Hi,
I have a question I am considering purchasing a 54 tooth chain ring. I have used a standard for the most part and occasionally a compact. Will this 1 extra tooth make a large difference?
A little about myself. I’m not a power rider. I do try and spin. I’ve been offered a good deal on a 54 tooth chain ring and just would like to hear if I can make it work or should I stay away from the slightly larger chain ring.
Thank you.
It will make less than 2% difference to your cadence so the short answer is no it is not significant. If you were riding at 90RPM with a 53, you’ll be riding at 88RPM with a 54.
It isn’t going to hurt or help. So if you got a good deal a neat aero chainring, and it is 54, go for it.
Only downside can be trickier shifting up front, but I’ve never noticed that with a 39 tooth inner ring.
Hi,
I have a question I am considering purchasing a 54 tooth chain ring. I have used a standard for the most part and occasionally a compact. Will this 1 extra tooth make a large difference?
A little about myself. I’m not a power rider. I do try and spin. I’ve been offered a good deal on a 54 tooth chain ring and just would like to hear if I can make it work or should I stay away from the slightly larger chain ring.
Thank you.
I’ve got a 54/42 on one bike and a 53/39 on the other. No differences in shifting on either. I like to think I’m faster on the 54 but who knows
One theory of chainring/cog wear is that to minimize wear you want to have the number of teeth be relatively prime.
53 is a prime number, 54 is not. You will get better wear using a 53.
But it really does not matter.
Ditto here - no real differences in shifting (although the 53/39 is running a 9sp gruppo and the 54/42 is running a 10sp gruppo) I have seen, ditto cadence.
AP
shifting quality may go down when using a 54/39
Using a 54/42 it might go up!
But a 54/42 will leave even pro cyclists wanting some easier gears on many types of terrain.
Definitely. I rode the 54/42 at Leadmand Bend this past Sept and I could have used a little more room… 
Shoulda at least changed the cassette (dunh) Oh well, lesson learned…?
AP
it it allows you to ride at your optimal RPM and power in a cassette gear that allows a straight chainline and minimal gaps in shifting then great. Adding a bigger chainring won’t make you “faster”, it’s something you do for a specific reason related to gearing. Most people who TT below 27 mph would have little need for a 54 unless I’m missing something.
Hey,
Thanks for the info. I am not a guy who rides 27+ mph. I was offered a good deal on a 54 tooth and wanted to know if there would be any real negatives.
Thanks, Gene
Hey,
Thanks for the info. I am not a guy who rides 27+ mph. I was offered a good deal on a 54 tooth and wanted to know if there would be any real negatives.
Thanks, Gene
No, not really. The only issue you might encounter is this–if you ride a bigger cluster in the back, say a 12-25, there will be some 2-tooth jumps in the cluster, often the 16 is omitted. If your choice to jump to a 54 puts you in a position where the 54 x 16 is the “right” gear for a lot of your flatland riding (that’s just over 24 mph at 90 rpm’s) then you have that situation where one click down is too hard and one click up is too easy.
The net result, your 54 put you in a spot where your cluster makes a two tooth jump.
I suggest you use this tool below, count your cluster and set the chainrings to 53 and 54 and then the output to speed at 90 rpm’s and make sure your typical speed will be better served by the 54. For a rider who races in the low 20’s I suspect the answer is no due to the reasons I gave above. A 52 might even be better for many riders.
It isn’t going to hurt or help. So if you got a good deal a neat aero chainring, and it is 54, go for it.
Only downside can be trickier shifting up front, but I’ve never noticed that with a 39 tooth inner ring.
Hi,
I have a question I am considering purchasing a 54 tooth chain ring. I have used a standard for the most part and occasionally a compact. Will this 1 extra tooth make a large difference?
A little about myself. I’m not a power rider. I do try and spin. I’ve been offered a good deal on a 54 tooth chain ring and just would like to hear if I can make it work or should I stay away from the slightly larger chain ring.
Thank you.
I’ve been wondering about this. My bike came with a 54/42 FSA TT chain-ring set. I changed out the crank, which came with a 53/39 (went from 175mm to 170mm, both FSA Gossamer) and am liking the hills better now. I’ve been thinking of putting the “aero” 54 TT ring back on and keeping the 39, but am wondering about the shifting quality. I’m experiencing some very sporadic chain suck with the new chain-ring set. Luckily it’s only happened while soft-pedaling and I’ve been able to back off quick enough to avoid catastrophe. Can the 54 make this worse, or is this just because the new 39 isn’t worn in yet? I never had this issue with the 54/42 even when brand new. I run Dura-Ace derailleurs with a 105 chain and 12-25 105 cassette in back if that makes any difference.
Chainsuck is almost always caused by
Dirty drivetrain,
worn chain or cogs/chainrings
stiff rear freehub
improperly adjusted derailleurs allowing thw chain to come off the big cog or little chainring towards the frame.
Properly adjusted chainsuck wont occur even with weird combos. When I’m doing long rides with steep climbs I’ve used a 52/34 with a wide ratio rear cogset with no issues, other than its finicky to set up initially.
If you ride a bigger cluster in the back, say a 12-25, there will be some 2-tooth jumps in the cluster, often the 16 is omitted. If your choice to jump to a 54 puts you in a position where the 54 x 16 is the “right” gear for a lot of your flatland riding (that’s just over 24 mph at 90 rpm’s) then you have that situation where one click down is too hard and one click up is too easy.
The net result, your 54 put you in a spot where your cluster makes a two tooth jump.
I suggest you use this tool below, count your cluster and set the chainrings to 53 and 54 and then the output to speed at 90 rpm’s and make sure your typical speed will be better served by the 54. For a rider who races in the low 20’s I suspect the answer is no due to the reasons I gave above. A 52 might even be better for many riders.
While I agree with everything you say …
The difference between a 54 and a 53 is only 2% (2rpm and less then 2% change in force on the pedals - both not significant) so any 2 tooth jump will be present for both.
But anyone who cares about using the proper gear will have a full complement of cogs and be able to put in the missing 16 if it is important.
With my current cogs I can build starting with 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 and ending with 21, 23, 25, 27, or 30 any 10 speed cassete with no unwanted gaps.
If you ride a bigger cluster in the back, say a 12-25, there will be some 2-tooth jumps in the cluster, often the 16 is omitted. If your choice to jump to a 54 puts you in a position where the 54 x 16 is the “right” gear for a lot of your flatland riding (that’s just over 24 mph at 90 rpm’s) then you have that situation where one click down is too hard and one click up is too easy.
The net result, your 54 put you in a spot where your cluster makes a two tooth jump.
I suggest you use this tool below, count your cluster and set the chainrings to 53 and 54 and then the output to speed at 90 rpm’s and make sure your typical speed will be better served by the 54. For a rider who races in the low 20’s I suspect the answer is no due to the reasons I gave above. A 52 might even be better for many riders.
While I agree with everything you say …
The difference between a 54 and a 53 is only 2% (2rpm and less then 2% change in force on the pedals - both not significant) so any 2 tooth jump will be present for both.
But anyone who cares about using the proper gear will have a full complement of cogs and be able to put in the missing 16 if it is important.
With my current cogs I can build starting with 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, or 16 and ending with 21, 23, 25, 27, or 30 any 10 speed cassete with no unwanted gaps.
All I’m saying is a lot of novice riders on this forum ask questions about a larger chainring making them faster, when in fact for a slower rider in the low 20’s switching down to a 52 or even a 50 might give a higher chance of having the right gear. People get this idea that a larger ring is faster and more manly somehow, which is just plain odd.
And i don’t mean to put the original poster in this column, i’m just saying in general this question comes up more than it should
I run a 54 bc for me 53x16 is too easy, 53x15 is too hard. 54x16 is perfect & when i can push that gear at 90+ rpm, i know its going to be a good day on the bike. Ive never looked at a gear inch chart for that to make sense, I just trained a lot w a guy who was an international level racer & he was big on knowing your gears.
Thanks for the info. I didn’t state this but it’s a q ring and I hope that 1 tooth difference doesn’t make an already tricky shifting even more. Thanks again,
Gino
I run a 54 bc for me 53x16 is too easy, 53x15 is too hard. 54x16 is perfect & when i can push that gear at 90+ rpm, i know its going to be a good day on the bike. Ive never looked at a gear inch chart for that to make sense, I just trained a lot w a guy who was an international level racer & he was big on knowing your gears.
.
Well the difference between a 53x15 and a 53x16 at 90 rpm is .12mph…um I do not get it 1rpm makes that much of a difference.
I run a 54 bc for me 53x16 is too easy, 53x15 is too hard. 54x16 is perfect & when i can push that gear at 90+ rpm, i know its going to be a good day on the bike. Ive never looked at a gear inch chart for that to make sense, I just trained a lot w a guy who was an international level racer & he was big on knowing your gears.What happens if you have more than 1mph of wind or have to go up a .5% slope or decide to ride with a different power level? Is your ride ruined?
If you widen out your comfortable cadence range a little you’ll have a few more ‘perfect’ gears