Sell me on compact cranks

[catdrew_f]

[quote=halbritt][quote=GRHebear]im pretty sure 50x11 is faster than 53x12
if not faster, than its really close[/quote]

Pretty much the same.

For all you folks saying “it goes up hills fine” you’re lacking two crucial points of information, your fitness, and your body weight.[/quote]

low to medium fitness and probably less than I should

[euclid]

@balonya

I am running a 53/39 with a 13 -23 8 speed cassette on the Bianchi and I love it. The Chupacabra (Novara) has a 50/34 11-26 9 speed. I much prefer the 53/39 8 speed over the 50/34 set up. On the Bianchi I feel like I am always in the right gear. On the Chupacabra I constantly feel like I am trying to find the right gear. I don’t think this is just that the Bianchi is a much nicer bike, though this could be a bigger factor than I realize. Maybe it has something to do the the width of the tires (23s vs 28s). Like Scrub said it is pretty hilly around here and I think both setups work fine for me.

The Bianchi does have a much tighter cassette spacing.

[balonya]

@euclid

[quote=balonya]I am running a 53/39 with a 13 -23 8 speed cassette on the Bianchi and I love it. The Chupacabra (Novara) has a 50/34 11-26 9 speed. I much prefer the 53/39 8 speed over the 50/34 set up. On the Bianchi I feel like I am always in the right gear. On the Chupacabra I constantly feel like I am trying to find the right gear. I don’t think this is just that the Bianchi is a much nicer bike, though this could be a bigger factor than I realize. Maybe it has something to do the the width of the tires (23s vs 28s). Like Scrub said it is pretty hilly around here and I think both setups work fine for me.

The Bianchi does have a much tighter cassette spacing.[/quote]

Like less is more … TC I had not thought about “why” this was, but that makes sense.

[halbritt]

There’s nothing more pleasurable than riding a straight block, assuming the riding that you’re doing is within the range that you have.

In circumstances where one might like to have a “fat guy’s double” there’s really not much benefit to having a compact crank except to save the blow to your ego that triple would bring. The only benefit to running a wide-range cassette on a compact is mechanical simplicity and a tiny bit of weight. Maybe you have a double and need lower gearing, then it’d be nice.

For folks that are racing and other skinny dudes, running a compact saves the need to run a wide range cassette to get up certain climbs.

[Dickason_Daniel]

I could see, if you had double-specific shifters, a compact would be good way not to have to buy new shifters.

imho, when necessary:
brifters - double
bar-ends/friction - triple

[Timarchylime]

[quote=halbritt]There’s nothing more pleasurable than riding a straight block, assuming the riding that you’re doing is within the range that you have.

For folks that are racing and other skinny dudes, running a compact saves the need to run a wide range cassette to get up certain climbs.[/quote]
Both true. I’m really happy with my 12-23. 36x23 gives me all of it and I haven’t found a hill I can’t climb around here. And if I was racing I could easily put a 52 on there and stay within the magic 16t range that most ft der’s can shift well.

[1percenttruck]

Just switched from compact to standard and mainly I just notice shifting the FD more, so far.

Maybe soon I’ll go compact 50/36 with 11-23.

I’d also recommend 42 with 11-25 for anyone doing 1x10. I’ve been riding it all winter and haven’t found a hill I couldn’t climb yet on my heavy POS cross bike (22.5 pounder), and the top end is high enough that you can sprint if you have the leg speed (and headwind) on your side. Actually, a great training gear range in general because it’ll make you push harder when the grade is 15% or above climbing up, and then spin faster coming back down (if you can muster the motivation to keep spinning and not coast).