Changing gearing to suit old codger
I recently bought a s/hand titanium Enigma Etape. I love it but the gearing is a bit tough for my elderly legs - 52/36 and 11-28.
it’s just about ok here in Suffolk but I do longer rides and some light touring so I could do with easing it up - especially as I barely use the top end ratios.
Any suggestions? I don’t want to spoil its lively, responsive feel.
Comments
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Start off with a compact 50/34 chainset. If that's not enough then you want a 11/12-34 cassette.
The cassette "may" require a new derailleur and the new derailleur "may" require new levers.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.1 -
A compact 50/34 chainset is only going to give you a small help. Think you’ll need a bigger cassette. you will probably need a 32 big cog at the back, and medium cage derailleur if you don’t have one already. shifters will probably be ok if you stick with same brand and speed, but shimano complicated things with the newer 10s components.
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11-34 cassette and if it's Shimano drivetrain, a GS rear mech.
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I you're not using the top ratios then fitting a smaller chainset makes more sense than having a wider spread of ratios on the cassette as then you will keep the smaller gaps between ratios. You also shouldn't have to change the rear derailleur either. The only issue is whether the front derailleur mount will allow it to be lowered far enough, if it can then see about fitting a 46/30, it will offer usefully lower gearing.
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48/30 is too big a jump to shift properly.
Which means it'll probably work just fine.
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You can get a GRX chainset which comes in 46/30 or 48/32 such as https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-grx-rx600-gravel-chainset-2x11-speed-218141.html.
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Yup, both have jumps of 16.
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I have a 48/31 GRX and it works a treat:
If I were the OP, I would go that route first, and then look to change the cassette (and maybe RD) if not sufficient.
Realistically, I think only changing one or the other will be a fairly big compromise, well unless he wants to go for some mega gappy dinner plate cassette, but then given the desire not to spoil it, that seems an unlikely route to take.
For me, a 48/31 paired with a 11-34 pretty much covers it all, touring or otherwise.
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That makes sense to me. Can I just change the chainset to, say, 46/30 or will it lead me down a wormhole of having to change a lot of other stuff in the drivetrain?
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No, in theory you can just change the chainset, and shorten the chain being the only other thing to modify. HOWEVER, as @davebradswmb noted above, you need to be sure you can reposition your front derailleur low enough on the seat tube to suit the new, significantly smaller chain ring combo.
If your frame has a braze-on mount tab for the FD, you might well have difficulty doing that; the slot on the tab may not extend far enough down to put the FD in the correct position. I vaguely recall seeing little adaptor things somewhere for exactly this problem, but never actually used one.
If you have a band-on type FD you might be in luck, as long as there are no other things in the way like bottle cage bolts, for example. The other thing that MIGHT be an issue if you have a band-on FD mount and you drop it lower is that the band clamp will rub on the rear tyre. Clearance is usually pretty tight around that area - depends a little on what actual frame size it is, but worth a look before splashing out the money on new parts to find they won't fit.
For reference, this page from Wolf Tooth Components gives a useful guide to chain ring outer diameters.
The change from a 52 to a 46 as suggested above by others means about an inch smaller diameter for the outer ring - that means your FD would have to drop about a half inch lower on the seat tube or tab mount than it currently sits to work.
Hope that helps...
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I don’t think I’ll have a problem moving the FD. Any other issues like chainline etc?
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You might need to take a pair of links out, depends on whether you change the rear derailleur. That aside, no. None of this is a big change, other than to riding enjoyment.
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I put a 46/36 CX chainset on my winter bike. FD is in theory a bit high (for reasons I can no longer remember) but it shifts just fine. Later on in my age related decline I paired it with an 11-36 MTB cassette and MTB rear mech for a 1:1 bottom gear. This is with old 9 speed Tiagra so the shifters play nicely with the RD.
Gets me up anything I encounter locally, which also happens to be Suffolk...
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My personal choice for a touring bike is to keep the nice close-ratio cassette and use a triple chainset: 48/38/26.
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