Thanks for chiming in everyone! I really appreciate all the advice and IRL experiences.

One of the reasons I was thinking of possibly changing is just due to availability of the crank I would switch to. The 52/36 is the only one available for about 1.5-2 months. I know that's a stupid reason to switch, but it's fact. The 32t is mostly a bailout gear, except for the steepest hills, but I also tend to use it to make sure I don't overdo it on hills. I'm also 20-25lbs heavier than I've been in the past and hope to get back down there.

I probably don't require a 52/36 right now, but where I'd like to get with my fitness, I think I could maybe benefit from it. On my next few rides I'll definitely pay a bit more attention to what part of the cassette I'm riding in and maybe stick to the 28t on the climbs to get a feel for what a 36/32 might feel like.

I'll revive this thread:
My girlfriend wants to change her crank on a new bike (from RS 510 to 105 FC-R7000 so it's a complete 105 setup).
Currently: 52/36 and 11-30. Should we switch to 50/34 while we are on it?
Apparently even woman-specific bikes nowadays come always with 52-36 (Canyon, Liv) so it seems the choice does not depend on riders strength?
Thanks in advance for any opinion.

Three issues: Wanting groupset 'integrity'; availability of top and bottom length gears, length of crank.
Factors in reverse order of importance imho.
At 90rpm the 50-11 gets you still putting power in at 52kph. Is this desired?
The 34-30 would give rider a bottom gear 6% lower: is this needed?
http://www.gear-calculator.com/...;UN=KMH&DV=teeth
Swapping crankset (for non mechanical reasons or otherwise) offers opportunity to appraise and choose optimum crank length. Need to take a shortened crank length (eg 170 > 165 = 3%) into account (so likely go 50-34).
HTH

Can you try swapping on a 52 big ring and retaining the 34 and see if it shifts ok? It bet it might be fine.

52/34 works fine on my Venge Di2.

I was reading this whole thread thinking the same thing.... steal the 34 ring and put it with the 52.

Shimano probably discourages it, but I've run 52/34 without issue.

I run a 52-36 and 11-34 cassette. It's magical on the steeps and I can still drop my buddies on the descents and hold my own on the flats. FWIW!

I know it's months down the road now, but OP probably could have run a 11-34 in lieu of the 11-32 as well.

Those are not your only options.

Ask yourself how much you dislike big adjustments in back required by changing rings up front and how easy of a gear you really need.

Outside of the "insane-level" climbs (like 18-20% grades) I find that 36 up front with 28 in back is all I need. But I also find that I almost never need a gear bigger than 50x11".

So I run 50-36 up front and 11-28 in back. I just buy a 50x34 crank and replace the small ring with 36. This gives me a nice, tighter grouping when I change gears up front. So I don't need to make big adjustments in back. I have an easy gear of 36x38 and a big gear of 50x11

Hi, thanks for your opinion and sorry for the late follow-up.
So as i said, currently 52/36 and 11/30.
Length is 165 and shouldn’t be changed.
Riding is currently more on the flats.
The short crank and given that the rider is more on the weak side my tendency is now to swap to 50/34