fietsbob

No, I have not done what you want to do , but that should not stop you from trying it for yourself .

I put about the same crank* on my Road/cross bike as my Touring bike , no carbon frames , no indexed shifting .

I just dont use those bikes much, on a daily basis.

I've gone full circle ... back to IGH , but there have been Improvements since 1958, to those components.



* 50,40,24 ; .. the Road & Cross bike Have a 13~28 instead of 13~34.

Wanderer

That may be your experience, but for me it's completely different!

At 70, I find myself riding in lower gears, to make it easier to ride. Also, with age comes a lot of health complications, and some of the drugs that drag you down in an effort to save my heart.

Yeah, I was fine with higher gears in my 50s and early 60s, but the last couple of years have been very trying! I used to surprise a lot of "kids" with my speed and stamina, but, sadly, some of my meds changed that...... and it ain't from lack of trying.

I really appreciate the lower gears, some of which I seldom accessed 5-10 years ago. I still like to go fast, I just look for more downhills to do it!

DeadGrandpa

This is where I reveal my stupidity: I bought a Jamis Renegade Expert last June. They list it under "road" bikes, but it might be similar to cyclocross. Marketed as a "go-anywhere, do anything" bike, I tried the stock gearing, 11-28 and 50/34 compact crankset. It didn't have low enough gearing for the hills I ride. My bike dealer swore I couldn't put a triple crankset on it or even a smaller than 34T chainring. Eventually I believed him (when someone tells you something enough times, you think it's the truth) and spent an amount of money equal to the original cost of the bike in order to convert to SRAM XX1. New SRAM cassette 10-42, new SRAM RD, new wheel to accept the new SRAM hub and SRAM hub driver, new SRAM shifters. I now have the original 34T crank, minus the large 50T chain ring (they said the 10-42 won't work with anything but a single chainring up front). In other words, a 1x11, 34T x 10-42 cassette, which yields 22 to 92.4 gear inches. It seems to work for me (it is a little lacking downhill), although I wonder if I could have managed to spend more money to accomplish the same result. A different bike dealer has since told me he could have put a triple crank on my bike that would have worked with the original cassette and shifters.

Gwenallt29

Hi Yeti

I've just purchased a Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 with a Shimano Ultegra 11-32 at the back and the standard Shimano Ultegra 34/50 at the front - with hydraulic brakes. However, I live on top of a hill with z bends and really miss the 11-36 X5 SRAM I had on my old Moda! Would love a 11-36 but Shimano don't make these! Have been looking at SRAM and was very interested in what hughwill has done. have you found anything for the Shimano?

Gwenallt29

Greetings from West Wales!


Loved reading your post and am coming from exactly the same place!


I've just purchased a Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 with a Shimano Ultegra 11-32 at the back and the standard Shimano Ultegra 34/50 at the front - with hydraulic brakes. However, I live on top of a hill with z bends and really miss the 11-36 X5 SRAM I had on my old Moda! Would love a 11-36 but Shimano don't make these! Have been looking at SRAM and was very interested in what you have done. Are you also using hydraulic brakes as this apparently limits my options too!


Cheers
Maldwyn

hughwill

Sorry for the delay in replying (can't even use the excuse of being out on
the bike all the time- will these winds ever stop?). The cassette is an 11 speed
PG1170 11-36. Sram advertise them as MTB rather than road and as part of their
Sram Force CX1 range of 1X11 gearsets. If you look up PG1170 you'll often just
see the road range which only goes up to 11-32.

Good luck with it!

In reply to Maldwyn- yes indeed, I've got splendid Sram Force Hydraulic discs-
they are fabulous, once anyone tries them they'll never go back!

yetirider

I've got mine working at 10 speed, I have an 11 speed Ultegra setup, got a cheap SRAM 11-36 MTB cassette to try.
Took the top three cogs spider off the Ultegra and replaced them with the top three from the SRAM and adjusted the mech so it runs.
It shifts OK not silky smooth like the Ultegra but i'll continue with fine adjustments.
For a hilly region its very rideable and the 36 only comes into play usually at the end of a steep ride to back off and get to the top.

Gwenallt29

I have just bought a Giant Defy Pro Advanced 2 which came with Shimano 11-32 rear cassette. This gearing was not low enough for the steep hill where I live! I followed up on a piece of advice on here and my LBS CycleMart in (West Wales) imported the Wolf Tooth RoadLink. https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/roadlink This is a simple, effective and cheap device that offsets the position of the Shimano road derailleur to make it possible to run a wide-range mountain bike style cassette. It is an ideal and cheap solution for converting a road bike with double chainring (or single) in order to lower gearing for those ultra steep climbs. They swapped the Shimano 11-32 for a SRAM 11-36 cassette and it works a dream!

yetirider

Cheers just ordered one, makes me wonder if I should have got a better cassette rather than the cheap one, can always upgrade and keep it as a spare, I have 2 bikes running an 11-36.

yetirider

This is why I love a 36 on the back, not really sure if I would like to live in a flat area, the hills are the challenge.

tschenkel

Looking good, Hugh. Does this mean I could just swap the 11-32 cassette on my Rival-22-Hydro Gravel/Adventure/Cyclocross/Road/Off-Road-Bike for the 11-36 and gain an additional off-road granny gear? Was thinking of trying that for an off-road wheel set, 36/34 would make a good single-track climbing gear. Anything lower and I'm quicker carrying the bike, anyway ;-)

hughwill

It does indeed. Look for an PG1170 11-36 cassette. Pricey but worth it.

yetirider

I got mine from Rose, only took a few days to deliver and cheapest I could see.
https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/...tte/aid:712576

martianone

Run a 1x10 on my road bike with 11-36 and X.9 RD and bar end shifter- all works well.

deepakvrao

Such a useful thread for me. My issue is quite similar.

This is what I had posted elsewhere:

Now I read that I can get a SRAM 22 to work with a 36 cog cassette. That would solve my issues, and save weight also. I have always preferred SRAM too.

Do you think this should work with Rival 22 also? Would the bike make a difference? RD hanger shape etc?

deepakvrao

That chainstay is an odd shape. Do you guys think that is why the RD works with a 36 cog?

deepakvrao

Is this with the Force RD?

hughwill

No. The chainstay is like that simply to match the non chain side which is designed for the disc brakes. The hanger is in the usual position.

deepakvrao

So, is that the regular Force RD, and what did you have to do to get the 36 on? Just the b screw screwed in, or something more?

bykemike 

Yes, Force RD with medium chain cage, easy to dial in and shift flawlessly. It will cross chain all the gears but I try not to use the big/big but sometimes just space out and forget to shift.

deepakvrao

Thanks so much. If I can put on a 36 at the back, I'm saved of the Tiagra. Much prefer SRAM and Force anyway. I've also decided to ditch the Rival idea and get the Force.

bykemike 

No problem, love your crazyguy blogs!

TexasChip

Just came across this thread. I am trying to accomplish the same thing as hughwill (running 11-36 cassette with dual chainring setup). Having almost no bike mechanic skills or experience (have changed cassettes and chains, that's it), I am not clear about what it will take for me to accomplish that.

Right now, I am running a SRAM Force 22 setup, 50x34 chainrings with 11-32 cassette and SRAM Force 22 WiFLi 11 Speed Rear Mech RD. I would like to move to 11-36 due to some nasty hills on some upcoming rides. I am not clear what else I need to change on my bike to be able to go to a 11-36 cassette. I understand I may have to install a new (longer) chain, but anything else I need to change? The RD? The RD hanger? Do I need the RoadLink? Or will the existing RD be able to accommodate the 11-36 cassette just by adjusting the B-screw?

Thanks very much in advance for your help!

Compositions

Great thread everyone. I've only recently turned 50 (March 31) and I have so much respect for you guys especially you guys that are 70 plus. You inspire me and I hope that I can be as dedicated to my conditioning as you. Each and every one of you would drop me in the hills and I'm a former Division 1 college athlete. Anyway I follow this guy Durianrider on YouTube and he talks about exactly what this thread is about. Please excuse his language as he has no qualms about dropping F-bombs but if you follow him on Strava and see the rides that he does you won’t question his dedication to cycling. I find his cycling advice credible. In the following link he talks about using an 11 speed with a compact crankset and a 40 cassette. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwKGy9FphYI. In this link he talks about using an 11 speed with a compact crankset and a 32 cassette with a short cage 105 RD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLldNX7s-c8. One more video to watch is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsC1CsiQTwg where Durianrider talks about a triple crankset and a 36 rear cassette. My takeaway from this is do whatever you have to do to make the gearing you need work and if it saves your knees it might be worth it to void the warranty in the process. Don’t be scared to use a mountain bike rear DR if that’s what it takes. Keep riding and when you pedal past the young cool guys pushing their perfectly tricked out, brand new, uber expensive bike up the hill, you win

deepakvrao

Which RD do you use?