As their name implies, compact cranks are a smaller option than standard cranks. Smaller spiders allow for smaller chainrings. Although less common now, triples were put onto bikes to give riders lower gears for climbing.
Compact cranks, however, are much lighter than triples and still offer easier gearing options than a standard crank. Bicycle gears work on leverage ratios, pairing a chainring at the front with a cog in the cassette at the back.
The wider the ratio, the more speed you can achieve at a given pedaling cadence. A smaller ratio means less leverage on the rear wheel and thus easier pedaling. Related: Gear down to go faster. Factoid: Compact gearing was originally a trick that mountain bike component makers used to reduce the size of the chainrings and spider of a cheap, heavy crankset in order to reduce its weight.
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More Cycling Articles. Look for this banner for recommended activities. Cancel Yes. Join Active or Sign In. All rights reserved. Go Premium. Need Help? Learn More Customer Login. By Richard Cunningham. I have no doubt that what your saying is correct and hope your information helps other readers. Is this suitable? Do you think this would be a good choice?
I know nothing about you, how strong you are, how heavy you are, what sort of terrain you ride ove and have no idea whether it would be advantageous or not. You are a lot closer to both the Dolomites and yourself than I am. I also do quite a lot of climbing and the 39 is too big.
What considerations do I need to make when changing over? Additionally, and assuming your chain is currently cut to the correct length, you will need to remove 4 links.
I want to buy the parts online as they are so much cheaper. What things do I need to consider when purchasing? Your levers, derailleurs and bottom bracket cups will work fine but you will need to remove either 2 or 4 links from your chain. Great article. Really enjoy it. When climbing steep hill with 39 and 28 I can only produce around RPM at the maximum.
Basically a 34 tooth ring is I also purchased 50 and 34 teeth chain rings that I can swap out if I go to a race that has losts of climbing.
Most of the road racing and riding is on relatively flat or rolling terrain and crits which are flat. I did notice that I was missing the high gear when I needed it especially when going downhill or in tailwind sections. Most people here run a 11 tooth cog in the rear cassette. That put me at a considerable disadvantage especially in long road races where I would have to pedal around to rpm to keep up whereas previously I used to keep me cadence around 95 rpm. Over a 70 to 95 mile road race it takes it toll.
I am not sure I made a wise decision for a few races that have sustianed climbs which I may or may not travel to every year. The other option is to go with a cassette but I like the way a cassette has the gears laid out which does not have a big jump in the gear lengths at the low end … versus …. I use Shimano components. What are your thoughts? Sorry for the long winded question. It will cost you nothing and by the sound of it, solve your problem.
Make sure you pedal down the the hills with as little coasting as possible. Thank you Steve for the response. I surely will make this part of my workout. In the winter I do a lot of cadence work where I keep my cadence between to rpm but over the years going over my race files I have noticed that my cadence averages around 95 rpm. Do you know how much the difference is and do you think it is a good idea to add washers between the crank arm and the pedal to make the Q factor the same?
Sorry Frank, In your original mail you said you tried to keep your cadence to 95 rpm. Averaging 95 rpm in a race is a different story. It sounds like a lot of your opposition must be in the same boat.
Hello Steve, I am writing to ask about a chain ring possibility. I am setting up a new used bike now. Someone recommended a mid compact 52 chain ring that they said would be the largest possibility for a compact mm Ultegra set up. Is this possible?
Can I have the best of both worlds?? The only negative is that on some front derailleurs the shifting needs to be more deliberate so as not to throw the chain on the down shift from big to small ring. There are devices that will prevent that though. How often are you riding at that speed or above with real pressure on the pedals? Thank you kindly for the specific information Steve. This is exactly why I asked you the question. While I do enjoy aggressively bombing down the longer smooth descents around here…..
I think you just saved me some cash. Thanks again! Is there anything else i need to replace eg chain? If only the chain rings have been replaced you will not need a new chain. Brilliant article Steve.
I would like to mention 11 speed. With a compact coupled to a gives you all the advantages of a compact and the top end gearing of a standard without any jumps in the rear cassette.
Thanks for bringing it up though. I want to upgrade my bike to one with a compact groupset. My cycling will include a lot of long climbs including Alpine type climbs. Will the compact make these climbs easier to mange.
What you need to do is note your cadence in lowest gear on climbs similar to those you will be doing. Lets say you are down to 60 rpm. Your 39 x 26 x a wheel circumference of 2.
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