cassette or chainring?

[ampeg]

I have an ultegra 600 8 speed. I would like easier gears due to hills beating me up as I've gotten older. Is it better to change cassette or change inside chainring? I now have 12x25 and 53x39 set up. thank you

[dave thompson]

I have an ultegra 600 8 speed. I would like easier gears due to hills beating me up as I've gotten older. Is it better to change cassette or change inside chainring? I now have 12x25 and 53x39 set up. thank you
I believe the smallest chainring that will fit on your crank is a 38T. If I'm correct then changing the cassette is the answer.

[bicycletricycle]

the smallest ring that you can put on your crank is a 38 tooth. That one tooth of difference wont really add up to too much in the long run. You do have some better options in the cassette area. Shimano made an 11-28 and 12-32 8 speed cassettes for their mountain bike selections that would both work okay on your current setup. You may have a problem with the rear derailleur clearing the big cog on the 12-32 cassette, in which case you may need to get either a triple or mountain derailleur. SRAM also makes a nice 8 speed cassette (the pg-850) they are available in 11-32, 11-30, 11-28, 12-26, 12-23, they would work fine on your setup as well but the same warning warning about the derailleur applies for all ratios ending in a gear larger than 28. I know from experience that the a 28 tooth will work fine with all of your current parts. If your derailleur is having minor problems clearing the new cassette you may be able to solve them by tightening the b tension screw which is found on the top of the derailleur close to its attachment to the frame facing away from the front of the bike. It can be tightened with a phillips or flat head screwdriver and rotates the whole derailleur assembly back some.
Hope that helps

[PaulE]

With a standard crank bolt circle diameter, the smallest inner ring you're going to get on there is a 38 tooth ring. Without going to a compact crank, your rear derailleur should be able to handle at least a 27 or 28 tooth large rear cog, which will give you a little more bang for your buck. If you need to swap your rear derailleur to use a bigger cog than 27 or 28, it may be as cheap, and easier, to get an inexpensive compact crank that will fit on your existing square taper bottom bracket, and keep your current rear derailleur and rear cogset.

[dogdriver]

Another option is a compact crank-- the Shimano r600 crankset is 50-34 and has the rep of being the best crankset to use for a retro installation on a standard drive train. Install, shorten your chain one link, lower and adjust the front derr, and wah laa!! you have a 34-27 climbing gear.

Can be had pretty cheap-- $80-100 used, and the show on chainlove.com for cheap, also.

[palincss]

Harris Cycles also has custom 8 speed cassettes:

Harris Cyclery Exclusive
Custom 8-speed Touring Cassettes by Sheldon Brown:
CS835 $54.95 13 15 17 19 21 23 26 30
CS836 $54.95 13 15 17 19 21 23 26 32
CS837 $54.95 13 15 17 19 21 23 26 34

You'd need to replace the rear derailleur for the 32 and 34T sprockets, but any road derailleur ought to be able to handle the 13-30. Switching to the 13-30 would cost you one high gear (you'd still have a 107") but at the low end you'd have a 34" instead of the 41" you have now. Going to the 13-34 would bring that low gear down to a 30", which is as low as most folks have on "road triples".

I suggest the next time you need to replace the chain and cassette get one of the 13-30s and see how you like it. It's not that expensive.

[RPS]

I have an ultegra 600 8 speed. I would like easier gears due to hills beating me up as I've gotten older. What type of shifters are you using? May make a difference on available options.

[ampeg]

Shifters are 600 also. I just want to say, I really appreciate the helpfull information. It would have taken me weeks to gather the information you good people have given here. thanks again..

[PaulE]

Another option is a compact crank-- the Shimano r600 crankset is 50-34 and has the rep of being the best crankset to use for a retro installation on a standard drive train. Install, shorten your chain one link, lower and adjust the front derr, and wah laa!! you have a 34-27 climbing gear.

Can be had pretty cheap-- $80-100 used, and the show on chainlove.com for cheap, also.

than the r600 is the FC-4550-S. FC-4550-S (http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/road/tiagra/product.-code-FC-4550-S.-type-fc_road.html)

This is a Tiagra level piece but it is nice and it is 9 speed, closer to your 8 speed in chainwheel spacing. The crank arms only say Shimano, not Tiagra. I used one with my Ultegra 9 speed setup. It looked fine and worked well. But you'll also need a new outboard bottom bracket for either of these cranks.

[Tobias]

Shifters are 600 also.
If you are using down tube or bar-end shifters it may possible to switch to a triple which would give you much lower gearing for climbing without going to wide ratio compact or cassette. Other than a possible triple conversion shifters shouldn't matter much IMO. And a triple conversion would require a new bottom bracket, front derailleur, rear derailleur and chain. By the time you buy all that you might as well upgrade the entire drivetrain.

Back to lower-cost options, Shimano made an 11-28 and 11-30 in 8-speed for MTB use which should work. They can still be bought new at a very low price by doing a Google search. Either will likely need a new longer chain, and may exceed the capacity of your rear derailleur. Also the 11T small cog may be next to useless if your 53/12 is adequate.

If it were me I'd look for an older compact crank with 110 or smaller chainring bolt circle. I'd go with something around 48-34 chainrings and install an 11-28 cassette.

[40x14]

Another option is a compact crank.....Will that work if he has a braze on derailleur hanger? That seems like an important thing to know.

[vqdriver]

Will that work if he has a braze on derailleur hanger? That seems like an important thing to know.

i've done it in the past with the same 600 stuff. only had to lower it a smidge. if he's got any room on the hanger, it should be fine.

i'll chime in and say that the compact setup is the way to go. crazy thing is that the shimano compacts listed above don't cost much more than a new cassette+chain and you'll lose that steel rod of a spindle in there now.

[ampeg]

Thank you 40x14 I checked and there is a little available adjustment on the braze on fd hanger, I hadn't thought of that. There was a compact 600r on ebay today for $140.00( buy now,) but I passed.....

[palincss]

If you are using down tube or bar-end shifters it may possible to switch to a triple which would give you much lower gearing for climbing without going to wide ratio compact or cassette. Other than a possible triple conversion shifters shouldn't matter much IMO. And a triple conversion would require a new bottom bracket, front derailleur, rear derailleur and chain. By the time you buy all that you might as well upgrade the entire drivetrain.

Back to lower-cost options, Shimano made an 11-28 and 11-30 in 8-speed for MTB use which should work. They can still be bought new at a very low price by doing a Google search. Either will likely need a new longer chain, and may exceed the capacity of your rear derailleur. Also the 11T small cog may be next to useless if your 53/12 is adequate.


Which is why the Harris custom 8s are worth considering. A 13-30 wouldn't even require a new rear derailleur. The only trade-off would be the substitution of a 13 for an 11 or 12 tooth small sprocket and the consequent loss of a relatively useless high gear. For fifty bucks it's certainly worth trying, in my opinion.

[vqdriver]

Thank you 40x14 I checked and there is a little available adjustment on the braze on fd hanger, I hadn't thought of that. There was a compact 600r on ebay today for $140.00( buy now,) but I passed.....

you can get em for less
just stalk the net

fwiw, on my trailer bike I simply took the small ring off a spare mtb triple and ended up with a 9sp double 44/32 which worked quite well with the otherwise 8sp setup. As a bonus the big ring is also much more usable. 9sp mtb cranksets are abundant and on sale ALL the time for crazy cheap.

[dave thompson]

Thank you 40x14 I checked and there is a little available adjustment on the braze on fd hanger, I hadn't thought of that. There was a compact 600r on ebay today for $140.00( buy now,) but I passed.....
Here's something you may be of interest to you from JensonUSA: a Shimano R700 compact crankset including the necessary bottom bracket, under $100! http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/CR407B13-Shimano+R700+Compact+Crankset+W+Bb.aspx

[vqdriver]

For reasons that have covered in previous threads stick with the 9sp cranks for an 8sp bike. The r700 has some clearance issues with the wider chains.

[weisan]

ampeg-pal,

I recently changed my gearing setup and it completely transformed my climbing. I wish I had done it sooner, as is no longer driven by ego or other things but a simple acknowledgement of the aging process and other medical conditions.

The only advice I would give is don't go half-way, I tried that and it wasn't enough....I finally settled with the following changes:

Compact FSA Gossomer 52/34 - I managed to find a generic cheap 52 teeth big ring (110BCD) that I used to swap out the 50t, to retain my top end speed.

Cassette: XT 11-34

XT Long cage MTB deraileur

Everything else on the bike stays the same
Before: 53/39, 12-25, Ultegra RD

Most of the parts can be bought used either here on the forum or on eBay.

Trust me, you wuold be very happy if you go this route....the sooner the better, the money meted out is a small investment compared to the huge improvement.

Obviously, this is just one person's opinion. But I can honestly tell you it's a revelation for me after the change. I used to live for the hills, love to climb, and then age and medical problems intervened, from then on climbing sucks....and now climbing rules again!

I know there may be other factors involved in this discussion, but you ask a direct question, and I give you an honest answer, try it and you will know what I mean.

sooner...better

[Tobias]

Compact FSA Gossomer 52/34 - I managed to find a generic cheap 52 teeth big ring (110BCD) that I used to swap out the 50t, to retain my top end speed.

Cassette: XT 11-34

XT Long cage MTB deraileur

Everything else on the bike stays the same
Before: 53/39, 12-25, Ultegra RD

52T to retain top end? :confused:

Isn't a 50/11 as tall as your previous 53/12?

A larger ring would only be beneficial for him (when using an 11T small cog) if needed because front derailleur can't be lowered enough. That was a good point mentioned previously. Short of using a different front derailleur with different height requirement he will have to stay close to existing big ring.

Going to an MTB cassette with a new rear derailleur is a good option to keep cost down. However, I don't know if a 12-34 is available in 8-speed.