Can I just change the chainrings on my standard double chainset to make it a compact?
No, and its called road cycling.
No you can't, be a man and stick with the double.
No you can't, be a man and stick with the double.
on that note i dare you to say that to vinokourov (sp)
why dont you try one of those electic motors if your finding it a bit hard 😉
No you'll need a new compact chainset because of the BCD
BCD?
Bolt Circle Diameter.
The holes are too far apart to be able to fit smaller rings.
MTFU, at least until you stop calling it 'darkside'.
bolt cicle diameter - basically the bits your rings bolt too are too far apart to get compact rings in there ..
what chainset you got , i know someone with a nearly (as in it arrived friday) new compact chainset on his new bike wanting a 42/53 or 39/52 in new shimano money
All the hills are on the map.....just avoid.
Sorry I though darkside was the STW official term, shame on me!
Life in yorkshire near the dales so avoiding hills is tricky. Looks like I'll just have to man up and hopefully one day I'll be as fit you lot!!
Trail-rat - I have a 2 year old campagnolo Centuar chainset.
dont think he will be interested - he has one of them carbon FSA jobs off his new fucus
It makes more of a difference changing the cassette rather than the chainrings. Fit a 12-25 or 12-27.
With the possible exception of Hardknott Pass, if you can't climb a UK road hill in 39-27 you need to do more training. 😉
Dinky narrow bars, short stems and pants hood positioning all hamper climbing, as does inapropriate pedals/shoes and low tyre pressures.
Cassette up and you could fit a 38t but they're not cheap.
With the possible exception of Hardknott Pass, if you can't climb a UK road hill in 39-27 you need to do more training.
james - i did back to back deeside loop 200k the other week and my second coming of the cairn o mount necessitated the use of my 30 granny ! - i think the length of the ride does come into it at some point 😉
on that note i dare you to say that to vinokourov
he's hardly the hard man of the peleton is he!
[i]i think the length of the ride does come into it at some point [/i]
I'd give it due consideration after 400km yes. I might not take the piss quite so much, merely a minor slagging.
😉
on that note i dare you to say that to vinokourov
he's hardly the hard man of the peleton is he!
willing to bet a shiny penny you couldnt catch him to tell him that 😉
funkin hell warton. he's not exaclty a loofta is he? who is your hardman of the peleton then?
All the main riders rode a compact drive on the main hilly stage of the Giro this year.
did you see the hill though? i think that was necessity rather than them wimping out...
Gotta love gear ratio machismo. 😆
quite. if you cant get up hills, training bla bla bla. its not 1980. even the pro tour now accepts that spin to win is better than ripping your knees out to climb a hill at 1mph through sheer bloody mindedness.
30% 😀
rode with a chap 2 weeks ago - 65 doing a 200k audax.
40 years ago he rode in an international stage race on whats essentially the snowroads . talked of the whole field pushing upthe cairn o mount and lecht ...then dropped that they were on fixed 😀
[i]Gotta love gear ratio machismo. [/i]
It's ironic really because on the track it's the other way round - no-one boasts about their 100" gear, in fact most people deliberately gear DOWN. On Manchester velodrome for normal sessions, 84 - 88" is the common range, occasionally someone will go up to 90" but that's about it outside of specific sprinting classes.
Compact! luxury.
When I were a lad it was 42/52 and a straight through 5 on the back. And we lived in a box in't middle of road.
I must admit, my winter bike has a compact, and my nice bike a standard double. Were I speccing a new bike I'd probably go compact. It's much like on the MTB, you can keep it in the big ring for longer, and get more usable gears. A 50/11 is an adequate top gear for most I'd say!
I used to ride with some track guys about 10 years ago, they all rode small gears. Some of them have gold medals in their sock drawers.
FWIW..
39:25 = 42.1"
---> 34:23 = 39.9"
39:27 = 39.0"
39:29 = 36.3"
So if you point at my compact 😆 you'd better be running a 25 or less.
*POINTS AT COMPACT*
*POINTS AT COMPACT*
LOL!
11-23 with a 53/39 on the race wheels, 12-25 on the training wheel!
53/39 with a 12-23 here. But there are no real hills around these parts.
Yeah,
You can swap within reason.I swapped from 53/39 to 50/38 using same chainset.Obviously if you want much lower gears you will need to swap to a specific compact chainset to get to a 36 ring.I had a few knee problems and the 50 helps them out! Mind and rest of the body can push a 53 but the knees grumble and groan!
Thanx Max
I thought of replacing my worn 12-23 (9sp!!) cassette with a 12-25 but then I was soundly beaten by traditional roadies in a ritual debagging ceremony and I just ordered another 12-23. With my 39/53 chainset of course. But I only live in the Peak Pistrict so it's OK, there's not too many hills... 😉
I have a compact and would always do so, as I see no danger of me ever topping out 50-11, and with 3 kids and zero bike time I'm happy to get up the hills without walking.
To reverse the machismo, those with proper doubles are probably so fit because they don't have girl/boy friends and spend all day out pushing big gears to vent their err.. frustration 😀
53/39 11-23 + old, wife, two kids self employed.
Still running 52/42 on my now retro-tastic road machine...
I [i]think[/i] it's the zero bike time that's important, the 3 kids under 4 is just an illustration of why.. though a tag a long is a brutal strength training device!
I'm happy with my 34-27 for the steep stuff around here (20%+), I could probably struggle up on a 39-25 but my knees wouldn't like me. It's irrelevant what other people ride (especially without knowing where they ride). As a junior I raced on a 52/42-15/25 and now ride a 50/34-12/27 but quite happy with my manliness thanks :p
and fuzzywuzzy just goes and blows the cover of why 42:53 is around ... when they ran freewheels 13 tooth was the lowest they got and even only on posh casssettes..... 14 more common ... with 11:23 and compact its pretty similar
i do know some old school TT riders on custom 58 outers ! yet i broke the hour for a 25 on jnr gearing (borrowed bike and didnt think that the owner was a jnr)
Anyone got that picture of Obree's fixie, with a 60 something front?
Hurt my legs just looking at it.
I (and many others) got soundly beaten by a U16 rider at a crit race a few weeks ago - he was riding the correctly restricted gear for his age (Youths and Juniors ride on lower gears in most road races), it was equivalent of about 48:15 or 52:16. All the senior riders were on the usual 53:12 and no-one could get close to this guy!
(yes, his gears were checked correctly, he wasn't cheating)
I rode the peaks on a 38/53->11-25 roadie and a 38->11-34 MTB for 3 years.
My knee is now ****ed beyond belief and I can't pedal hard whilst seated.
Coincidence?
Coincidence?
highly likely ...