New crankset

sullzz

Looking for a bit of advice .
I'm upgrading components on my bike bit by bit as spare cash comes along and the next thing on my list is a new crankset , at the moment I have a compact 50/34 .
At the moment I'm not racing and haven't in a good few years but have been contemplating getting back into it maybe next year , anyway , what I'm wondering is what you guys think about mid compact cranksets , I'm thinking about a 52/36 , would this be a noticeable change at all , I do a good bit of climbing when cycling , not mountains , but decent enough climbs and never find myself in the 34/25 . At the same time I'm not sure about going full standard double as mentioned I do a good bit of climbing ( rule#5 I know )I know lads race on compacts but I'm looking to future proof as much as possible .
What's your opinions. Any advice appreciated.

bcmf

A 52 36 would probably be a 110 bcd which means you can probably use your 50 34 chainrings of your old crankset, presuming they arent too worn, so you have the best of both worlds.
52 is big enough for racing, fast sportives and 36 should be plenty for climbing,

cython

If you're looking at changing ratios, there's one very important question - do you find yourself spinning out your 50t chainring? if not, then there may be little to no benefit to going to 52t, although you may not miss the climbing range that 36t would take from you, as you said.

Additionally, while I don't race myself, by all accounts from posters on here who do, the main drawback highlighted as likely to arise with compact gearing in races is gappy shifting, due to the 16 tooth gap (as opposed to 13-14 teeth on a standard) - going with 52-36 will not improve anything in that area over 50-34, as the gap is the same. Also worth assessing your cassette, as 50x11 is bigger gearing than 53x12! If you want near ultimate flexibility, I seem to recall someone mentioning that the 4-arm-spider 11 speed Shimano groupsets might actually support both standard and compact doubles on the same BCD, just to potentially set the cat among the pigeons

bcmf

cython wrote: »

I I seem to recall someone mentioning that the 4-arm-spider 11 speed Shimano groupsets might actually support both standard and compact doubles on the same BCD, just to potentially set the cat among the pigeons

I think that was the new Campy.

Koobcam

You can stick any combination of chainrings you like on newer Shimano chainsets (5800, 6800 & 9000). Not sure about campagnolo, but I imagine it's the same. This in theory would allow you to have, for example, a 53/34 combination, though as far as I can tell, manufacturers tend to go with a maximum of a gap of 16 between chainring teeth-hence 34/50, 36/52 etc-presumably this has to do with limitations on front derailleurs, possibility of dropping your chain etc. As to what combo to choose, I reckon that depends on where you ride and what type of pedaler you are-high cadence people will be grand with 50/34, others might prefer to have extra option at higher speeds, so maybe go with 53/39. Personally, I like to have the lowest available option (without having to resort to a triple), so I'd run 50/34 with an 11-28 cassette. Best ratios I have seen though, meaning less of a gap between the number of teeth on your sprockets, is definitely the 12-27 Campagnolo-there is never more than two teeth of difference between sprockets.