of retailers and both said they 'should' work with 11 speed but unable to confirm compatibility.

So my question is will the 9/10 speed Stronglight chainrings work with my FSA cranks, 11 speed chain and 5800 front derailleur?

LimitedGarry

The general answer is yes. But...

The non-general answer is not yes straight away, as you can talk about a whole lot of things, but in the end, you just install the rings and it works. I personally run two bikes with 9 speed setups using 11 speed chainrings. No problem at all. Shifting performance normal.

So generally, situations in which a chainring/chain mismatch didn't work are unheard of, unless it was running a 9 speed chain on 11 speed cranks which have chainrings closer together - then you need to move the chainrings apart using spacers in order to stop the chain from rubbing.

royalmile

LimitedGarry wrote:

The general answer is yes. But...

The non-general answer is not yes straight away, as you can talk about a whole lot of things, but in the end, you just install the rings and it works. I personally run two bikes with 9 speed setups using 11 speed chainrings. No problem at all. Shifting performance normal.

So generally, situations in which a chainring/chain mismatch didn't work are unheard of, unless it was running a 9 speed chain on 11 speed cranks which have chainrings closer together - then you need to move the chainrings apart using spacers in order to stop the chain from rubbing.

Many thanks for the information, much appreciated, hopefully any difference will be in the cranks and not the chainrings. I think I'll just buy the new chainrings and see how it goes.

tackleberry

I have to disagree with the idea that you can use a 9 speed chainring on an 11 speed setup. I thought I could get away with that when I upgraded from 10 105 -11 speed 105. My FSA 10 Speed ring outer was not happy. Fine on the stand but on the road - heavy clicking under load, irrespective of the gear.

I suppose the principle at work here is "....if it's stupid but it works, it ain't stupid!" and yet I think there is a risk here. Stronglight are cheaper and good value for money - not convinced anything other than an 11 spd ring would work properly under all circumstances.

T

royalmile

tackleberry wrote:

I have to disagree with the idea that you can use a 9 speed chainring on an 11 speed setup. I thought I could get away with that when I upgraded from 10 105 -11 speed 105. My FSA 10 Speed ring outer was not happy. Fine on the stand but on the road - heavy clicking under load, irrespective of the gear.



T

Thanks, it is always useful to hear accounts based on actual experience. I did a bit more research and found some nice 10/11 speed specific chainrings from Specialites-TA - the Syrius 11. They are very expensive but their website matched the speed, crankset model, year, BCD and tooth count to this chainring. Standard off-the-shelf colour is black which I guess most people would go for, but the site does state other colours (silver, red and gold) are available to order. I pre-ordered some in silver.

buckmulligan

For what it's worth, I use Shimano 105 5750 rings (notionally 10-speed) on my Shimano 105 5800 11-speed setup with no problems at all.

They're available for £40-50 a pair in both black or silver; a reliable and budget-friendly option in my opinion.