I bought a cannondale cadd10 105 brand new a year ago (shimano cassette 12-27 10spd, FSA compact chainring gossamer pro 50/34 110BCD). Very happy with the bike except the compact chainring. Thinking about going for mid-compact (52/36t). Can I just replace the chainrings without anything else? Or do I have to change the cassette and the chain as well?
FSA website has super type chainrings at 52/36 @ 110mm BCD. It is easy to find super 52 on the market but super 36 inner chainring seems very rear. A lot of pro 36t. So can I put super 52/pro 36 together? I barely use a smaller ring since it’s flat as a pancake here.
53/39 comes only with 130mm bcd. That would trigger more replacements. That’s why I am shy away from it.
I have an 110 BCD FSA gossamer crank and swap between between 50/46/36/34 chainrings on a regular basis without any problem, the front derailleur just needs minor adjustments. My main reason for swamping rings though is alternating the bike between a pure cross set-up (46/36 12-32) where I want to select a front ring and leave it there the whole race and amore of a road friendly set-up (50-34 11-25/28) where I have shift the front whenever I need to. I find the cassette makes much more of a gearing difference that the front rings and while I would have to double check I think dropping to an 11 on the back will be a bigger change than moving to a 52 on the front. You may also find it cheaper to pick up a 11-25 shimano casesette than new chain rings and it takes a decent hill to need a smaller option than 34X25.
Second the Praxis rings. Front shifting is very good with Praxis’ shifting ramps.
Alternatively, take the opportunity to switch to a 105 chainset with a semi compact chainring setup. A new 105 chainset would nearly be offset against the cost of new chainrings.