53 Tooth Chainring - what to change to



jaimwa

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Feb 27, 2007
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Hi guys

I bought a nice second hand bike from a pro cyclist and it has a big 53 - 39 dura ace 7800 chainring set on it. I am finding it a bit much as I live in Ireland and it's a bit hilly here. The cassette is 11-25 10 speed. Not too sure what the significance of that is. Maybe someone has a decent website of can educate me!

I am thinking about replacing the chainring for a smaller one and was wondering if anyone can give me advice on this? What to change to? What difference it will make? Will I have to remove a chain-link? Will I have to change the cassette too? What to look out for?

Many thanks

J
 
You probably do not need to change your crankset ...

You do need to learn to use the shifters & use a lower gear when the situation warrants -- e.g., the 53t outer ring & the ~21t cog instead of the 53t chainring & the 11t cog ... half the effort ...

Or, use the inner 39t ring and whichever cog in back allows you to pedal at the exertion rate that you want experience.
 
Thanks alfeng. Should this set up be more difficult on hills or fairly standard as it is 10 speed? I seem to be looking for another gear on steep climbs!
 
jaimwa said:
Thanks alfeng. Should this set up be more difficult on hills or fairly standard as it is 10 speed? I seem to be looking for another gear on steep climbs!
The easiest way to get lower gears is to switch to a compact chainset, 50/34. You could also change the cassette to 12-27. Once you make the switch to the gearing you need, you'll find climbing is much more enjoyable....and you'll go faster as well.
 
dhk2 said:
The easiest way to get lower gears is to switch to a compact chainset, 50/34. You could also change the cassette to 12-27. Once you make the switch to the gearing you need, you'll find climbing is much more enjoyable....and you'll go faster as well.

Cheers for that. Do people generally keep the same brand? i.e. I stay with dura ace? Can I change the chainset with changing the cassette? Will that make much difference?

Sorry for all the questions!
 
jaimwa said:
Should this set up be more difficult on hills or fairly standard as it is 10 speed? I seem to be looking for another gear on steep climbs!
Well, one person's hill is a bump in the road for another rider ...

I've seen people pass me at a fairly good clip while going uphill who had a "straight-block" 11-21 cassette (!) whereas I now use an 11-32 MTB cassette (and, an XTR rear derailleur) on my road bike with a 53/39 chainring combination.

Presuming nothing is rubbing (e.g., the brake pads rubbing against the rims -- for some reason, some people like to set their brake pads so they are only a a hair's breadth away from the surface of their rims) on your bike AND the bike is properly "tuned" AND you are already using the 39t chainring & 25t cog in the rear then you could/should certainly investigate lower gearing if you are "looking for another gear on steep climbs"; and, you have at least three off-the-shelf options (not necessarily in this order):
  1. a 12/27 cassette and/or a 38t chainring
  2. a compact crankset with the current cassette and/or a 12-27 cassette
  3. a triple crankset
I think that HOW you achieve the lower gearing is as much a cosmetic as an economical decision ...

I was once a great advocate of "Alpine" gearing with everyone I knew PRIOR TO the popularity of "compact" cranksets (vs. a regular double OR triple) because I ride on mountain roads in the Rockies (6500ft-to-9000ft elevation ... others ride all the way to 11,000+ feet, but it has been decades since I walked my bike up to that elevation). Most of my bikes now have a "standard" crankset (either 130BCD or 135BCD) + an 11-32 (9-speed, MTB) cassette [where the 32t cog is my bailout gear & the 28t is the low(est) gear that I generally use] + the fore mentioned XTR derailleurs.

While chainrings & cassettes can be expensive, they are usually less expensive than replacing a crankset.

Two commonly available (i.e., least expensive) alternatives would be either a 38t inner chainring (probably, more of psychological benefit) and/or a 12-27 cassette. Either and/or both may be just enough difference to make the hills more manageable for you ...

If you are on a tight budget, then you can simply re-stack your current cassette by substituting a 28t cog (from an 11-32 9-speed LX cassette) for one of the middle cogs (e.g., 14t) to see if that gives you a low enough gear for your rides (N.B. you may-or-may-not need to tweak the lower stop & indexing because of the 0.3mm difference in the cog thickness, but probably not).

That's a very long way of saying that if I were you then I would try putting a 12/27 cassette and/or a 38t inner chainring on your crank, first, before investigating a "compact" crankset BECAUSE it is probably better to investigate the least expensive solutions, first.

The final solution would be to put a triple crankset on your bike which would involve changing the front & rear derailleurs + the crank and/or cassette PLUS new shifters -- potentially, a very expensive proposition.

BTW. You may find that after another month-or-two of riding that the current gearing is just-right for the terrain you are currently riding on.
 
jaimwa said:
Do people generally keep the same brand? i.e. I stay with dura ace? Can I change the chainset with changing the cassette? Will that make much difference?
While Shimano would prefer that you only use Dura Ace components with the rest of your Dura Ace equipped bike, you can mix-and-match to some extent as your aesthetic sensibilities and/or wallet dictate.

For optimum shifting with Shimano shifters & derailleurs, you do want Shimano DA or Ultegra chainrings (actually, this only applies to the OUTER chainring) ... so, you could use any other brand of crankset & (eventually) mate it with the fore mentioned Shimano chainrings (after you wear out the original set of chainrings).

FWIW. Personally, I mix-and-match to the extent where I use Campagnolo shifters with Shimano rear derailleurs ... the cranks I have are mostly Shimano, Campagnolo, and FSA.
 
Alfeng - what a great reply! I'm starting to understand this all now!! Thanks for taking time to help me understand. I'll ride for a couple more months on this setup before I change anything - I'm a big strong boy so it might just be getting used to it...

If I changed to the 12-27 and a 38t inner chainring on the crank shoul Id just leave the 53t on the outside?

Would you mind explaing to me what a compact chainset is? I looked at some of the online shops and i can see visually what it is but if I changed both the inner and outer chainrings to to 50 and and a 34 does that mean I now have a compact? Or is it the other part (the crank?) that needs to be changed too? The crank - I think that's what it's called, is a 175...
 
jaimwa said:
If I changed to the 12-27 and a 38t inner chainring on the crank shoul Id just leave the 53t on the outside?

Would you mind explaing to me what a compact chainset is? I looked at some of the online shops and i can see visually what it is but if I changed both the inner and outer chainrings to to 50 and and a 34 does that mean I now have a compact? Or is it the other part (the crank?) that needs to be changed too? The crank - I think that's what it's called, is a 175...
There may be a marginal (little-if-any) benefit to changing the 53t to something else if you change the 39t inner chainring to a 38t chainring, so save your money.

AFAIK, "Alpine" gearing was originally a pejorative label for cranksets which did not have the "normal" 52/42 chainrings which was once typical on road bikes.

WHAT'S IN A NAME? The "compact" designation/label seems to have been coined by PINARELLO as a euphemism when Senor Pinarello decided to sell one of his bikes with a 110BCD crankset on it several years ago (~2004?) ... THAT + Tyler Hamilton's epic ride with a broken collarbone gave "Alpine" gearing a respect amongst the aficionados that it never had before. Thereafter, almost every crankset manufacturer now has a "compact" crank in their catalog.

Generally, a "double" crankset whose BCD (bolt circle diameter) is 110mm is now considered to be a "compact" crank whereas in the past that size BCD was typically only found on "touring" & MTBs (usually, with a granny) before the advent of the 4-arm/104BCD MTB cranksets.

Several years ago, I configured an older XTR crank (112BCD) with a 50t outer chainring + 34t inner (sans granny) ... AND recently, an XT crank (104BCD) with a 48t outer ring + the 32t inner chainring that came on the crank (sans granny) -- both would be considered "Alpine" gearing ... but, those would not be considered to be "compact" cranks.

FYI. On most-if-not-all current Shimano cranks, the model & size are indicated on the backside of the arms -- the information encircles the pedal axle's hole. On your crank, it probably reads something like:

175 FC-7800 SHIMANO JAPAN ... (etc.)

... where "175" is the length of the crankarm as measured between the center of the pedal's axle & the center of the BB spindle.

BTW. Although a 39t chainring is now the generally available smallest for a "regular" road crank, a 38t chainring is available for cranks with a 130BCD. Similarly, for a crank with a 110BCD, the smallest chainring which is generally available has 34t, but a 33t chainring is available from TA.
 
Alfeng

Thanks for all the great advice. You will be pleased to hear I found a 12-27 7800 dur ace cassette with 100 miles on it on ebay for a bargain. He threw in ceramic jockey wheels for an extra couple of £ so I look forward to trying it all out in the hills of Donegal this weekend! There's a road around this http://www.dpeck.info/pictures/ireland2007-e17.jpg - happy days!

Thanks again

J
 
jaimwa said:
You will be pleased to hear I found a 12-27 7800 dur ace cassette with 100 miles on it on ebay for a bargain. He threw in ceramic jockey wheels for an extra couple of £ so I look forward to trying it all out in the hills of Donegal this weekend! There's a road around this http://www.dpeck.info/pictures/ireland2007-e17.jpg - happy days!
GREAT. I am pleased.

BTW. I can feel the wind in that pic!

While standing on a craggy shore,
A-listening to the ocean's roar ...

So, you may want to bring a pair of goggles for that ride ...
 
jaimwa said:
Hi guys

I bought a nice second hand bike from a pro cyclist and it has a big 53 - 39 dura ace 7800 chainring set on it. I am finding it a bit much as I live in Ireland and it's a bit hilly here. The cassette is 11-25 10 speed. Not too sure what the significance of that is. Maybe someone has a decent website of can educate me!

I am thinking about replacing the chainring for a smaller one and was wondering if anyone can give me advice on this? What to change to? What difference it will make? Will I have to remove a chain-link? Will I have to change the cassette too? What to look out for?

Many thanks

J
I'd try a SRAM 11-28 cassette first. A new crank will run about $150 to $350 at least. The crank needs to be compatible with your Durace BB.
Look at some of the on-line gear calculators to figure what you may want in gear-inches.
 

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