Road Cycling - beginner questions about chain rings

I have decided to purchase a used Basso with an ultegra dura ace mix. It ha a dura- ace double 53-39, with a 27-12 casette. I was wondering if the double will be limiting to me and as a beginner should i be looking torwards a triple. Iam in fairly good shape run and swim 4 times a week. So if its just a matter musclr i am sure i can adapt. And if any one knows any ting about Basso bikes I would love to hear it. ( this one is a steel lotto)


Thanks

No, a double would be fine, especially with such a low gear casette. Most road bikes, unless they are in the mountains, only have a 25 tooth low.
One thing, though- is that a D/A rear derailleur? I thought that D/A was limited to a maximum cog of 25 teeth? Can anybody elaborate? This bike may be a mish-mash of parts-I know that Shimano doesn't allow D/A to be mixed with any other components on a bike. Older D/A cogs and shifters were not compatible with ultegra components.

It really depends. If you live in a mountainous area with very long climbs, like Colorado, a triple is a good idea. But even then lots of people get by with a 39/27. Or if you live in an area with some brutally steep walls, you might want the lower gears that a triple gives you.

In my opinion, doubles shift a bit nicer than triples and I prefer doubles over triples unless I need the increased range. I like triples for moutainous terrain, but I like spinning. People who like pushing bigger gears do tend to prefer doubles.

I'm with D*Alex on this. I have never come across a hill on a road ride that I couldn't at least crawl up in a 39/23 combination. Things may be a little different off-road, and just yesterday, I was thanking the gods of gearing for the 38/25 on my cyclocross bike, but that kind of climb -- a muddy goat path -- just wouldn't come up on a road ride.

Forget the triple. It slows down shifting, requires a longer derailleur cage and chain and, the truth is, if you do use the granny, it'll probably happen once a season. 12-27 is often referred to as a "mountain cassette."

Unless your name is "Mario" or "Lance," that 53/12 combination is useless. Instead of investing in a triple chainring (new cranks, BB cartridge, rings, possibly front derailleur), you could swap over to a cassette which starts at 13 or even 14 teeth and, as necessary, goes to a larger bottom cog.

Another hint: you can cheat on the large-cog capacity of your rear derailleur somewhat by choosing a tighter front chainring progression, thereby reducing the amount of chain slack to be taken up. Although I realize that 53-39 has become the default combination for road bikes, I still prefer an 8-tooth drop, such as 50-42, or, in your case, something like 46-38 / 12-29.

Unless your name is "Mario" or "Lance," that 53/12 combination is useless.
I do remember wondering why the French velo magazine was named "53 x 11" when I first saw it a couple of years ago. ;)

Cheers...Gary the weakling (30/40/50 x 13-28)

Originally posted by John E
Unless your name is "Mario" or "Lance," that 53/12 combination is useless.
I respectfully disagree. That's like saying "you'll never sprint more than 50 km/h."

I can't say I exactly live in 53/12 or, for that matter, 53/11, but I see those combinations fairly frequently. In fact, on some group rides with attacks, I'll get into 53/12 or higher a half-dozen times [on a ride] for sprints.

Admittedly, I can't push those gears for long, and there's no way I can pull a Cipo and spin up for 400m in 53/11, but I do use them and, I'm convinced, anyone who rides with vigour will use them, too.

[If you're wondering, my fastest recorded sprint to date topped out at 58 km/h, which was in 53/11 at about 90 rpms, on a flat. I had a great lead out and I didn't hold it for long, though. This year, I', hoping to push that upwards of 62 km/h.]

53/12 at 100 rpm means 55 km/h. And 100 rpm isn't really much in a sprint, is it? I can get my hybrid to 40 km/h in 32/14 gear very easily, so at least for me 53/12 would be an overshoot.

edit: By the way, on my roadbike the lowest gear combo is 42/21 which is a "tad" too tight for me :) Haven't ridden that bike yet (it's winter) but I'm sure I'll change the cassette to a lower one.

Basso bikes are distributed in the US by TORELLI. They may have a web site. I don't know.

The DA will take a 27 easily. If you are young, with strong legs, the double will probably be enough for you unless, as others have said, you ride on steep mountain passes, then a triple would be useful; if you are a bit older than young, you might want the triple anyway. My aging legs require it, but that's just me.

When I bought my Trek 1500 new, in '90, it came with a 53/39-12/23. Even in this rolling to hilly NE Ohio terrain, I was able to use that set-up for years. Of course, it's a reasonably light bike
(about 21lbs,/9.5kg) which helps considerably. The Basso is probably even lighter than this.

A few years ago (at age 56), I switched the rear cassete to a 12/28, and the change was immense. So IMO, and to agree with the posts above, a double crankset would be fine on the Basso.

Try this website, and click on Basso. http://www.bikesutra.com/manatoi.html

http://www.torelli.com/