Does anyone have an opinion on upgrading to a compact crank versus just swapping the year cassette? I have a pretty standard 53/39 – 23/11 setup on my roadbike. I have talked to several riders and looked at the gear ratio charts, etc. On paper at least there doesn’t seem to be that much of a difference in running a standard 53/39 – 26/12 versus a compact 50/34 – 23/11. Some guys tell me to save my money and upgrade the cassette only while others say I will see a big difference in a compact crank.
What do you expert riders think? BBB? CAcyclingFAN? RV?
Thanks, T
I went with a compact crank FSA Carbon Pro Elite 50/34 and swapped out the rear cassette to a 23/11. It has worked out really good. I like the gear ratios - the 50 - 11 is bigger than the 53 - 12 that I had. Still would like to have a bigger gear there at times tho. It can be pretty hilly here so the small gears work great when wanting to keep a high cadence - spin right past the mashers going up the hills. There seems to be less gear ratio overlap between the SCR and the BCR.
Oh, also had to change out the BB - went with titanium there.
I didn't want to lose the range that I had with my top gear of 53-12 by going with a compact crank but I wanted better climbing gears for the occasional "wall" climbs so I just swapped my dual crank with a triple 53-42-30 and kept the cassette the same (12-23). I feel I have the power gears for flats and downhills but the granny for the harder climbs. It's a bit more weight but I like the triple setup.
TB, I would say stay with the existing crank and upgrade the cassette. Keep the old one and have 2-3 spare with a variation there on with the teeth. It's easier to swap cassettes than to be fiddling with the chain rings on the front. That's my view. If it's for hill climbing and you want a fast cadence just put a 27 on the back. It should improve the rpm. I dunno much about this area, sorry, never really looked into it so much dude. Good luck
BBB
I went the casette route too. I now have 4 casettes, everything from a 11-21 to a 12-27... Just need to pick your poison, I did get caught during a race with the wrong cassette, I now pay more attention to the course!
Smaller chainring - faster / easier cadence?
Great. Thanks everyone.
I think I will go with a cassette upgrade (for now anyway).
Can someone explain the mechanics though?
One bike shop guy told me that even though the gear ratios were roughly the same a compact crank was better because of a shorter revolution required to get the entire chainring around once (smaller diameter, 34 teeth vs 39 teeth).
Is this just BS to get me to buy a compact crank or is there something that I am missing (math was not my strong suit). An example would be using a regular crank at 39/26 then the gear ratio is 40.5, using a compact crank at 34/23 the gear ratio is 39.9.
To me they look way too close to make a difference…but does the fact that the front chainring has a smaller diameter (5 less teeth) make my cadence faster or is better or easier in anyway? Just curious.
- T
TBRAVO,
Check out this tread from a while back.
[url]http://www.trifuel.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2894[/url]
I posted a link to slowtwitch that has a GREAT article/opinion on compact cranksets.
I just swapped my standard crank for a compact and man do I love it. Tri bikes as a rule don't climb well and this pared with a 12-25 in the back gave me gears for climbing (and saving the quads) as well as a big gear that I can actually push for a longer period of time for the flats. I am planning to swap to an 11-21 for Gulf Coast next year as it is flat as a pancake. Just my opinion....
trithis04.
Thanks for the article, it was very informative.
I never thought about the gap factor before from one cassette ring to the next, but made a lot of sense. A compact let's you keep that continuity while a widely geared rear cassette will have you making big jumps from ring to ring
I am eventually going to go with a compact crank, just need to adjust the budget.
For right now I just bought another cassette 12-26, I figure I could use multiple cassettes anyway.
- t