Just picked up a new bike and the bike shop put a standard ultegra double on it, 39/53 with a 12-25, instead of the triple I ordered. I ride in the hilly county north of NYC, and although I managed ok on the hills last weekend, I still think I could use lower gearing on the worst of them. The shop is willing to do anything I want, go to the triple that I ordered, go compact, etc.
Point is, I like the reduced weight of the double, so I am thinking of trying the compact double, 34/50, along with a 12-27 cogset since this would go much of the way toward the 30 tooth chainring and 25 tooth rear gear on the triple. I just don't like the loss of top end (1.5mph less at 80rpm) with this setup and was wondering if anyone had experience with replacing the 12 tooth cog with an 11 tooth one (would cut the 80 rpm difference to .5mph).
I realize that the shifting would not be as smooth to this cog, but it is usually not the type of gearing I would change in an emergency.
Any suggestions?
Point is, I like the reduced weight of the double, so I am thinking of trying the compact double, 34/50, along with a 12-27 cogset since this would go much of the way toward the 30 tooth chainring and 25 tooth rear gear on the triple. I just don't like the loss of top end (1.5mph less at 80rpm) with this setup and was wondering if anyone had experience with replacing the 12 tooth cog with an 11 tooth one (would cut the 80 rpm difference to .5mph).
I realize that the shifting would not be as smooth to this cog, but it is usually not the type of gearing I would change in an emergency.
Any suggestions?