38T Chainring

[juanteal]

Shimano recommends no more than a 14 tooth difference between the chainrings on an Ultegra/DA drivetrain (e.g. 53/39 maximum).

But, Salsa offers a 38T chainring-- does anyone think it's worth a try? Will one less tooth help me climb without making me a mechanical mess?

I'm gonna be racing Cat 3 pretty actively, but don't want to run a 25 in back, which I normally do (I'm a bad climber, no way around that).

 

[ant evans]

Why don't you want to run a 25 in back? Apart from Shimano's inflexible cluster configurations, that is?

 

[steve]

Originally posted by juanteal
Shimano recommends no more than a 14 tooth difference between the chainrings on an Ultegra/DA drivetrain (e.g. 53/39 maximum).

But, Salsa offers a 38T chainring-- does anyone think it's worth a try? Will one less tooth help me climb without making me a mechanical mess?

I'm gonna be racing Cat 3 pretty actively, but don't want to run a 25 in back, which I normally do (I'm a bad climber, no way around that).

A 25 would be that bad on a 9 or 10 speed cassette