Compac , your experiances

[Smiley]

Just about ready to pull the trigger on a up-grade to the Hors, should I compac a 50/36 Rival grouppo, I like to push a harder gear, I am not a spinner. Your experiances please :banana:

[Birddog]

Smiley, you tryin' to stir the puddin'? This has been beat to death. I tried it and didn't particulaly like it. It's OK in the hills and better in the mountains, actually pretty good there. A 50/36 is better'n a 50/34. A 48/34 would prolly be OK too. The 16 tooth drop is problematic. I will do it again. but it will be on a multi purpose bike. On flatish terrain, too much flipping back and forth tween chainrings for me, but that's just my .02.

Birddog

[Too Tall]

...and he spells worser than me ;)

Can't hurt. Worst case scenario....you wind up with a gearset that will take a huge range of rings and you set the thing up with what makes you happy. Been there done that :rolleyes: Looks g d awful to have a 110 crank with rings larger than 50 but hey, it's a party :)

[Ray]

I don't have any need for a big ring bigger than 50 and I like a 34 small. But you've seen me ride. I'm a spinner and have never met a low gear that I wasn't happy to have along for the ride. Might or might not make sense for anyone else.

-Ray

[Dan Le foot]

Hi Smiley.
I'm not sure you would find it beneficial if you don't do a lot of climbing.
I run a Shamano 50/34 with a 12/27 cassette on my steel Indy Fab Crown Jewel and like it a lot. It is really hilly here in North County San Diego. (Inland) Almost no flat stuff here so the low gears get a lot of use.
On the high end the 50/12 is a bit higher than the 53/13 that I run on my Legend/Campy triple. And on the low end the 34/27 is fine for me on most climbs. (But I like having the triple's 30/29 on certain 15 mile 8%-10% climbs).
If it is not hilly where you live I would go with the standard double. If you are currently running a triple I think you would like the compact double but you should consider a 34 on the small ring.
The compact makes for a much simpler and crisper shifting in my experiece vs the triple.
Good luck with the new ride.
Dan

[Serotta PETE]

Folks either like the compac or hate it....Question should be "why do you want to change from the crank you have"? What advantage are you looking for? Once you know then maybe or maybe not it is right for you. Many do not like the spead between the front rings - with the same wide rear cluster. Others like it for they almost get the advantage of a triple without a triple crank.

For your area of the country, I would like to have it. For Raleigh it is overkill.

I have a 172.5 TA in box still (just like the Dr. has). It has been that way for over two years and I have not put it on the bike. Everytime I ask SPOKES to put it on he says "NO". :argue:

[Smiley]

More then likely I will stick with a 53 / 39 set up. I have not found a hill I could not climb in that set up , maybe not so easy but still no killer issues.

[Jeremy]

Hi Smiley,

What cassette do you use now with the 39/53? If you are happy with that gear range then there is no need to change. Sram offers a wider range cassette starting at an 11T than Shimano. If you use a 53/39 now mated to a 12-27 cassette, you may want to consider the compact 50/36 mated to an 11-26 cassette. This will increase your high gear from 119.25" to 122.85" and reduce your low gear from 39.0" to 37.4", while maintaining a 14T jump up front. This gearing would not cramp your "mashing" style.

Jeremy

[Climb01742]

where you live, smiley, is better suited for a 39, i think.

[dbrk]

I'm with Climb on this though I'd recommend a 38 instead of a 39. I'm also an advocate of spinning over any high gear grinding. I live where you'd have to seek out the flats (and I make a point of looking for more hills and dirt roads where, btw, I think low gears are also an advantage 'cause you spin like crazy and never get in that oops too high and spill right over...).

Gearing choices have to be made front and rear. If I lived where you are Smilely, I'd ride a 50/38. Unless you are racing that big ring is under used (or should be...how's that for advocacy?).

YMMV and people like what they are used to, this being the cardinal rule of all cycling, imhoyoatmoclko,

dbrk

[OldDog]

I like low gears because a) I need them on occasion and b) it's nice to have a low to match someone else slower than me in the hills so as I can ride with them and chat, i.e., match their cadance and ride with them.

[Dekonick]

Hi Smiley,

What cassette do you use now with the 39/53? If you are happy with that gear range then there is no need to change. Sram offers a wider range cassette starting at an 11T than Shimano. If you use a 53/39 now mated to a 12-27 cassette, you may want to consider the compact 50/36 mated to an 11-26 cassette. This will increase your high gear from 119.25" to 122.85" and reduce your low gear from 39.0" to 37.4", while maintaining a 14T jump up front. This gearing would not cramp your "mashing" style.

Jeremy

Campy has a nice 13-29 that works well with 39/53.

[Tailwinds]

Campy has a nice 13-29 that works well with 39/53.

That's what I use here in CO, and it's just right for me. I tried a compact crankset, and I felt like I had to shift the front derailleur too much when riding flat-to-rolling routes. It was ok for long climbing days... but not for riding around Denver.

[jthurow]

First, I spin more than grind... That said, I run a 110 double on my Ram and I'm going to set the CSi I'm getting from Dave up as with one as well. The Ram is my commuter and I run 48/36. This puts me pretty much in the middle of the cassette when I'm cruising but offers the low gears I need to make it up the hills in and around StL. I took it to a flat metric century in Springfield IL and don't think I shifted out of the big ring the entire time. With the CSi, I'm going with a 50/36 and 13-25 in the back. This will mimic the gear range I have on my Lemond but will move the chain down the cassette one sprocket to give me a better chain line in the gears I seem to run in the most. FYI, I find a gear calculator (like Sheldon Brown's (http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/)) to be incredibly helpful for this type of question b/c you can compare what different chain ring/sprocket combinations will give you what gear inches and see where the ones you use the most will fall.

jimi

[Matt Barkley]

Smiley - If you do go compact ('make you a custom 11x27 10 speed to handle anything) - get the Campy instead of truvativ/rival/sp-ram - the Campy is sublime in all forms, (Centaur alu is probably the best value - and looks really nice in alloy) - Your old pal - :beer: - Matt

[mosca]

I've been running a 50-39 front combo for a while now - I tend to mash in the big ring most of the time, and the 50t gives me a better chain line and lets me stay on the big ring a little longer. I also like the smaller jump between the rings - double shifts are not usually necessary with this setup. I considered going to an 11t cog, but the 50-12 combo has been enough so far. Also tried a 38t inner ring for a while, but honestly could not tell a difference from the 39t.

I might try a 50-36 compact at some point - there are times when I wouldn't mind a lower gear.

[davids]

http://www.cedmagic.com/history/compaq-portable.jpg