53 chainring/52 chainring

veedub02

Hi

Probably a stupid question but is there much difference between a 52 chainring and a 53 chainring.

TinyExplosions

veedub02 wrote: »

Hi

Probably a stupid question but is there much difference between a 52 chainring and a 53 chainring.

One tooth

In all seriousness, not really a huge amount -about 1 gear inch... the number of teeth on a cassette are more important imo

ednwireland

1

Beasty

Just under 2% higher gearing with a 53. Moving from a 12 to 11 on the back gives you an extra 8.3%.

RobFowl

When I started out all chainsets were 52/42. I always understood why the 39 was useful but never convinced a 53 is any improvement..

ednwireland

emma pooley had a 55 in the womens TT yesterday for the downhill

i alwys thought having a 53 was like having an 11 on your marshall amp

Quigs Snr

veedub02 wrote: »

Hi

Probably a stupid question but is there much difference between a 52 chainring and a 53 chainring.

Yes 53 and above is a mens chainset, anything below a 53 is for girls.


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(Really though, no you shouldn't notice any difference unless you are taking on Fabian in a TT or Cavendish in a sprint)

Lumen

RobFowl wrote: »

When I started out all chainsets were 52/42. I always understood why the 39 was useful but never convinced a 53 is any improvement..

Odd numbers of teeth are better, as are prime numbers. Probably. Maybe something to do with evening out wear* like with skid patches on fixies.

* no, not cocktail dresses.

RobFowl

Lumen wrote: »

Odd numbers of teeth are better, as are prime numbers. Probably. Maybe something to do with evening out wear* like with skid patches on fixies.

* no, not cocktail dresses.

I'd buy that explanation If my compact wasn't a 50/34

veedub02

Thanks for all the info.

doozerie

If you want to compare actual numbers for different gear combinations, look at the gear-inch table at the bottom of this page. There is a row for each chainring size and a column for each rear sprocket size. The actual gear-inch numbers themselves aren't important (to me, at least), it's how they compare to other gear combinations that is the interesting bit.

Beasty

...or simply divide front by back and compare:

eg 52/13 = 4 = fast
34/17 = 2 = half as fast (or, to put it another way, slow)
(assuming the same cadence)

High Nellie

I think the 'inch' gear measurement came for the size of the front wheel on a penny-farthing bike - the bigger the wheel the higher the gear?