Need an advise on 53/39 vs 50/34 Crankset

[Dirt]

@CCrew 7629 wrote:

Dunno Dirt. The Avid Shorty Ultimates I just bought just flat rock. Totally impressive for canti’s

I totally agree with you on that, though I’m a TRP EuroX Magnesium kinda guy. My point is that we’ve each got $400 MSRP brakes that need to be set up correctly with the right pads, toe-in and rim angle to get them to work that way. You can get equal or better braking power with $15 Shimano Dual-pivot knock-offs from China via eBay and have zero set-up issues.

—
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.895281,-77.029775

[CCrew]

@Dirt 7633 wrote:

You can get equal or better braking power with $15 Shimano Dual-pivot knock-offs from China via eBay and have zero set-up issues.

Yeah, I did indeed let loose with a few choice words

[Dirt]

@ponchera 7631 wrote:

(BTW, i’m still curious to understand what 46/36 vs 53/39 vs 50/34 all means… )

A lot of it is how/wear you ride.

In the simplest terms, the smaller the gears up front, the easier it is to pedal. I know, that’s probably too basic.

46/36 is traditional for cyclocross where the style of racing where the elevation gains are not massive, so gear combinations that are close together are important. Having extra ground clearance is important too. They also tend to be great commuting gears for people in hilly areas.

53/39 is traditional road racing gearing. Riding in a pack, drafting and riding in a pace line all help riders go faster. People who do this a lot will really find utility for the 53 tooth large ring. These riders also tend to be more powerful and can handle many hills with only a 39 tooth small ring up front for climbing.

50/34 is somewhere in between. Honestly, most casual riders… people who are not going out and racing with a Cat3 or better group on a regular basis… find this combination the best. People who ride serious mountains or steep hills find the 34 tooth small ring essential to getting to the top easily. Even some top pros will use compact gearing for seriously mountainous stages in European stage races. I used it for many years until I got back to doing group rides and centuries in flatter areas where I found I was spinning too much with a 50×11 gear. When I go to France to ride in the Alps, I put the compact gears (50/34) on. When I go to Colorado to climb in the Rockies, I leave the 53/39 gears on the bike.

Hopefully that gives a good basis upon which you can ask further questions.

Pete

[RESTONTODC]

ponchera, Which brake are you using most of time? Front or Back?

[ponchera]

Dirt! AHH that now makes sense my friend. that’s the sesame street explanation i was looking for. I went back and read the original question from RestonToDc and now i understand what he’s asking. You put enough info where i can start googling up specific stuff to learn more about. thanks!

So basically my CX cranks will do to get around all the trails in dc and commute from EFC to dc. If i decide to roll with roadies once i’m actually in shape and can handle it, i need skinny tires and if i’m climbing long hills, may need to swap crank as well or i’ll be left in the dust right? but i should be able to ride say out to dulles or leesburg on the W&O and not have issues because of my crankset.. correct?

EDIT: I looked up a review for the CAADX to verify what crankset I have,
http://road.cc/content/review/28545-cannondale-caadx-105

“When it comes to components, the clue’s in the name of the CAADX 105 – the general theme is Shimano’s 10spd 105 groupset, with some tweaks around the edges. The most obvious departure is the chainset. Shimano doesn’t offer a chainset that’ll fit the Cannondale’s BB30 bottom bracket shell directly, so an FSA Gossamer 36/46 setup goes in instead. No complaints there – the actual arms don’t have the monster stiffness to match up to the 30mm spindle, but BB30 is a highly future-proof setup so come upgrade time you’ve got the choice of, well, everything.”

question, what’s the 30mm spindle and the BB30, when/why would i feel that it needs upgrading?

[ponchera]

@RESTONTODC 7636 wrote:

ponchera, Which brake are you using most of time? Front or Back?

Just to slow down, say down a hill when I chicken out when i go above 20mph or as i’m approaching joggers, rear. when i get to an intersection slow it rear and then gun the front to actually stop on the mark.

the rear by itself is pretty useless, i just keep rolling, good enough to slow but not stopping where I need to stop.

[RESTONTODC]

@ponchera 7639 wrote:

Just to slow down, say down a hill and i chicken out at around 20mph or as i’m approaching joggers, rear. when i get to an intersection slow it rear and then gun the front to actually stop on the mark.

the rear by itself is pretty useless, i just keep rolling, good enough to slow but not stopping where I need to stop.

You might want to use the front brake more. I use the front most of time and rear when it’s wet. Here is the link about braking.

http://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html

[ponchera]

@Greenbelt 7632 wrote:

It’s hard to ask for heavy-load commuting performance in a racing bike, but we do want everything, don’t we?

yep, we want everything, i do photography as a hobby and same goes for that, I’m still waiting for an f/1.4 12mm-400mm lens to come out for under $1k

[CCrew]

@ponchera 7638 wrote:

question, what’s the 30mm spindle and the BB30, when/why would i feel that it needs upgrading?

BB30 is the type of bottom bracket the crank uses. It’s a 30mm spindle through bearings pressed in the frame. Compared to square taper or octalink which are other types of bottom brackets. BB30 is good stuff actually.

Unless you’re always going so fast that you’re all spin and maxed out there’s no need to replace it. Which as a new person at the riding thing sorry, ain’t happening

[Dirt]

@CCrew 7647 wrote:

BB30 is the type of bottom bracket the crank uses. It’s a 30mm spindle through bearings pressed in the frame. Compared to square taper or octalink which are other types of bottom brackets. BB30 is good stuff actually.

Unless you’re always going so fast that you’re all spin and maxed out there’s no need to replace it. Which as a new person at the riding thing sorry, ain’t happening

I’ll also add that you must have a frame designed for BB30. There are other bottom bracket standards that all have the same goal… Stiff, light and durable. BB90 is the simplest and is used by Trek. It uses standard, integrated spindle cranks and press-fit bearings. BBRight is arguably the best but most obscure. It has the ability to be the lightest Anne stiffest, but only 2 companies make cranks for it… FSA and Rotor. Look has it’s own standard for some cranks.

There are other standards out there, but those are the main ones.

Pete

[Greenbelt]

My new cross bike outfitted for occasional commuting, with non-racing brakes and salmon pads — works great now.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]354[/ATTACH]

[ponchera]

@Greenbelt 7668 wrote:

My new cross bike outfitted for occasional commuting, with non-racing brakes and salmon pads — works great now.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]354[/ATTACH]

Nice! i need to google up how to install my salmons this weekend.

Following on the Crank questions,today I commuted for the first time to work (EFC to Union Station), nice ride, i’m thrilled, can’t believe I wasted all this time on metro! Since i was in a hurry to get to work i stopped chickening out at 20mph and cranked up the speed. i noticed that when i hit 24-25mph downhill, i run out of gears, it seams like the gears with most power (pardon my lack of appropriate terms) don’t do anything no matter how fast i pedal and that’s as fast as i’ll go.

Is this when a 53/39 would of made a difference?

[DaveK]

@ponchera 7675 wrote:

Nice! i need to google up how to install my salmons this weekend.

Is this when a 53/39 would of made a difference?

Yes but no… if you really want another gear to spin out on the top end, change your cassette before you change your crankset. Just going to an 11-tooth smallest cog will give you a little more top-end for the downhills. A 50-11 combination is actually a larger gear than a 53-12.

That said, it’s a commute. Who cares? Coast and enjoy it.

[ponchera]

@DaveK 7678 wrote:

Who cares? Coast and enjoy it.

I don’t, it was all in spirit of learning, now about coasting I wish the 3 riders behind me at one point would do the same instead of almost pushing me off the trail on narrow points.. a-holes.

[CCrew]

@ponchera 7680 wrote:

I don’t, it was all in spirit of learning, now about coasting I wish the 3 riders behind me at one point would do the same instead of almost pushing me off the trail on narrow points.. a-holes.

Just keep in mind there’s always someone faster. It’s all good. Just enjoy getting there and realize there are idiots in cars and rude people on Metro too.

[Author]

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