Does one tooth matter that much ?

[mentat6059]

I just replaced my whole drive train
cluster 12-23
chain
cranks 170mm
chain rings 42/53

my old cranks were 175mm and the chain rings 42/52, now I find it bloody hard pedalling on the 53. I know its just a matter of time before I get used to it but does 1 tooth and 5mm make that much difference ?

mark

[jitteringjr]

I just replaced my whole drive train
cluster 12-23
chain
cranks 170mm
chain rings 42/53

my old cranks were 175mm and the chain rings 42/52, now I find it bloody hard pedalling on the 53. I know its just a matter of time before I get used to it but does 1 tooth and 5mm make that much difference ?

mark

From my first bike to my second bike, the cranks arms went from 175 to 172.5 and I maintained a 53 chain ring in both. I noticed a big difference in just the shorter crank, if you went from 175 to 170, thats a big jump and I would expect that would have a larger impact than just going to a larger (1 tooth) ring.