Swapping to a Compact Question

AmberGold

Lads,

I'm riding a Standard which works for me most of the time around North County Dublin. I have however been caught out on spins like the Wicklow 200 etc.

Would I get away with swapping the chainset to a compact on the day without having to remove links from the chain?

Ag.

funkyjebus

AmberGold wrote: »

Lads,

I'm riding a Standard which works for me most of the time around North County Dublin. I have however been caught out on spins like the Wicklow 200 etc.

Would I get away with swapping the chainset to a compact on the day without having to remove links from the chain?

Ag.

Its should be fine, but it's not ideal (you might notice some slack in the small small). The biggest problem you will have us the front deraileur height.

Brian?

Have you tried different cassettes as a less extreme measure?

Correct chain length is the last thing I'd worry about when swapping chain sets.

Wishbone Ash

Brian? wrote: »

Have you tried different cassettes as a less extreme measure?

+1

OP - what cassette are you using at the moment?

Cee-Jay-Cee

It would be simpler to change cassette (maybe you already done that?)

AmberGold

Running a 28 and still struggling, cue comments about more training, losing weight etc.

letape

AmberGold wrote: »

Lads,

I'm riding a Standard which works for me most of the time around North County Dublin. I have however been caught out on spins like the Wicklow 200 etc.

Would I get away with swapping the chainset to a compact on the day without having to remove links from the chain?

Ag.

From experience the chain will be too long and you will need to remove 2 or 4 links.

As already suggested, consider changing your cassette and keeping the standard chainset.

Wishbone Ash

letape wrote: »

..consider changing your cassette and keeping the standard chainset.

He's already running a 28 - anything above that would be in MTB territory I presume?

quozl

What's your real derailleur? I've got the 2013 10-speed Tiagra derailleur and I'm able to put a 12-32 cassette onto it.

39/32 is pretty much identical to 34/28 (1.218 versus 1.214) and both are a fair bit lower than your current 39/28 (1.39).

You might find it a bit gappy, the tooth spacing is 12-13-14-15-17-19-22-25-28-32 .

The one I got is the the pg 1070 and is part of SRAMs new WIFLI road set. It was a god-send during the Joe Loughman randonee

You'd need a longer chain unless your current chain is badly incorrectly sized.

Personally, if I was you, I'd buy a cheap compact chainset and change that, but that's because I love tinkering If your rear derailleur will take a 32 then that would be the easier way to go. There seems to be a trend for recent derailleurs to accept larger cassettes - ie be able to handle more teeth in slack. The Tiagra is only officially specced for a 30 cassette by Shimano but some googling found lots of people happily using the 32 and a general acceptance that the Shimano specs err on the cautious side.

BTW, be jealous. Not only do I have a 32 on the back, I have a compact on the front! I enjoy spinning up the wicklow hills at 90 rpm

Aodho

If changing chainrings your main technical hurdle isn't the chain length, gear ratio, etc (they are secondary, though important & come later) but the the bcd of the spider on your crank arm.
Most standards are 135mm, most compact chainrings are 110bcd. If these dont match then your going nowhere... and I'd guess that your double chainrings are not 110mm (though these do exist).

petethedrummer

AmberGold wrote: »

Would I get away with swapping the chainset to a compact on the day without having to remove links from the chain?

I'd just make a permanent switch and sell the standard double.

derealbadger

Op a lot of drama queens here your problem is very easy to solve you wont even get oil on your hands


New bike

youtheman

derealbadger wrote: »

Op a lot of drama queens here your problem is very easy to solve you wont even get oil on your hands


New bike

Totally agree. And it has to be Carbon, and don't even bother looking at anything less than 2 and a half grand.

PS : I am not affiliated to any cycle shop. Just believe in sharing the good vibes.