Question regarding gearing

gary_sparrow

Looking for some advice on a purchase please

Looking for a second bike for cx and some road use
Interested in a caadx Apex 1 with a 40t chainring and 11-32 cassette

With current cross tyres on will the 40t chainring be too small on roads ? I usually average 29/ 30kmh on my road bike for most spins

Other option is I go for a double on another caadx bike or similar but I do like the simplicity of the one chainring
I realise I can always change the 40 to a 42 or 44 also

Any advice appreciated

trek_dan

40-11 should be good to around 25mph. Although my preference is always double for road.

RallyBiker

I run a 10-42 on a 44 front ring and it works champion on club rides. If yo're planning on mostly road work instead of CX I'd deffo recommend a 44 up front.

joey54321

Difficult to give advice on gearing as it depends on local terrain, groups, fitness, purpose of ride etc...

If you already have a bike you could try and work out a rough equivalent set of gears and give it a go, see if you find yourself wanting to shift up or down outside that range?

gary_sparrow

RallyBiker wrote:

I run a 10-42 on a 44 front ring and it works champion on club rides. If yo're planning on mostly road work instead of CX I'd deffo recommend a 44 up front.

Thanks , it would be 50/50

Sounds like a 40 is too small so I think this boardman link below will suit better or even a Cannondale Slate Apex

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/pro ... -team.html

imposter2.0

Gary sparrow wrote:

RallyBiker wrote:

I run a 10-42 on a 44 front ring and it works champion on club rides. If yo're planning on mostly road work instead of CX I'd deffo recommend a 44 up front.

Thanks , it would be 50/50

Sounds like a 40 is too small so I think this boardman link below will suit better or even a Cannondale Slate Apex

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/pro ... -team.html

Seems silly to dismiss a bike simply because the chainring is not the right size. Makes more sense to buy the bike you want and then change the gearing.

gary_sparrow

Yea I might still , ideally I’d use it only for cx , but realistically I know I’ll use it on the road . Just trying to gauge what the gearing would be like . Plenty of options either way . Not overly familiar with a single chainring .

RallyBiker

Gary sparrow wrote:

Yea I might still , ideally I’d use it only for cx , but realistically I know I’ll use it on the road . Just trying to gauge what the gearing would be like . Plenty of options either way . Not overly familiar with a single chainring .

As I say, I'm running a 44 at present, but plan on bike packing the Caledonian Way next year and looking at going down to a 40 tooth. Think it's only £90 odd , so I'll have all bases covered, 44 for road and general off road use and the 40 for the Adventure X and other gravel grinder events. Hope this helps.

carrock

cheap fix and a ten minute job to change. I just bought a Crux elite with CX1 force

Previous owner had a 44t front ring

Bought a 40T ring for £60 ( need SRAM part as one bolt attaching the ring to the spider is hidden by the crank arm and is a different fitting )

Just undo the bolts holding the chainring to the spider, and swap over. No need to remove the crank arm, spider or pedal. 10 minute job.