Compact gearing not for everyone??

[TheCoz]

So, for the past 10 years I have been riding road bikes seriously for
fitness and racing. I used a Shimano 39/53 chainset with 11-23
cassette with no real problems. Yeah, the hills were a bit hard but I
managed rather well and not suffering much. I recently moved to a more
hilly area of the state with longer climbs and decided to switch over
to a compact drivetrain. It is a Shimano 50/34 chainset with 12-27
cassette. The climbs are a little easier but I find myself pedaling my
a$$ off most of the time! Is this some gearing I need to get used to
or am I just not a "compact" kind of guy?
Cheers,
Coz

[Dan O]

If you can turn over a 53-11, then I s'pose you ought to have one.

[Lou Holtman]

Op zaterdag 2 juni 2012 21:29:45 UTC+2 schreef TheCoz het volgende:

Wow, with 50-12 you find yourself pedaling your a$$ off?
Impressive ;-)

Lou

[DirtRoadie]

Define "pedaling my a$$ off."
I know around here 50x12 is generally inadequate on the descents.
I use a 53/34 x 11-23. Works for me. YMMV.

DR

[russell...@yahoo.com]

You can put different chainrings on your compact crankset. Companies make 53 and 39 rings for compact crank bolt circle diameters. I wish my latest crank purchase was a compact. I could happily run 50/39 rings with a 12-23 cassette for 99% of my riding. Then switch to a 33 inner ring and a big cog on the cassette when I wanted to climb.

[Jay Beattie]

On Jun 2, 3:48 pm, "russellseat...@yahoo.com"

<russellseat...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> You can put different chainrings on your compact crankset.  Companies make 53 and 39 rings for compact crank bolt circle diameters.  I wish my latest crank purchase was a compact.  I could happily run 50/39 rings with a 12-23 cassette for 99% of my riding.  Then switch to a 33 inner ring and a big cog on the cassette when I wanted to climb.

I've never owned compact, but it always seemed to me that with an 11t
cog -- and ten speed cassettes -- you could get any gear you needed
with a compact. You save a little weight and wore down little rings
and cassettes faster, but other than that, it was six of one, half
dozen of the other. Is that not the case?

-- Jay Beattie.

[TheCoz]

pedaling my a$$ off = spinning a lot.
Cheers,
Coz

[Ronko]

In article <e7b20b03-31cf-46d4-8749-
cef9a5...@e18g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
cycl...@hotmail.com says...

Go to an 11-26 or 11-28 in back. 50-12 is a bit low.

[DirtRoadie]

On Jun 2, 9:44 pm, Ronko <ronkreu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article <e7b20b03-31cf-46d4-8749-
> cef9a53fd...@e18g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
> cycled...@hotmail.com says...

>
> >So, for the past 10 years I have been riding road bikes seriously for
> >fitness and racing. I used a Shimano 39/53 chainset with 11-23
> >cassette with no real problems. Yeah, the hills were a bit hard but I
> >managed rather well and not suffering much. I recently moved to a
> more
> >hilly area of the state with longer climbs and decided to switch over
> >to a compact drivetrain. It is a Shimano 50/34 chainset with 12-27
> >cassette. The climbs are a little easier but I find myself pedaling my
> >a$$ off most of the time! Is this some gearing I need to get used to
> >or am I just not a "compact" kind of guy?
> >Cheers,
> >Coz
>
> Go to an 11-26 or 11-28 in back. 50-12 is a bit low.

Or, with the 50/34, maybe even 11-23. A 34/23 is equivalent to a
39/27. Only you know what is appropriate at the low end. And you've
already intimated that the high end is insufficient in your eyes.
So .....

DR

[Dan O]

On Jun 2, 8:44 pm, Ronko <ronkreu...@gmail.com> wrote:
> In article <e7b20b03-31cf-46d4-8749-
> cef9a53fd...@e18g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,

> cycled...@hotmail.com says...

>
> >So, for the past 10 years I have been riding road bikes seriously for
> >fitness and racing. I used a Shimano 39/53 chainset with 11-23
> >cassette with no real problems. Yeah, the hills were a bit hard but I
> >managed rather well and not suffering much. I recently moved to a
> more
> >hilly area of the state with longer climbs and decided to switch over
> >to a compact drivetrain. It is a Shimano 50/34 chainset with 12-27
> >cassette. The climbs are a little easier but I find myself pedaling my
> >a$$ off most of the time! Is this some gearing I need to get used to
> >or am I just not a "compact" kind of guy?
> >Cheers,
> >Coz
>
> Go to an 11-26 or 11-28 in back. 50-12 is a bit low.

I run 11-28 cassette and 48-36 rings (effectively, since I never use
the smallest of the triple rings), but this is not a road racing bike,
and is usually somewhat loaded down. It's surprising how often and
how long I can sometimes keep turning the 48-11 even without much
grade or tailwind. My usual gear on the ~flat is the 48-12 - 48-13 if
I'm feeling worthless and weak.

The lowest climbing gear I ever use is the 36-... um... 24 (?) - I
never ride on the 28 - kind of like that extra mojo bar in my bag that
I try to leave alone and never eat - bailout reserve (besides which I
have removed the plastic plie plate from behind the large cog), and
that hill is almost a cliff.

Somehow my knees do not complain (and they've had a rough life
otherwise).

[Marcus Coles]

Try using the whole cassette on the 50 and dropping to the 34 only when
the going gets tough. Make sure you have enough chain for big-big on
chainring and cassette.

The late Sheldon Brown's gear calculator can help figure out what is
happening, how best to handle the gear transition from one chainring to
the other or at least figure out what other gear combo might work for
you. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/


Some folks here are going to whine about cross chaining etc., but IME it
works well with modern flexible chains and compact set-ups and nothing
should start making nasty noises. The chain may die a little sooner or not.


Marcus

[James]

On 03/06/12 06:16, Dan O wrote:
>
> If you can turn over a 53-11, then I s'pose you ought to have one.
>

Thanks. Glad you didn't mention going down hill, with a big tail wind,
or behind a truck ;-)

--
JS.

[dusto...@mac.com]

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pdf/compact_gear_in_chart.pdf

Pretty good graphic for comparisons there.

I switched from 42/53 to 39/53 about the time the Compact was becoming
established (always at the vanguard!).
That's a lot of years of using the 39t inner ring, and that largely to
good effect for the terrain I encounter when riding where I live.
However, I've never really gotten used to the 39 and still
occasionally "cross over" to the the smallest cog when looking for
that last missing ratio or two before the big-meat upshift on the
front.

Building up a triple with a 42 middle ring was like going home--
"where have you been, flat-road gears?". And that's with the small
difference between 42 and 39t rings; 39 to 34 is "even more" <g>.
I don't guess I'm a candidate for Compact, but lots of people are
using the heck out of it. More power to them, and happy pedaling. The
"42 middle" triple works for me precisely because it has gears I'm
(long) used to using, "so that's what I provided myself". Whew, sounds
like one of the Great Secrets of Life or something there...

Using gear charts and "cassette charts" to plot out gearing might be
very useful when selecting chainrings and cogs, and might perhaps also
assist in "figuring out a plan" when it comes to using a particular
set of gears on the road.
I quickly forget any such schemes when riding, and fish around
occasionally for the gear I want-- but again, that's the way I've
always done it... to some, a memorized gear chart and double-shifting
is apparently a great pleasure in cycling.
To each their own...
--D-y