Home Chat General Chat

chainsets - bike experts please

Whilst I am sat on the sofa, struggling to feel human again - a question:



I know there's been a similar thread on chainsets - but mine is slightly different.



All the treefrogs on here will of course shoot me down in flames. But I have a triple chainset currently, deliberately chosen for my upgrade/theft replacement last year, mostly because it was what I was used to, and also because I do an awful lot of big climbing in my leisure time. I like to climb mountains (I do Ventoux when I can) and am also blessed with a pile of stones in a very deep gorge, which we like to climb out of regularly (8-9% climbs typically over 6-8km).



Oh, and I'm a girl.



Question is: can I purchase a compact chainset for training/racing and switch back to my triple for trips to France to do those daft mountains? How feasible/easy would that be to do?



Many thanks in advance



blurredgirl





Comments

  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    All the treefrogs on here will of course shoot me down in flames.


    You mean there's more than one treefrog? Oh, bloody hell!



    Anyway, not sure what the advantage might be in going to a compact compared to your existing triple. After all, I would expect that the lowest and highest gears on a compact set-up would be within the ranges of your triple.



    You might save a bit of weight. You may also bring the gears closer together and save yourself the time penalty of so much chain ring shifting but it really depends on what ratios you've currently got.



    So... homework time, Ms. Blurredgirl, what are your current front and rear cogs? You should find some small numbers stamped onto the back of the chain rings and probably somewhere on the front faces of the cogs in your cassette. You may need to rub some of the old oil off with a rag.
  • BlurredgirlBlurredgirl Posts: 292
    Ah yes, numbers of course. I will do that and make a comparison. But pleased to hear that you think I might not gain advantage (and much cheaper on the HAT front as well).

    You may need to rub some of the old oil off with a rag.


    It's a six month old bike owned by a fanatic who showers the bike before herself remember. What old oil?!



    Many thanks. Off to check out my ratios.



    blurredgirl

  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Really, with a 10 speed socket set, you should be able to get all the range you need, esp. with a compact on the front.



    While you can change, it will be such a bore that you won't do it more than once. It's not just the palaver of changing it, it's indexing all the gears and getting everything set up nice and smoothly.



    Work out what the ratios are of the gears that you use, and see how things fit in on your compact. There will be a huge overlap, and I doubt that the lowest gear will be that much lower. As you get a bit fitter, you don't need the vast choice of gears... until you reach the elite level of TT racing when you may want to vary by the finest amount to ensure that your power output/cadence etc. are always optimal.

  • BlurredgirlBlurredgirl Posts: 292
    This is really useful, and good news.



    I very rarely use the granny ring round here and never when training or rcing - but I do love it for the extra range on the big long climbs.



    thanks people, what a great forum this is for just chewing things over.



    blurredgirl (not visited the little girl's room for almost an hour now - is it over??!!)

  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Blurredgirl wrote:
    blurredgirl (not visited the little girl's room for almost an hour now - is it over??!!)



    Hey, you're in the same space I am! Although I'm pretty sure mine is food poisoning. Remember to drink loads - I'm 5lbs lighter than I was yesterday! Which isn't good...

  • BlurredgirlBlurredgirl Posts: 292
    Mine was a bug. I had a fever for 3 days, followed only today by the (I hope) final event in this delightful little drama. Have just had my first meal since Thursday evening. Not weighed myself - but the hip bones are certainly sticking out! Not good at all.



    Can't wait to get back to training!



    Hope you are feeling better.



    blurredgirl

  • agent_tiagent_ti Posts: 306
    Do bear in mind that if you change from a triple to a compact you will need to change your front mech (unless some of the actual qualified mechanics on here can tell you that you can set the limiters on it...) and possibly your rear mech as well. And if you change your front mech, you need a new front mech shifter...
  • BopomofoBopomofo Posts: 980
    ...and you need to change your cage. Don't forget that. See how the cost starts to mount up? This will leave you back at square one: thinking you should have followed treefrog's advice all along and dropped 3.5k on a Cervelo P3C with all the trimmings.

  • BlurredgirlBlurredgirl Posts: 292
    thinking you should have followed treefrog's advice all along and dropped 3.5k on a Cervelo P3C with all the trimmings.


    You're right - that's what I should have done. I'd have to hide it in my desk drawer at work though - imagine the HAT on that!



    Thanks people. I'm sticking with my triple, but it's nice to know the options.



    blurredgirl - back at work and feeling nearly human.



Sign In or Register to comment.