Road Bike Ratios… (I know, yawn)

I’m waiting for the 11speed Dura Ace groupset and I’ve been struggling with what to do about chainset ratios.

At the moment I ride 53/39 with 11/25 out back. The bike is set up for crits, and I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t mind a few lower gears on some of the steeper climbs… But I manage.

I hate compacts as I spin out on descents, so the option for “inbetweener” sportive ratios on the new chainset appeal. They do a 52/38 and a 52/36 combinations.

I’m going to go for the 11/28 cassette, but how much difference does losing just 1 tooth on the front make? Is 52/38 going to cut it or should I go for the 52/36?

And does anyone know of anywhere that has sportive ratios in stock yet?

11-28s are gappy as shit.

fine if you live somewhere hilly, but as soon as you go somewhere flat and ride into headwinds for a bit you’ll instantly start finding ‘missing’ gears.

or at least i did.

grrrr.

i say if you’re managing on 39/25 then go for the 52/38 and keep the 11-25 out back.

EDIT: baws i’m talking 10spd and you’re talking 11. i still reckon 11-28 would be gappy, but haven’t looked at the ratios.

I just posted “change gear” on another thread – I really, really dont get compact cranksets 😯

been looking at a new road bike, and the low / mid range bikes all seem to have compact chainsets…. why?

I’ve never regarded myself as either fit or competitive, but I will spin out my 53/39 set up on most rides

(just swapped out a 12-23 cassette for 11-25)

spin out my 53/39

you spin out 53/11 on most rides?

yes

shit the bed.

I don’t dislike the compact chainsets because a lot of the hills here are short but steep and I’m not racing or overly fascinated with KoMs on Strava so losing a bit on the downs doesn’t bother me. I have an 11-28 on one bike but will swap it for the 11-25 for general riding now I’m done with bigger mountains for the year.

(maybe I need to learn to pedal quicker 😉 )

Is you’re max cadence about 50 rpm? (53-11 at 100rpm is 38mph!)

I spin out 53/11 most rides too, I like to pedal descents and anything over 48mph spins out. Which is why I’m worried about dropping to 52 up front.

I’d rather have 53/38 or something like that.

Nicko, I hear what you’re saying but the cassettes are limited to 23, 25 or 28 (lowest gear), so 28 shouldn’t be any more gappy than the 11/25 10-speed I’m currently using…

been riding around the peaks for the last 3 years. and racing around flatter short circuit stuff for last 18 months.

can’t say i use gears anywhere near 53:11 all that often. do you have lots of smooth downhillish bits?

or really strong legs?

53:11 is quite standard see? its not like the pros run anything bigger…

I like to pedal descents and anything over 48mph spins out

this might be the thing. round peaks etc. its hard to find a hill smooth enough to pedal down, and in flat races there aint any hills!

is front mech able to shift 53/38? whats the max tooth gap? – that said if you are going for a 28 anyway then 39/28 is pretty low…

I’m happy with 53:11 – over 50mph I want to be tucked, so not looking for more top-end cranking. Just a bit worried that 52:11 might leave me with a gap between where I like to finish pedalling and start tucking!

I ride the Pennines, South Lakes, Trough of Bowland mostly…

Edit: Just found this very useful site…

Ratio Calculator

Is you’re max cadence about 50 rpm?

Just looked at my Garmin stats for the Land’s End 100 sportive. Avergae cadence was 63 – higher cadence sections about 95-100…. so yes, there is certainly room for me to increase my leg speed!

That ride was a lot of short steep hills though

doubt there’s much in 52/11 vs 53/11…

especially as you’ll be doing 50mph and sticking your head out the wind a touch more will make all the difference.

must say that’s a punt though, i havent had the benefit of worrying about trying differing top end ratios!

53:11 to 52:11 is under 2% reduction in gearing, resulting in less than 1mph difference where you spin out.

Problem?

PaulD

that 0.7 mph could make all the difference.

I presume the chainset ratios are dictated by the limitations of the front mech.

If I’m doing something like the Lakeland Loop, I’d stick the compact on for the day, so I’m not averse to using lower gears – it’s just the restrictiveness of a compact that I hate: no top end and constantly shifting between the rings.

I suspect the 52/36 is the way to go – I’m most efficient seated as I’m a high cadence rider, but my current setup sees me standing out of the saddle honking on the bars far more than I should.

The other factor is that if I decided to stick with 53/39, I could get that now… I’m having to wait for the other ratios!!

53:11 to 52:11 is under 2% reduction in gearing, resulting in less than 1mph difference where you spin out.

That’s exactly the sort of answer I was looking for! Cheers Paul 🙂

OK, this is interesting. just run some figures through the calculator:

53/39 : 11/25 (current setup) = 41″ – 126.8″
50/34 : 11/25 (compact setup) = 35.8″ – 119.7″

52/38 : 11/28 (Dura Ace Sportive 1) = 35.8″ – 124.4″
52/36 : 11/28 (Dura Ace Sportive 2) = 33.9″ – 124.4″

So running the 52/38 will give me exactly the same length of lowest gear as my current compact setup, and presumably will be far better shifting on the front mech…

You spin out at 50 rpm? I wouldn’t call that spinning out; I would call that stopping pedaling.

You spin out at 50 rpm?

Has anyone said this???

You spin out at 50 rpm?
Has anyone said this???

erm

but I will spin out my 53/39 set up on most rides

tracknicko – Member
spin out my 53/39
you spin out 53/11 on most rides?

rkk01 – Member
yes

I really, really dont get compact cranksets

Unless you’reusing 11-23 the jump to 25 is only fractionlay less than the jump from 38 to 34.

I use a compact, 11-23 in summer, 13-27 in winter.

What I don’t understand is ‘back in the day’ the pissing contest was about who could spin the lowest gear, now the evangelists proclaim that a 52 just isn’t big enough for their Hoy-esque legs, whilst at the same time telling everyone else they need to spin more.

Alex, you seem to be reading words that don’t actually appear onscreen. Maybe you should toddle off and find a technician to fix it… Go on, there’s a good boy…

TINAS, it’s nothing to do with pissing contests. My cadence on the flat is higher than I would be comfortable pedaling at high speeds on descents.

I don’t want to be spinning at 120rpm with all the associated wobbling at over 50mph!

Front double D-A mechs offer a 16T range on the 2 chainrings, but the triple front mechs have a deeper cage and cover 22T or more, so….

What is to stop you getting a 53T or larger front ring in 110mm BCD and retain the 34T compact small ring to get the best of both worlds?

If you keep swapping the large ring, you will need to keep moving the front mech up or down.

Fitting a 53T instead of 50T with the correct chain length will only be a rear mech chain slack issue if you try to run 34 x 11 (and we know where that got a famous TdF contender, don’t we?).

Then chose the appropriate cassette to the terrain/season.

PaulD

Alex, you seem to be reading words that don’t actually appear onscreen.

That was the point I was making…. I can’t see any point where 50rpm is mentioned as the cadence at which anyone runs out of gears… 😯

I’ve not had the cadence sensor fitted on the road bike for very long, but for the mtb my cadence generally sits in to 60-100/120 range.

Yes you are of course right

All hail Sibboleth and his might mind.

but the triple front mechs have a deeper cage and cover 22T or more, so….

in two steps…

i dont think they could do that range in one go… or if they could the shift would be AWFUL.

also riding up to a hill in 53, then flicking to 34 ring would be like throwing an anchor out, or hitting neutral!

52/39/30 : 11/23 (Just saying like….) = 35.2″ – 127.6″ 😀

What is to stop you getting a 53T or larger front ring in 110mm BCD and retain the 34T compact small ring to get the best of both worlds?

They only ship the chainsets in those combinations Paul, and I doubt anywhere stocks the chainrings separately yet.

Aftermarket chainrings from other manufacturers won’t fit…

alex222 – Member

Yes you are of course right

All hail Sibboleth and his might mind.

Alex, jog on mate, you’re being a pillock. Nobody has said what you think they said, you misread it. Just accept that you’re not very bright and go and think about what you’ve done. 🙄

druidh – Member

52/39/30 : 11/23 (Just saying like….) = 35.2″ – 127.6″

Druid, wash your mouth out. In fact, don’t anybody *EVER* mention the word “triple” on a thread about Dura Ace!!! 🙂

Alex, jog on mate, you’re being a pillock. Nobody has said what you think they said, you misread it.

I accept I misread it but you are being a bit of a dick really.

triples are great for touring.

race touring?

“I don’t want to be spinning at 120rpm with all the associated wobbling at over 50mph!
“

Pedal circles not squares please.

Pedal circles not squares please.

or stop pedaling before 50mph?

who pedals at 50+? that’s tucking speed!

alex222 – Member

I accept I misread it but you are being a bit of a dick really.

This coming from the person that has tried to argue the toss with several people when he’s wrong?? I started this thread to canvass opinion about something I needed help on, not to listen to some silly prick trying to belittle people with ill-conceived nit-picking. Jog on.

Either I’m not getting something or miscalculated it but if you are proposing to pedal at > 50mph downhill using a 53:11 ratio – your legs will have to be spinning at about 140RPM.

And as somebody has already pointed out – this speed is a tucking in speed.

Interestingly and to put things into perspective – a well known TdF rider chasing (going like the clappers) the leading rider in this years TdF – descended 850 meters and averaged only 39mph to the finish line… (are you in the right job? 🙂 )

edit – and the spread on 11:28 ratio – I find is too wide.
On occasion, I have run this ratio with a 53:39 upfront though but I find it not ideal.