Road Cycling - what to I need to replace? Double to Triple

I currently have a 105 setup, double in front, 11/21 in back and thinking of going to a triple up front. I have just moved from flatland country to hills. What do I need to replace? I am hoping it is just the cranks and chain.

do you think you can get up the hill with, say, a 27 cog in back? If so, I'd say just swap out the cassette. Should be cheaper, easier and if it works, then cool.

Otherwise, I think you'll have to replace the rear derail, bottombracket.

if you wanna try a 26 or 27 cog, first make sure your current drail can accept it.

you need to replace the frame.

Try changing the cassette first to a 12/27. You won't need to alter anything else unless you run a really short chain. If you then decide to go to a triple, as mentioned, you will need a bottom bracket, crankset, rear derailleur, and possibly a chain and front der. Plus the knowledge and tools to do the work.

55/Rad

There are several alternatives. Changing to a triple crankset is probably the most costly.

To change to a triple you will certainly need a new crankset and bottom bracket. A triple front derailleur is recommended because you are going to be giving up some front shifting quality anyway. You can cheat on the rear derailleur because you won't use any of the smaller rear cogs with your granny chainring, but a long cage rear derailleur is needed to take up the chain slack in the little/little.

The cheapest potential solution is to use a road cassette with a 27 tooth big cog. If you do that, you'll probably be well advised to install a new, longer chain so that you'll be able to safely cover the big/big combination. The possible drawback of this solution is that it might not provide a low enough low gear to suit you.

A common "frank-in-bike" solution is to install a mountain bike cassette with a 32 or even a 34 tooth big cog. You'll almost certainly need a mountain bike rear derailleur to access the biggest cog and to wrap up the new, longer chain. You get some kind of big steps between gears too. If you're used to a 12/21, this might not be a good solution for you.

If you don't think that you'll miss the 53/12, a compact crankset might serve you well. I put an FSA Energy crankset with 50/34 chainrings on my Kline and really like it a lot. It gives me the lower gears that I need while sacrificing only some high gears that I never use anyway. Bottom bracket, derailleurs, cassette and chain are the same. The only thing that I had to pay for was the crankset.

There are several alternatives. Changing to a triple crankset is probably the most costly.

To change to a triple you will certainly need a new crankset and bottom bracket. A triple front derailleur is recommended because you are going to be giving up some front shifting quality anyway. You can cheat on the rear derailleur because you won't use any of the smaller rear cogs with your granny chainring, but a long cage rear derailleur is needed to take up the chain slack in the little/little.

The cheapest potential solution is to use a road cassette with a 27 tooth big cog. If you do that, you'll probably be well advised to install a new, longer chain so that you'll be able to safely cover the big/big combination. The possible drawback of this solution is that it might not provide a low enough low gear to suit you.

A common "frank-in-bike" solution is to install a mountain bike cassette with a 32 or even a 34 tooth big cog. You'll almost certainly need a mountain bike rear derailleur to access the biggest cog and to wrap up the new, longer chain. You get some kind of big steps between gears too. If you're used to a 12/21, this might not be a good solution for you.

If you don't think that you'll miss the 53/12, a compact crankset might serve you well. I put an FSA Energy crankset with 50/34 chainrings on my Kline and really like it a lot. It gives me the lower gears that I need while sacrificing only some high gears that I never use anyway. Bottom bracket, derailleurs, cassette and chain are the same. The only thing that I had to pay for was the crankset.


And actually you will get a bigger gear with a 50/11 than a 53/12

a 50/27 will get you up anything

a 50/27 will get you up anything
i disagree

a 50/27 will get you up anything

I'd like to see you go up the 27.6% grade I was on a few weeks ago with a 50/27.

EDIT:

I mean 30/27 :D

EDIT:

I mean 30/27 :D
yeah, I knew that... still disagree :)