Hello. I am new to the forum but not too new to Tri’s. I have used standard cranksets for the last 4 years, but am looking into using a compact crankset this season. I am switching my bike from Shimano to Campy, so gear swap-out is not an issue as I will be working on the bike anyway.
I have 4-5 races scheduled, the first two of which have hills. I am comfortable on hills and regularly ride long rides on hills, just not running afterwards. I am thinking the comact will help with spinning of some of these hills, help with smooth gearing transitions as well as likely being able to stay in the big ring more? I think more spinning and less mashing will leave a little extra in the legs for the run. What are the thoughts on this?I think it makes sense to move down to a compact, but so few Tri bikes have compacts that I am not sure if I am missing something here or my logic is flawed. I read the article on Slowtwitch about this, but I wanted to hear from folks who have some experience with this, good and bad, and can help me out.
I run compacts on my road and tri bikes. 50/34 and 12-25.
FTP is 268 and I weigh 150 lbs. I don’t envision a situation where I need to ever ride 53/39. I will never race something like Arizona or Florida which would be the only situation I would pause for thought, even then, I would probably just switch cassettes.
I run standard cranks on both road and TT bike. I think compact cranks are a bad idea on a TT bike. You can accomplish what you want with a different cassette (unless you’re climbing in the French Alps). You create a new problem going to compact cranks, in that you’ll spin out on hilly courses.
You do realize that you’re completely uninformed, right? Have you looked at a gear chart? Here’s a hint: a 50/11 is BIGGER than a 53/12.
You can also change chainrings a helluva lot less expensively than you can change cassettes, meaning you can run a 46, 48, 50, or 52 big ring on 110 BCD.
I run standard cranks on both road and TT bike. I think compact cranks are a bad idea on a TT bike. You can accomplish what you want with a different cassette (unless you’re climbing in the French Alps). You create a new problem going to compact cranks, in that you’ll spin out on hilly courses.
At the top end, you have to spin a 50x11 like 5rpm faster than a 53x11 to reach the same speed. Not a big deal. I can count on zero hands the amount of times I’ve spun out my tri bike in a race at 45+mph. I just do local races, so maybe someone can fill me in on any courses where that would be the difference between a win and a loss.
I use a standard on my road bike and a compact on my tri bike. Why? Faster speeds on the road bike with all the pack work, sprints, and more of an expectation of fast descents. On my tri bike, I use a compact because I’m solo, don’t sprint, and no races I do have any insane climbs or descents.
You do realize that you’re completely uninformed, right? Have you looked at a gear chart? Here’s a hint: a 50/11 is BIGGER than a 53/12.
You can also change chainrings a helluva lot less expensively than you can change cassettes, meaning you can run a 46, 48, 50, or 52 big ring on 110 BCD.
Assuming your standard crank is 130 BCD, you could also find a 130 BCD 50T big ring & swap it out with your 53.
You do realize that you’re completely uninformed, right? Have you looked at a gear chart? Here’s a hint: a 50/11 is BIGGER than a 53/12.
You can also change chainrings a helluva lot less expensively than you can change cassettes, meaning you can run a 46, 48, 50, or 52 big ring on 110 BCD.
Sorry, I didn’t realize that I was uninformed. Maybe spinning out at 50x11 down hills contributed? My opinion is that having a standard 53/39 and an extra cassette if you REALLY need the climbing gears are better than a compact crank.
For me, 11/23 cassette and a standard crank works fine, as there aren’t really many hills where a 39/23 (or 25) is too much of a challenge. I think that a compact crank would be beneficial for someone where 39/26(or whatever) would be too challenging.
Well until you’ve experienced riding someplace where nearly every ride over 20 miles involves a 3 mile 7% climb (and that’s the easiest one, the other options are steeper and/or longer) perhaps you should qualify your statements by saying “I don’t ever have to climb hills but…”. Even strong Cat 3 climbers around here will run compacts. It’s just asinine to make blanket statements that 39x23 is enough for everybody.
Is this post a troll to get this silly argument going again on ST? This gets discussed, with the same comments - both good and bad, as well as accurate and inaccurate - about once a month.
There is no right answer, only conjecture on both sides of the argument. Use what you want, spend the money you think you need to spend, and pedal however you feel. The set up that gets me to the finish line the quickest will almost certainly be different that what you need, or what anyone else on this board needs. The trick is being smart enough to figure it out on your own, because no one else knows the answer (for you).
Is this post a troll to get this silly argument going again on ST? This gets discussed, with the same comments - both good and bad, as well as accurate and inaccurate - about once a month.
There is no right answer, only conjecture on both sides of the argument. Use what you want, spend the money you think you need to spend, and pedal however you feel. The set up that gets me to the finish line the quickest will almost certainly be different that what you need, or what anyone else on this board needs. The trick is being smart enough to figure it out on your own, because no one else knows the answer (for you).
Sorry, not a troll here and I am not certain why it is a silly question. New to posting here and I guess I didn’t realize my query would lead to a thread break down. My bad. I thought it was a legit question, so I posed it. I have a new (to me) Cyfac tri bike that came with a standard sized crankset, but it is Shimano. Since I have Campy on my other bikes and have an extra Campy UT compact, I was going to put it on and ride it like that.
I don’t find quotes like this helpful, “The trick is being smart enough to figure it out on your own” as I was specifically asking if people could share their experiences with compacts, not if they could help me “figure it out”. I think I have figured it out, but as I stated, I wanted to hear from others who had made the same decision to see how it impacted them.
In the cycling and tri world, people discuss all sorts of things (hell, people argue about grams,drag and rolling resistance, endlessly) but a simple question about gearing shouldn’t be silly, should it?
*I don’t find quotes like this helpful, “The trick is being smart enough to figure it out on your own” as I was specifically asking if people could share their experiences with compacts, not if they could help me “figure it out”. *
Ignore the idiots dude…sounds to me like you’ve already figured it out. Trust your gut on this one…
(fwiw I’m a standard crank kinda guy but that’s where I’m comfortable)
The simple answer on this is, there’s nothing inherently wrong with a compact crankset on a tri bike. I just bought one to put on mine. The trick is it varies by person/type of terrain etc. If you live in kansas and the most difficult terrain you encounter is a headwind then you might not need one, but if you think it might help you by all means go for it, it’ll probably be a good decision.
In the cycling and tri world, people discuss all sorts of things (hell, people argue about grams,drag and rolling resistance, endlessly) but a simple question about gearing shouldn’t be silly, should it?
And discussing those things is just as silly as the question you asked. If you are new, then use the search function and look at last months multi-page discussion of 50/34 vs 53/39. Stop asking people to hold your hand.
Unless you are AVERAGING 24-25mph+ on any given course or racing in a TT (with a general 85-105 cadence), I’d say compacts are better for most. I have over 30,000 miles on compacts and can honestly say the 24-25mph average is where you start noticing the “spin out” affecting how fast you want to go. Add to that the benefit of having a tighter gearing ratio and less gear overlap is why I think compacts are better for most.
FWIW - I have standards on my TT bike (now) and compacts on my road bike