so this weekend i went to do some nasty hilly riding in Western Ma/Eastern NY, and it dawned on me i’m grossly unprepared gear-wise. Currently I ride a 36x52, 11x26 transmission which is more than sufficient for where I live (Boston Metro). So I was wondering about a cheapo way to increase the range by slapping a 34 tooth inner ring on my current set up. Question: will it shift properly? will it ruin my ride? is a 18 tooth too much of a difference?
Please chime in. I’d also get a 11-28 or higher cassette to match the inner ring.
Can’t comment on etap or Sram but I run that on my Shimano 105 R700 and it works well. Definitely a bit slower and I’ve had a couple dropped chains in the last year that I didn’t really have before but as long as I’m not doing stupid shifts it works great.
I have a SRAM etap 11 speed and typically use a compact 50/34 chainrings paired with 11-28 cassette in the North Georgia mountains. This set up works well for most climbs but sometimes it would be nice to have a bit more for sustained grades over 12%.
The 34 tooth inner chainring may work with the 52…not sure.
Also, anything larger than a 28 tooth on the cassette will require a mid-cage derailleur or the newer version rear derailleur to accomodate.
I doubt a 34/52 would ruin your ride but it may be too big a chain so that you lose it often but you’ll need to check with a mechanic.
I think SRAM, unlike shimano, lets you put a larger a 28 tooth on the back without needing a longer rear mech. If so that’ll be your cheapest move (a larger cassette) but again you’ll need to check with a mechanic.
11s etap user here. 52/34 does work. Though I’m back to 52/36 because it shifts better. Lots of chain drops when I would shift to the big ring (though it could have certainly been setup/user error. edit: or simply the fact that it’s Sram ).
I’m also currently running an 11-32t cassette with the short cage derailleur. The b-screw is darn near maxed out, but I’ve got the clearance and it shifts flawlessly. I’ve sized the chain to prevent destroying my rear mech in the event of an accidental “big-big” scenario, with the caveat that I have to shift to the big ring sooner or else the chain will go slack.
Edit: Also, I can’t comment if a short cage mech and 32t will work on all bikes.
52/34 with etap working great for me. 11-30 cassette and Look/Praxis chain rings. I use a 12sp XTR chain which dropped IIRC about 3 times in 2000km. Shifting works as with 52/36 setup.
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