Optimal Gearing for new chainring: 52/36 or 53/39
07-07-20, 10:54 AM
#26
Senior Member
07-08-20, 01:44 AM
#27
Full Member
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 425
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 167 Post(s)
Liked 291 Times
in
163 Posts
If you do a lot of descending and flat then a 53 can be good, especially for TT. I used to race 53/39 but nowadays much prefer the compact 50/34. I do live in a hilly area though and the compact is much better for my knees at 51 but I'm still out-sprinting Elite younger racers who are on 53's. It is very rare that I need to worry about spinning out on a downhill, I just tuck in and follow the wheel of the rider furiously pedalling away in his bigger gear anyway. I'm also not a big, powerful rider with the muscle mass for huge gears and rather a smaller cyclist with a good w/kg so the 50 works better for me.
Likes For AlgarveCycling:
07-08-20, 08:15 AM
#28
Sunshine
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 16,614
Bikes: '18 class built steel roadbike, '19 Fairlight Secan, '88 Schwinn Premis , Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross V4, '89 Novara Trionfo
Mentioned: 123 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10964 Post(s)
Liked 7,491 Times
in
4,189 Posts
I am looking to replace my current chainring which is a 48/32 with a new ones given I find myself looking for a lower gear going down hills. The rear is not changing and is 11-34. I am pretty much deciding between 52/36 and 53/39. Any reason to choose one over the other? I am leaning toward the 53/39 given right now I rarely go down to the small chain ring at all and spend most time on the middle to lower end of the cog on the big chainring.
Any versatility issue I should consider? What kind of climbs am I really going to need the advantage of 36 vs. 39 or even the current 32 on the front? Any thoughts would be great. Thanks!
Any versatility issue I should consider? What kind of climbs am I really going to need the advantage of 36 vs. 39 or even the current 32 on the front? Any thoughts would be great. Thanks!
Best of luck figuring out cadence.
Likes For mstateglfr:
07-08-20, 09:53 AM
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 786
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 338 Post(s)
Liked 408 Times
in
252 Posts
If at all in doubt, 52-36.
50-34 is what I feel to be the best choice if there are truly big or very steep climbs, and 52-36 is brilliant on rolling-ish terrain where the 50 can feel just a slight bit lacking downhill. Since 52-36 uses the same BCD as 50-34 you can simply change the chainrings without changing the cranks (unlike 53-39 where you are stuck) making the semi compact a brilliant choice.
Rode 52-36 with a 11-30 in the rear, close spacing of gears and still a reasonable range of gearing for spinning a high enough cadence for modest climbs made it lovely, switched to 50-34 in the front after doing one particularly horrible climb (which is still horrible after redoing it, though, so maybe the change was pretty pointless), which is also a great combination.
Have to try 52-34 one of these days and see if I can get a "best of both worlds" gearing.
50-34 is what I feel to be the best choice if there are truly big or very steep climbs, and 52-36 is brilliant on rolling-ish terrain where the 50 can feel just a slight bit lacking downhill. Since 52-36 uses the same BCD as 50-34 you can simply change the chainrings without changing the cranks (unlike 53-39 where you are stuck) making the semi compact a brilliant choice.
Rode 52-36 with a 11-30 in the rear, close spacing of gears and still a reasonable range of gearing for spinning a high enough cadence for modest climbs made it lovely, switched to 50-34 in the front after doing one particularly horrible climb (which is still horrible after redoing it, though, so maybe the change was pretty pointless), which is also a great combination.
Have to try 52-34 one of these days and see if I can get a "best of both worlds" gearing.
Last edited by Branko D; 07-08-20 at 09:59 AM.
