Originally Posted by
Chris_W
Many people who post in the Long Distance Cycling forum run a similar drivetrain setup, it's often referred to as a Super Compact. I run variations of it on a couple of my bikes, with a 46-28 plus 11-26 on my fast road bike. I wouldn't want to use it on the tandem though because the cadence jump between chainrings is HUGE and takes some skill to shift it smoothly by combining it with rear shifts at the right time and anticipation the jump; I would think it would be very difficult to make that shift smoothly on a tandem. So, I wouldn't recommend it on a tandem (even though I love the setup on a single bike).
Good point. The small ring is never used around here. No long climbs, just bumps and rollers. I have only shifted the front to see if it works and that does not count as real world usage. I wonder if they make a 74BCD 34T ring. That would make the gap smaller. That with the new Apex or XX rear setup should be better.