DarKris

Just wanted to share this with anyone who was interested in messing around with this:

I recently mulled around with increasing my gearing options on my gravel bike to make it more capable off-road. I have two wheelsets for my Giant toughroad: 45mm Riddlers and 50*mm Kenda Kozmik IIs (* slightly wider than 50mm). For the latter I wanted to spec that wheel out with a wider range cassette than the 11-34 that came with the bike, so I got a sunrace 10 speed 11-40 cassette and a Wolftooth Roadlink for my rear derailleur. To make it all fit I replaced the 48t big chainring with a 46t, however I left the 32t inner ring to reduce the front chainring difference. I have no idea if this is bad and even though FSA has the big ring marked as 46/30, my short test ride didn't see any issues, but we'll see what happens.





Hoping to get this onto some trails to test everything out, though that seems unlikely where I live but oh well. Overall I'm happy with how it came out.

billm67

Looks good. Can't wait to hear how it works.

Cyclist0108

Very cool.

shoota 

There's definitely nothing wrong with a 46/32 chainring combo. I'm more curious about why you need two wheelsets for tires that big? It doesn't seem like the tires are a big enough difference to warrant two wheelsets..

DarKris

The 45mm Riddlers are noticeably narrower and have less volume then the Kozmiks. The Kozmiks actually stretch out to 53mm which given my limited tire clearance I am planning on swapping them out for 1.9" Specialized Ground Control tires which have a slightly more trail oriented tread pattern.

In short: one wheelset is for Pavement-to-gravel and the other is for mostly off-road.

nomadmax 

I'm going the other way on my Felt VR40. I'm changing the 30/46 chain rings for 32/48, but, I ride it on paved roads in foul weather, not really off road.

Gconan

I love those pedaling innovations pedals, I have them on my mountain bike.

trainsktg

I'm running a 46/32, 11/42 with Roadlink on my Revolt, down from the originally equipped 48/32, 11/34. No issues with the new setup. The only time I have really needed that extra gearing is on steep, rocky gravel, and its nice to have that bailout gearing regardless.

Keith

09box

Are you running the stock derailleur?

DarKris

Everything except for the cassette, roadlink, and the outer chainring is stock

RicePudding

First off nice bike, I have the TR GX1 too and it's great. I've been contemplating the other way also though, switching out the Fsa Omega crankset for a compact double, probably a 105 set due to the small difference in price between that and Tiagra but I'll wait until the overpriced BB gives up.

Looks like an interesting set up though, I very rarely touch the big sprockets on the cassette, think the only time I have was on a 50 mile trip on the South Downs Way.

Out of interest, what rims are you using for each wheelset? I was considering a second wheelset and running an aggressive tread for trails and a more slick set (Hutchinson Overide or Vittoria Zero when it's available) for smoother rides.

Caliper

If you hit singletrack and steep grades, you'll probably like this. I've got 44/28 rings with an 11-36 cassette on one of my bikes. It's a dual purpose gravel/MTB/monstercross/dropbar 29er and the low end is great on MTB trails around here while the 44 keeps me from spinning out very often on dirt roads.

BrocLuno

I've been thinking along these same lines A LOT ...

Want to hear more about how this works out.

I can see no downside so far ...

Danny01

I'm using 46/30 absoluteblack rings up front with 11-42 in the rear using a Shimano MTB RD and Wolftooth Tanpan. It works very well.

tp4surf

I was running a 46/34 crankset with a 11-36 cass and 10-sp Shimano SLX Shadow+ with TanPan on my Kona Jake the Snake. The local SoCal fire roads I ride have some tough 9% grade switchbacks. And the trailhead is a 7mi ride on a paved road/bike path from my house. When I replaced the Kona alloy frame with a more comfortable cromo frame, I also went to a 48/32 crankset. End result was an improved low-end for climbing and a better top-end when on pavement. I am toying with the idea of going to a 12-40 cass, but may have to go to a GoatLink to get this done.

tFUnK

Nice, I'm also using 46/34 and debating whether it's worthwhile to go 48/32. I also had a 11-36 cassette but have since switched to a 11-40 (Rival with road link). So far I've not run out of gears on rides but the new subcompact cranks seem promising. The 48 may be better suited for the road in the 15, 17, 19 cogs.

tp4surf

What I found most difficult about the new sub-compacts was the price. I scored an FSA Vero Pro Adventure crankset taken off a Giant ToughRoad for $30 on ebay. I took my new build out on a shake-down cruise today and was very happy with the improvement over the 46/34 and the 50/34 on my road bike.

Metieval

did you really see that big of a difference between 46 and 48?

I have a 11-32 to a 48/36. on my next bike, I was thinking 46/30 to a 11-34 (maybe 11-36) I think clipping along on pavement at 18-20 mph at a decent cadance is fast enough. a 46t should get me that?

Cyclist0108

The 46 X 11 gear is equivalent to the 50 X 12.

So you only lose the one highest gear. I never missed it.

I have a 46/30T on the front and either an 11-34T or 11-36T on the back, depending on the wheelset of the day. It is Di2 compatible as well.

Metieval

well yeah.
and the catch is in the " toying with the idea of going to a 12-40 " statement. It seems to me that the 46/30 is a better solution.

Canker

I just bought some Absolute Black 46/30 rings myself. The price is crazy for these thing but I did get lucky and find a un-used used set on ebay for a bit cheaper than new. I didn't want to have to buy a new crankset so it was either these or go the 11-40 cassette rout which I didn't want to do. This bike is my road/gravel bike and I like running an 11-32 on the road and didn't want to deal with the complications of swapping back and forth while running a bigger cassette just on my gravel wheels. I don't "need" the 46/30 on the roads around here in Wv but I've never been going up a really steep and long hill and thought "boy these gears are TOO easy". Haven't had a chance to ride in the real world yet but they work fine on the trainer, it is either raining, freezing, or both.

HTupolev

Assuming you're using a relatively "normal" wheel size, and you don't self-select extremely low cadences, you shouldn't need anywhere near a 46T chainring for that. If you've got a 42mm 650b tire, and you're mashing away at a measly 80rpm in a 46-11 combo, you're doing over 26mph. Heck, drop ten teeth off that chainring, down to a 36-11 combo, and you're still over 20mph.

Planemaker

I've got Absolute Black 48/32 with 11/32 so far, it's been great.

Far better than the FSA SLK 46/30 (for sale if anyone is interested)

If I have difficulty in the lower range, I'll switch to 11/34 on back.

RockiesDad

Explanation please... Is it just due to the oval rings or is shifting a whole lot better too?

Planemaker

Not a fan of how the FSA crank arms attach to the spindle. The non drive side crank arm fell off the first crank set and from what I understand once the attach point is rounded the crank arms will always work loose (FSA replaced the crank set under warranty). I was constantly making sure the crank arms were correct tightened.
It seemed as though the chain ring attachment would work loose and start squeaking (you need a special tool to tighten the chain rings)
I thought having a BB386 on PF30 would push the pressure points further outboard which it did but, I think it caused issues with the PF 30 because I was constantly fighting a squeak in the BB

There are those that have the SLK cranks that like them, they just didn't work for me.