Benefits to changing from 46/36 to 52/36 or even 50/34

Flaccus

Bought a Caad-x recently which came with 46/36 rings and a 11-32t cassette which I swapped out for 11-34t to make it slightly easier on hills.  Using bike to loose weight and cycling on main roads, not for cyclocross but needed something sturdy *>100KG*.

As I am on roads with the odd climb, I was considering changing the 46 for a 52 or even putting in a compact 50/34.   What are the benefits of the larger ring other then possibly going faster, and considering I haven't spun out my 46 yet is it even worth considering ?

Also my rear mech is a medium RS8000 GS  that has a drivetrain capacity of 37 according to Shimano  Right now I'm at 33 ((46-36)+(34-11)), and to maintain that with a 54/36 or 50/34 without having to get a new chain, I'd have to drop from an 11-34t to an 11-28t which I guess will make hills harder.  Maybe an 11-32t then which means a new chain I guess.

thekooman

Flaccus wrote: »

Bought a Caad-x recently which came with 46/36 rings and a 11-32t cassette which I swapped out for 11-34t to make it slightly easier on hills.  Using bike to loose weight and cycling on main roads, not for cyclocross but needed something sturdy *>100KG*.

As I am on roads with the odd climb, I was considering changing the 46 for a 52 or even putting in a compact 50/34.   What are the benefits of the larger ring other then possibly going faster, and considering I haven't spun out my 46 yet is it even worth considering ?

Also my rear mech is a medium RS8000 GS  that has a drivetrain capacity of 37 according to Shimano  Right now I'm at 33 ((46-36)+(34-11)), and to maintain that with a 54/36 or 50/34 without having to get a new chain, I'd have to drop from an 11-34t to an 11-28t which I guess will make hills harder.  Maybe an 11-32t then which means a new chain I guess.

i run a 52 36 105 crankset(with shims in the BB) on my Caadx. i've even done CX races on this crankset. if you have 11-34t on the back get a new chain and you will have loads of gears.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I have a 46/30 on my Felt VR30 with an 11/32 cassette. The crankset is an FSA Omega Adventure and for hilly rides and climbs its excellent but at times I feel like I'm cheating with such a wide spread of high gears.

34/34 would get you up the north face of the Eiger. Slowly, very very slowly.

thekooman

i tackled this 13%-er for 2km https://www.strava.com/segments/2242055 on a 36 - 25... god, i wish I had a 28 or a 32 that day on the back! :eek: i didnt get off but was very tempted.

magicbastarder

there's a bracket on the end of that link which means it won't work properly if you click on it.

magicbastarder

fair play though, getting up that without stopping.

Flaccus

thekooman wrote: »

Flaccus wrote: »

Bought a Caad-x recently which came with 46/36 rings and a 11-32t cassette which I swapped out for 11-34t to make it slightly easier on hills.  Using bike to loose weight and cycling on main roads, not for cyclocross but needed something sturdy *>100KG*.

As I am on roads with the odd climb, I was considering changing the 46 for a 52 or even putting in a compact 50/34.   What are the benefits of the larger ring other then possibly going faster, and considering I haven't spun out my 46 yet is it even worth considering ?

Also my rear mech is a medium RS8000 GS  that has a drivetrain capacity of 37 according to Shimano  Right now I'm at 33 ((46-36)+(34-11)), and to maintain that with a 54/36 or 50/34 without having to get a new chain, I'd have to drop from an 11-34t to an 11-28t which I guess will make hills harder.  Maybe an 11-32t then which means a new chain I guess.

i run a 52 36 105 crankset(with shims in the BB) on my Caadx. i've even done CX races on this crankset. if you have 11-34t on the back get a new chain and you will have loads of gears.

Cheers. I have an 11-34t and was thinking a 52-36 on front would give me a capacity of 39 which is a little over what Shimano recommend for my rear mech. I'm thinking now I might be better of sticking with the 46-36 until I can spin it out. Probably a long way off from that but upgrade addiction has gripped me.

nordicb

In the races going downhill it is not that hard to out spin gears available. Many would argue, that at 130rpm one can go 80 kph and stuff, but how many of us spin at 130rpm for prolonged times. It's rather about having enough gears to go fast at reasonable rpm, 100 or so, and 100 doesn't give that impressive speed on compact - highly individual.

Larger ring in front may make a person to use larger sprockets in the back, and larger sprockets are mechanically more efficient than small ones. This is why many avoid 11T in the rear cassette and use 12T, they also get nice 16T as a bonus.

Other people change to bigger or smaller rings to improve the chain line. If their normal speed/cadence has a chain line that can be better, it may be worth picking up different chain rings.

Often events have route profile that suit one or another gearing, e.g. lots of climbing, or flattish.

Regards

Flaccus

I find with my setup I just avoid the smallest 3 cogs when using the small ring, and the largest 3 on the big ring.  I rarely cross chain, occasionally I get a little noise and usually trim sorts it.   


I don't go particularly fast even on the flat roads as I still don't have the strength yet and around 90-95rpm is the best cadence I can manage for more then a few minutes. I also find even on the 34t and spinning up a hill (gently slope I guess), I run out of puff as I don't have the cardio fitness yet.  

I find with the HG800 cassette, I tend to use 30t and 27t for hills but hopefully the 34t will become useful   One thing I did do was ditch the nobbly cyclo cross tires and bought some 35mm Continental Speed's and I definitely notice the difference.