Bicycle Mechanics - 53/34 compact?

Just wondering......

Assuming I had enough rear derailleur wrap capacity (long cage)......

Do you think a shimano front derailleur would shift a 53 to 34 and vice versa?

Sheldon Brown has a 94 bcd compact double with 50/28?!?!?

Anybody do something like this?

Just wondering......

Assuming I had enough rear derailleur wrap capacity (long cage)......

Do you think a shimano front derailleur would shift a 53 to 34 and vice versa?

Sheldon Brown has a 94 bcd compact double with 50/28?!?!?

Anybody do something like this?Think you can get a 53 in a 94 BCD?

Use a 110 bc crank(non compact) you can get a 52/34 easy for it.

Think you can get a 53 in a 94 BCD?

No mine is a 110 BCD compact. I was just using sheldon's 94 bcd cramk as an example of a huge chainring jump!

For some reason I thought there was a physical limit (for front derailleur to handle) in the size difference between the two chainrings of around 16T?

I have set up some tri bikes with 56-39 and it works(like crap) If you are not to picky about the quality of the shift and use a chain watcher to keep it from dropping off on the down shift it will probably work.

For some reason I thought there was a physical limit (for front derailleur to handle) in the size difference between the two chainrings of around 16T?I duno where that is written, but it might pay to find out what derailer is being recommmended. Sheldon ought to be able to tell ya.. Maybe a triple FD.

I just put the Nashbar 50/34 on my bike with Shimano 600 lever and no problem.

I just put the Nashbar 50/34 on my bike with Shimano 600 lever and no problem.Yeah, but the question was about a 53/34

In the shimano service bulletins that should be included with your brand new units, they list maximum reliable spread. Usually its 24t

THat said, my first and rather succesful trail race mountain bike had a 50t top and a 24t low. It was a little noisy on the low end but that setup was like warp drive on a trail. :D

In the shimano service bulletins that should be included with your brand new units, they list maximum reliable spread. Usually its 24t

THat said, my first and rather succesful trail race mountain bike had a 50t top and a 24t low. It was a little noisy on the low end but that setup was like warp drive on a trail. :D

That was double? Wow......

In the shimano service bulletins that should be included with your brand new units, they list maximum reliable spread. Usually its 24t

THat said, my first and rather succesful trail race mountain bike had a 50t top and a 24t low. It was a little noisy on the low end but that setup was like warp drive on a trail. :D

Actually, Shimano says the design capacity is 15t for a road double front derailleur and 22t for a triple. Most of the mountain front derailleurs are rated for 22t too. In the past, whenever I've gotten creative with the gears on one of my own bikes, I've just bolted on whatever I had on hand at the time and gone for a test ride to see if it meets my standards. Sometimes I'm happy initially, but after awhile I find myself either changing something to make it work better or even putting it back the way that it was originally. That's one reason why there are things that I'd try on a personal bike that I wouldn't do on a customer bike.

Yeah, that was 22t on the chart come to think of it. And, the crank was tripple.