Solution to traditional overgearing?

Chris Hayes wrote:

After trying a 50/34 I reverted to 53/39 – 11/27.  My issue with compacts is that I have a tendency to ride – like many other riders I’ve seen – on the outer ring in a lowish gear on the cassette – to spin at a reasonable cadence.  This causes excessive component wear due to chain angles.  I suffered a bit over Devils’ Dyke at the weekend (but it’s early in the year, cold, no food on LDN-BRTN, etc.).  I spoke to my LBS about fitting a Wolf Tooth plus 30 cassette, but as I’d probably have to shorten the chain, etc. I’m not going to do it.  I may get a 28/12 though.  I can get bottom end speed with the 53.  I wouldn’t go back to a compact unless I was going somewhere very hilly – and I’m not sure that a 52/36 would make that much difference….but that said, Paolo Savoldelli rides one too these days.

With a 50/23 at 100rpm you would be doing 17mph

A 34/15 combination at 100rpm gives just under 18mph

A 34/18 at 100rpm gives just under 15mph, a 50/26-27 similarly gives about 15mph

So what speed and cadence are you trying to ride at that means you are constantly cross chaining on a compact chain set whilst on the 50 ring which you couldn’t get using the inner ring and a smaller sprocket?

PP

graybags wrote:

Get a single speed, I find that 40×15 gets me round Hertfordshire quite comfortably 🙂

 

Sounds like nonsense to me. Or you’re wasting your time.

BrokenBootneck wrote:

its horses for courses though. I weigh 88-90 kilos and can spend all day on Dartmoor on 50/34 and 11 – 28. I live in Hampshire and I find myself under geared around Hampshire most the time and may switch to a mid compact as I tend not to use my 34 unless it’s really steep.  Although the cheap option is drop 5 kilos and stick an 11-25 on. 

Still need to drop 5 kilos whatever!

You find yourself under geared with a biggest gear of 50/11? At 100rpm cadence that would be nearly 36mph. So you are going to switch to a 52/36? 

I reckon you you should learn to spin at a higher cadence, or alternatively turn pro if you can average 36mph around Hampshire!!! 😉

PP

Get a single speed, I find

Get a single speed, I find that 40×15 gets me round Hertfordshire quite comfortably 🙂

I have a 52/38 with an 11-28

I have a 52/38 with an 11-28 on my old ti racer, I find it more than adequate at the bottom end to get me over my local 7% short uphill drags and even shorter 14%, and I’m 100kg and too close to 50! Having said that I’d proably have preferred a 12 starting sprocket but mr.shimano isn’t interested in offering bigger starting sprockets in their latest groupsets.

Could/would it be easier to spin up the inclines in a lower gear, yup, but then I like to tackle same/similar routes differently on different bikes which can sometimes depend on mood and my general health which swings wildly due to chronic ailment.

I have a short 7% downhill to the supermarket in the town to the East and a longer smooth road 5% to the market town to the West, on the daily I spin out on 48/11 because I like to hammer them as hard as I can simply because that’s generally how I ride whether nipping the 800m to the post office or wherever, it does have a 26 inner and that’s enough with the 28 or even 30 when I eventually wear out the cassette.

My audax/tourer/winter racer I run a 50/39/24 with an 11-28, this pretty much covers all the bases though is a little undergeared on occasion, I have a 12-30 and an 12-36 if I want to do silly steep and loaded which tbh isn’t my thing together and the former I’d avoid like the plague.

My ‘fast’ bike is 52/36 or 52/33 and 11-28, this covers me for longer runs and for steeper stuff plus the lower gear helps out on the final hill on the way home. I don’t tend to do hills, it’s not something I get a kick out of and I’m simply not fit enough to get up and enjoy really long/steep stuff for the most part.

The last climbing I did of note was about 5 years ago in the alps whilst going to Chamonix on a non cycling matter, I just took a bike at last minute to fill in some time. I managed a 44 mile ride over 3 passes doing about 4600ft at about 11mph average on a 26/26 (& underinflated tyres) on my ‘shopping’ bike, a spesh globe pro.

I also still run a super compact on my old steel bike, usually 48/32 but can be a 50/28 or even 52/28, that’s the big advantage of an 86mm BCD crank. I still have Suntour sprockets that I can pick and choose so could run a 50/28 with a 13/15/18 and 23/27/34 6 speed if I so wanted or any combination between 13 and 34.

ATEOTD people choose differing ratios for their needs, some are lower some are higher, I personally don’t care what people choose, what I do care about is making it harder to choose what you can have sprocket wise and it not be silly expensive, that’s why I’ve stuck to 10 speed for 3 of the bikes and indeed am happy with a triple on the audax/winter racer and daily.

CXR94Di2 wrote:

CXR94Di2 wrote:

If you weigh between 60-80kg then if you’re reasonably fit should be able to get about on a compact 50/34 11-32 Cass. If you weigh more then easier gearing for hills will be needed. I have built a mountain touring bike using 40/28 XT crankset. I generally use an 11-32 for general riding and 11-40 for mountain climbing. I’ve changed the the outer chainring for a 44t. This will give a top speed of 32mph at 110rpm on slight declines anything more and I can let my weight accelerate me upto 50mph. MTB gearing will be fine for most riders, you really don’t need 53,50,48 for most riders, except for young racing type. It’s only convention to follow the professional riders with the same but average Jo really doesn’t

its horses for courses though. I weigh 88-90 kilos and can spend all day on Dartmoor on 50/34 and 11 – 28. I live in Hampshire and I find myself under geared around Hampshire most the time and may switch to a mid compact as I tend not to use my 34 unless it’s really steep.  Although the cheap option is drop 5 kilos and stick an 11-25 on. 

Still need to drop 5 kilos whatever!

Daveyraveygravey wrote:

I disagree with the OP, and agree with wellsprop.  I ride a 52-36 with an 11-32 which suits me down to the ground here in Sussex.  I can get up Bignor on this (25% in sections) although if I lived in the Lakes or the Alps I’d have a compact at the front.

Boatsie’s gearing is to me what the thread is aimed at; I used to have a 53/29 and a 12/25, and realised that when the hills got steep, all my mates would sit and spin away from me as I stood out the seat and forced those cranks round at about 50 rpm.  

Modern 11 speed Ultegra is brilliant for most UK needs.

I don’t necessarily disagree with the OP, I do however think it sounds like 52/36 or even 50/24 isn’t the right gearing for the OP.

This is where a 1x drivetrain starts to make A LOT of sense. If you don’t require gearing to take you beyond say 30mph, then a 44t chainring with an 11-42t cassette gives you a big range and a nice low gear.

If it at all concerns the OP, you’ll end up running into efficiency problems if you drop below a 34 chainring with a 32 cassette. Having a gear ratio greater than one means you’re gaining a mechanical advantage through the gears. When this ratio drops below 1 (i.e. a 30t chainring with 32t cassette = 0.94) you are losing mechanical advantage so the drivetrain losses become greater and greater. (The bigger the difference between the driving and the driven gear, the more efficient the system is).