The two common chainring options for compacts are

50x34
and
52x36

If you find yourself sometimes running out of gear, where you want to keep pedaling and go faster but can't, then a 52 will be a little bit helpful.

If you often find yourself in the easiest gear looking for an easier one, then the 52x36 will be a little bit harmful.

MOST people, MOST of the time, it doesn't make any difference which of these two you use, and/or you can compensate for the difference with a different cassette.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I would much rather wish I have another gear to spin down a hill than wish I had another gear to get up a hill.

my 50/34 11/32 for me gives me the most flexibility to meet 99% of what I need.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Keep in mind the powertap system will come in only 50X36 and 52X36 (and 53X39), so the smallest chain ring will be a 36.

What is your current small chainring size?

ah, in that case there isn't much reason not to get the 52, unless you have super specific cadence preferences.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

The only reason to consider a 50T big ring IMO is if you need the 34T small ring.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I have a 53-39 and where I live their are a lot of short steep hills and it sucks. I changed out the cassette but I really need to go to a compact to keep my cadence up. To go smaller up front I have to buy a new crank so I'll probably go to a 50-34 to be safe and make sure my cassette has a 11 tooth.

Why? I really like using my 50/32 gear, even if it is wrong. For me seems like a nice sweet spot without having to drop down to either a 34 or 36.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Well, there is a substantive, though not huge, efficiency loss when you do that.

Also everyone's sweet spot is different, depending on the power/mass/cda/wheelsize/crank length/cadence preferences etc

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I find myself spun out on steeper descents with a 50 (I have the 50, because I want the 34 for long climbs). I'd take the 52 over the 50 if I could keep the 34 (but that's not an option).

My current setups: Road bike 50/34 Tri bike 52/36

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I have bikes with 50/34 (old road bike for wet weather use), 53/39 (tri) and 50/38 (road race bike), all have 12-27 or 11-28 cassettes
I have recently switched to Ultegra 52/36 on my tri and road race bikes and really like it because it gives me the ability to go a bit faster downhill and with tailwinds, and the 36 is sufficient for me for hill climbing. The other benefit of the new shimano chain rings is, I believe, that the bolt pattern is standardised so you can now swap any of these chain rings without having to change cranks.
The 53/39 was too much for the mostly hilly terrain and in IM I always seemed to be hopping between gears with a bit too much of a difference on the flat.
For you, I think it really depends on the terrain you ride in and the cadence you prefer - lots of big hills with technical descents means a 50/34 might be best. Lots of flat riding might mean a 53/39 may be better. Mixed terrain means 52/36 would be worth a look.
Worth playing around with a gearing calculator to make sure what you get enables you to spend most of your time in the middle of your cassette when at race speeds as that usually reduces power losses in the drivetrain.

I currently have a 50/34 and I pretty much never find myself in the 34, it's just way too small. I don't mind having the 36. My only worry is that right now the 50 is just fine but I'm also in fairly poor shape. At the end of last summer I pretty much only used the lower half of my 11-25 cassette so I feel like when I get back into shape I'll have no issues pushing the big ring, but I don't know if that will throw me off too much.

I have a 50/34 on one bike a 52/36 came stock on my new bike (11-28 cassettes on both.) I intended to swap out the 52/36 for a compact but after a while I found that I preferred the 52T big ring. I used to spin out on the 50x11 on a decent I do a few times a week. With the 52-11 top gear I virtually never spin out now on the same decent. I thought the 52 gearing might be too tall around town but I haven't found that to be the case. The 36 is also spins out at a higher speed than the 34 meaning you can drop down to the small ring if needed (ie., riding into a strong wind.) I don't even really notice the difference between the 34 and 36T small rings when I'm climbing. It's basically equal to the difference between one rear shift.

I think the perfect compromise to this is to go 50-36 with a bigger, 11-xx cassette in the back. Like 11-27, 11-28 or even 11-30.

• I love the smaller effective gear drop it gives when changing rings up front. I don't have to shift as many times in the back to keep the equivalent gearing.
• 50x11 is a really big gear, so I'm all set there.
• And I can actually make decent use out of the small front ring -- this is amplified by the fact that with an 11-tooth cassette cog, the 36x12 is no longer cross-chaining

Only downside is larger gaps between gears in back. But 11 speeds lessens this. And if you live in a place like where I live, with relatively sudden changes in gradient over short distances, the larger gaps between gears is often a plus.

Agree with the above.
Since it's for a TT bike, the 52t ring shouldn't be a problem since you'll be more aero.

It's not so common, but I use a 52x38 (12-23 at home, 12-25 when I go to Italy).

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52X38?
What make is it?

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res, non verba

52/36 w/cassette choice is the way to go. 11-25 for flat, short hill areas or racing, 12-28 for the hills

Unless you live in some serious mountainous areas, 12-28 over 34 little ring basically.

SRAM S900 crankset compact and a dura ace 9200(I think) 130 bcd

Chainrings are by Stronglight.

http://www.bike24.com/p22875.html

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