Cross-chaining the 11 speed Ultegra R8000 drivetrain?

[Patrick Moore]

I’ve finally got back on the bike after about a month’s layoff over the last 6 weeks thanks to 3 bouts of this season’s particularly nasty flu, doing a couple of 10-12 mile rides yesterday and today. I meant to take things very easy, so I rode my  2 derailleur bikes, a dirt road ride on the Matthews yesterday and an errand detour on the Roadeo just now.*

I was annoyed by the19-21 t jump on the Roadeo's 14-32 11 sp cassette — 72 to 65, just a few  gear inches too much, enough to make me bog in the 72 or flail in the 65. So before today’s ride I removed the 25 from the 14-32 and inserted an Ali Express 11-speed 20. Now it’s 76-72-68-65. Much better; the bigger jumps in the 2 or 3 bottom gears are far less troublesome.

Others have said that with modern flexible chains there is no danger in using the 50x32 — even tho’ the chain seems to be angled at 45*. There’s no rattling, and I can spin the crank backward and the chain does not derail. The Roadeo has 44-45 cm stays.

Is using the 50 in all 11 cogs adviseable, given modern flexible chains and the long stays?

[* The reason that riding a many-cog derailleur drivetrain is so much easier than a fixed or 3 speed drivetrain is not merely the lower hill gears; even more, IME, it’s very close ratios in the cruising range that let you choose just the right gear when you turn into a headwind or start up an incline — you’re not, or at least, I’m not having to push harder than is most efficient use of energy in a higher gear, because the next lower option is too low for comfort.]

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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When thou didst not, savage, know thine own meaning,

But wouldst gabble like a thing most brutish,

I endowed thy purposes with words that made them known.

[Patrick Moore]

Another question: when I installed the new 20 t cog (proper 11 speed “middle” cog, tho’ from Ali Express), that pushed the 27 from #9 to #10 place. When I adjust the RD to tack smoothly on the 20 to cog, the drivetrain works smoothly on all 10 other cogs, including the 32, but it rattles dreadfully in the displaced 27. I’ve futzed with the cable adjustment barrel and things remain, choose the 20 or the 27. Again, with the chain tracking on the 20, it tracks fine on all the other 9 cogs from 14 to 32, except that penultimate 27.

Is there any way to get the chain to play nice with all cogs?