Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - Shimano to release 50/30 crank

Thought this might be of interest to the long distant cycling crowd -

Bike radar reports that shimano will be releasing a 50/30 cyclocross crankset.

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/shimano-ultegra-di2-first-look-30616

Look under the cyclocross heading near the bottom of the article.

Has me interested.

From the look of that crankset, I'd say that "50/30" is a misprint. Looks like any other compact to me.

SP
Bend, OR

Yeah. I was wondering that too. I don't know of any FD that can handle a 20T drop.

Yeah. I was wondering that too. I don't know of any FD that can handle a 20T drop.

many can...but usually require a middle/intermediate ring ;-). Kidding of course, but the just the idea of a 50/30 is nice. Actually, i would like a 46/30 crankset. I like the Velo Orange, but I think that one would look kind of funny on my CR1.

many can...but usually require a middle/intermediate ring ;-). Kidding of course, but the just the idea of a 50/30 is nice. Actually, i would like a 46/30 crankset. I like the Velo Orange, but I think that one would look kind of funny on my CR1.

White Industries' VBC is not un-beautiful on a modern frame. The Sugino OX81D is one great looking crank, too bad it's so damn expensive!

Yeah. I was wondering that too. I don't know of any FD that can handle a 20T drop.

I run a 60/42/32 on my tandem with no problem at all. That's only a two tooth difference. I bet it'll work fine.

I don't think it's a misprint.

I probably wouldn't use it, though. I already need to shift the RD two steps almost every time I shift the front of my compact; going from 50-34 to 50-30 is too big a jump for my tastes, I'd rather stick to a triple.

Almost certainly a typo. Shimano has announced some new CX-specific cranksets that will be available later this year, labeled CX50 and CX70, but they appear to come equipped with 36/46 chainrings, see this other recent post at Bikeradar (http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/shimano-launch-10-speed-deore-groupset-for-2012-29466).

Did you just say that?


.. is not un-beautiful

Yeah. I was wondering that too. I don't know of any FD that can handle a 20T drop.

Well, my old (OLD!) Campy Record (aka NR), handles a 46/28 just fine, with room to spare.

SP
Bend, OR

Most likely a misprint. I don't think that I have ever seen a cross crank with a 50 tooth. That is a bit big. I haven't seen a pro run one that large.

A few reasons it's likely a typo. They couldn't do this with 110BCD, first of all, and second, there's no way they would endorse that much of a jump for the FD. It can work, I run 48/30 on a WI VBC crank, but it's never going to be ideal. Certainly never as fast or well as all other Shimano products shift.

I've also met someone who ran a 48/28 on a TA crank, but using friction shifting. With big jumps you just can't expect a fast shift, and should plan your gears accordingly.