big john

Would you consider getting a different bike? If going to 11 you will need at least a new shifter and cassette, maybe derailleur. I think the hub will work. Add the crank if you want to lower the gearing there, too.

If you go from 53/39 crank to 50/34 compact it will feel weird for a while and it might take time to sort out the cassette you like.
For me, I use a 50x12 high gear and it's plenty high enough. I tried a 13 small cog and it wasn't enough. I am using Campagnolo 10 speed so my big cog is 29. 34x29 gets me up everything I do but there are times I wish I had a lower gear.

big john

Ultegra 9 speed is 130mm bolt circle so a 39 is the smallest you can put on that crank.

t2p

one affordable / cheap option might be to source take off Sora 9 speed stuff

???

many entry level Sora 9 spd gravel bikes were equipped with FSA (or whatever) compact 46-30 crankset with 11-34 rear cassette

but the 46t big ring can be limiting to some ... and the gear ratio spacing in the rear obviously not ideal

( just throwing this option out there although I don’t recommend )

some 11 spd cassettes will fit many 9 spd hubs - can depend on the hub and cassette ... the larger cassettes appear more likely to fit (11-32 ? 11-34 ? 11-36 ?)

rjerney

Right now, I'm just planning to upgrade my existing bike. I've been using it a long time & am used to the way it feels & rides so I don't mind spending some money on it. I just don't want to throw money away on since there is constant competition for my recreation dollars. I also enjoy skiing & whitewater rafting!

big john

In that case all you need to do is decide what gearing you want. Do you think you would be happy with the same crankset and different cassette? In my case I changed both the crank and cassette because I wanted a low gear.

rjerney

You guys confirmed that I'm definitely geared too high. I doubt that just a crank swap will get me where I want to be. I'm leaning towards a new crank (50/34), Hub (11/34) along with an RS 500 wheelset. I suspect that I won't spin out too often on the flats & slight downhills when I make the change. I like the idea of swapping the rings for 52/36 if I feel like I'm not getting enough speed on the flats. I'm Ok coasting on the steeper downhills. I think I just needed to wrap my head around what the change should look like.

867530niiiine

I have been riding a 53/39 paired with an 11-23, for years. My knees just can't do it anymore.

I'm looking at an All-City Zig Zag Ultegra that has a 52/36 crankset with an 11-32 cluster. Figuring out the gear inches at 36x32 that gives 30.32 gear inches. If I had a 50/34 with an 11-34 cluster I'm looking at 27.01 inches when I am at 34x34. That just does not seem that appreciable to me especially when I am used to 45.80 at my lowest. In reality, how much will I notice that 3.31 inches?

I'll be mostly riding courses of easy rollers and on occasions will be riding long grinders in Colorado and in Western North Carolina.

eljayski 

Good call! 34/34 gives you 1:1 granny which is fairly low (easy) for road bikes.

Calsun

With my 10-speed bikes on a planned tour through the high sierras I replaced the largest cog that was a 24 tooth one with a 28 tooth cog so I had in effect a "granny" gear for the grades. If not racing all that matters is being able to go up the longest and steepest grade without having to dismount. 10 speeds and 1 of them an ultra low speed was plenty good enough over thousands of miles with touring gear on the bike.

My Trek 5200 has "only" a 9-cog rear cassette that is a 12-25t and with 53/39 chainrings in the front there is nothing I cannot manage on the road, but if I did my first move would be to a 12-32t or 12-34t cassette. No need to fool with the chainrings, although I have gone to much smaller outer chainring at 53t which replaced a 60t chainring. With the 12-60 I could pedal downhill and get to speeds that were on the edge but when one is young and fearless (foolish) I did things I would not dream of doing in my later years when the body takes longer to heal from injuries.

Iride01 

rjerney you need to take a look at your rear DR specs before you get that 11-34 cassette. If you currently have a 11-23 on the rear, then there is a good chance your rear derailleur won't handle a low cog with that many teeth.

If you look on the back of the parallelogram on the RD, there should be a part number stamped in it. You might have to clean off the gunk. But if you tell us what that part number is, someone can look up the specs and tell you better what size cassette it will handle.

Or you can look that up here if you know what to look for..... https://si.shimano.com/en/#/

delbiker1 

You can actually get a130 bcd, 38 tooth ring on that crankset. I will have to look, but I think I have one, a silver Vuelta SE Plus. If so, I am willing to part with it. You could match that up with a 48 tooth 130 bcd, paired with an 11/ 32-34-36 cassette, gets you a lot more low gearing. Obviously, you lose some high end. 48-11, for me, is plenty. First make sure there is enough room to lower the FDR a few mm, and change, or lengthen. the chain. I had that set up with Ultegra 6500 groupset, the short cage RDR handled it fine. Actually, I am now positive I have an FSA black 38 tooth in 130 bcd. also would part with. Cassettes, like Microshift, work very low and low cost, But Shimano 9 speeds, I believe are still readily available at reasonable price. Just another option. I think I do not have any more 9 cassettes.

Pm me if you have interest in the chain rings.

chaadster

WTF is up with these non-conventional derailleur abbreviations, guys!?! Really, there's no need to muck things up with stuff like DR and FDR when RD and FD are perfectly unambiguous and well know. Kindly stop it.

Iride01 

I'm trying to stop the non-sense. But I'm definitely guilty of using FDR an other non-standard terms. Sometimes I catch it before I push the <submit> button.

SoSmellyAir

Given that FD and RD are the prefixes for Shimano component model designations, I suspect that (former) Campagnolo purists are (in the habit of) deliberately using other abbreviations.

chaadster

I don't...nobody uses those weird abbreviations.

t2p

FDR

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt

t2p

just be aware - if you get a Shimano 50-34 crank and desire to change the rings - the big rings can be very expensive ... (new R6800, R8000
Ultegra big rings are over $100 for example)

Fredo76

Willow made triplizers for 130 BCD in 46T, 42T and 39T. There are two 46T ones on ebay now, but I don't see a 39T at the moment. I needed a RD with more capacity, but that was the only other change I needed - my existing FD (friction) and BB worked fine as they were.

merlinextraligh

my road racing bike has 50/34 chainrings. If you can spin a decent cadence 50/11 is all anyone short of the pro peloton needs for a top end, with the possible exception of a TT with shallow downhills, and or big tailwinds.

I’ve raced in Pro 1,2,3 crits and road races in Florida where things are fast and flat, as well as road races in California(sierra nevadas) Colorado and Utah, ( Rockies) and France( Alps) never once was I held back by lack of a bigger top end gear.

50x11 at 100 rpm’s is 38 mph. 45 mph at 120. Descending, if you get past 45 mph it’s likey more efficient to stop pedaling and tuck.

If you’re spinning out a 50x11 on the flats, you either need to learn to spin a bit, or your pro tour team should be providing your bike and helping with you gear selection.

chaadster

Top end at max RPM is not even close to the whole story, though. What about the other 10 cogs at more normal pedaling speeds?

I prefer a 52t ring and get a lot of work done on group rides over rolling terrain turning 75 and 92 rpm on the 12,13,14,15,17 cogs. The 11t sees action every ride, too, but I’ve rarely got the room to work it at high cadence except on the final sprint zone of the ride when we roll in hot and dump the last bit of juice we have, but even then its only 15 seconds or so.

rjerney

Thanks for posting! Good info & feedback. I'm definitely planning to make the switch; mor spinning, less grinding......

Iride01 

More spinning, less mashing.

Grinding can be either mashing or spinning. Grinding is just a steady cadence that you do for a long time.

At least that's how I've always come to think of it's use.

aliasfox

How old is the 9-speed bike? If it’s 105 or better, than the bike is likely to be a 2004 or older, which means that if you want to upgrade from 9sp to 11sp, you’ll end up needing:
- new crank
- new cassette
- new chain
- new rear derailleur (and likely new front derailleur)
- new shifters
- new rear hub (or wheel, which will likely be cheaper if you’re not doing the labor yourself)
- new handlebar tape
Additionally, new shifters are designed for 31.8mm diameter bars, and if the bike is 20yrs old, it’ll still have much skinnier handlebars. I don’t know if new shifters can be cranked down enough to fit on the older diameter, so you might need to budget new bars and stem in, as well.

all that without labor is likely to be upwards of $750, or nearly $1k with a decent bar/stem combo…

biker128pedal

If you upgrade to Shimano 11 speed with 50/34 the rear may accommodate an 11-34 cassette. Domane’s have that set up. On my Domane I run 11-28 rear for the road and have the 11-34 on a set of wheels set up for gravel.

Note between the two cassettes I do have adjust the trim of the derailleur. Also one has a spacer. Can’t remember which one.

cyclezen

I get that you're new to DF, for future Questions you might post; it's good to give all the pertinent info, so that others can relate to any current 'conditions'.
Somewhere you noted have a TREK 5200, that model was in the line from the early 1990's thru 2010 ish? So a bunch of different configs.
You're on a 9 Spd setup, 53/39 & 11-23. You're not going to be able to jump to 11 speed & 11-32 cassette without wholesale NEW Drive train, possibly including new wheels.
If it's all NEW components, then the cost will be almost equal to a NEW bike with those components and a frame same level as any of the 5200s.
I would NOT spend the bikg bucks on a compete Drivetrain upgrade on the 5200!
Likely the current setup has a 'short cage RD', you'll want to go to Mid or Long cage RD if you go over a 25 or 26 (maybe squeak by on a 27) rear large cog.
So if you want a broader spread of gearing (which currently would be old school 'race' gearing for mostly flatish courses), I suggest an incremental upgrade.
Super Basic :
Get a 12-27 9 spd cassette and long cage RD
Basic:
12-28 9 spd cassette, long cage RD, AND a new 9 spd 50/34 crankset - These can all be Bought NEW for very reasonable cost - Make sure the crankset is compatible with bottom bracket on bike. You could go 12-32 9 spd cassette.
ALWAYS, with any of these or other changes on DrivetrIain - ALWAYS A NEW CHAIN !
The 'Basic' setup can be done for about $300-400 with good components and maybe not the top race level...
There are many other possible combinations, from 10 spd thru 11 spd and to E-lectric shifting... But substantial costs involved of $2000+ and way higher, depending...
And this doesn't including the costs of installation of setup, or the tools/cost of doing yourself.
I very much suggest you get to know your 'gearing' and how you use it - gears you use most and when all the possible gears might be most wanted/used.
Basic to that is knowing your gears... Knowing how each combination of front and rear fits into your gear range.
Using a gear chart - can be made here:
Bicycle Gear Calculator
I'm very old skool when comes to relating to gearing, so 'gear inches' is automactic for me... on this chart setup, you would select 'MPH' for UNITS...
Younger riders are prolly comfortable with 'Development', which is used in the 'K/mh' units.
Good Luck
Ride On
Yuri