Goriot

I've been riding a cannondale CAAD9 with a compact gear set, I think its 50/34. It is my first road bike and I love it, but lately I feel I can push more out of it. I'm taking it to its max on flats and asking for more. I've also been thinking of getting a new bike.
Anyways, I was wondering what the transition is like going from a compact to 53/39? It is extremely noticeable? Are hills completely different?
At the moment I'm rarely in the lower gear, only to stop and start, then I tend to ride exclusively on 50 unless of course there is a good hill.

Cachequatch

I made the transition from compact to standard about a month ago. I find myself in the 39 ring for the majority of the time without being cross chained or close to being crosschained. It took a little while to get used to climbing 39/25 for the first couple of times but I'm happy with the switch. Plus when it comes time to hammer, the 52 sure does help! I'd say if you feel like you're big ringing it a majority of the time, or are cross chained when in the little ring, switching to standard would be a good choice!

DScott

What cassette are you running, and where do you ride?

umd

To it's max on the flats huh?

scirocco

Assuming you have got a standard compact 11-23 or 11-25 cassette and you were to change only the crankset, it'll be very noticeable. Unless you're drafting in a group or on a descent you're likely to find you spend most of your time in the 39 ring. 53-11 is a monster gear, even 53-12 is pretty high to turn solo on the flat for any length of time.

simonaway427

50/11 is 53 kph @ 90rpm. If you can sustain that for any considerable amount of time solo, I hear Garmin-Cervelo is hiring.....

guadzilla

What, you can't get up to 40mph easily?

Garfield Cat

Put on Rotor rings and you'll get the feel of a compact with the benefit of the 53/39. Hopefully, Garmin-Cervelo will keep Rotor as a sponsor.

RNAV

I felt the same way a few years ago when I thought "Hey, my compact setup has nothing more to offer me and is holding me back."

Then I took a ride with a real group, on real climbs, and not only did I get my rear handed to me, I also came to the conclusion that compact cranks were still what I needed (I've traditionally lived in hilly areas and prefer hilly terrain to flat terrain).

If you live in extremely flat terrain, ride with extremely fast groups (avg 30+ mph), and have no intentions whatsoever of climbing any real climbs, then you could probably make a standard crank setup work for you. That said, I can say I've never been in a situation where someone was able to just pedal away from me solely because I ran out of gearing with my compact setup. Is this the problem you're running into?

lovestoride

[QUOTE=RNAV;11416644]
If you live in extremely flat terrain, ride with extremely fast groups (avg 30+ mph),

What?

704morris

Go to Sheldon Brown's gear calculator and get the real skinny on what it means to you. As simonaway42 is suggesting, it's all about cadence. I have a compact setup and 100 rpm's, with an 11 tooth cog would get me 35.5mph. That sir is smoken fast even if you’re in flat Florida.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

logdrum

Just up your cadence. I have both, it doesn't matter much really.

datlas 

Like the others said, it REALLY depends on your riding style and terrain. I suppose you can do ok with either.

+1 to going to sheldon brown's gear calculator so you can compare current gearing with your proposed setup.

Not that it matters at all to you, but I ride about 50/50 group/solo, with rolling hills and do fine with "standard" gearing.

FlashUNC

Who doesn't push the 50/11 effortlessly on flat ground?

Accordion

I know what the OP means. I have a 2010 CAAD9 with a compact crankset. I am a mediocre rider at best but am getting better quickly.

I ride rolling hills at least four times a week. They're not mountains but they're not freeway overpasses either. On three of the downhills I hit 40mph plus regularly and they are long descents.

I max out my compact all the time. I mean I can spin it at 105rpm but I don't have that kind of cardio or that kind of riding style. I bust my butt to average 95rpm on a two hour ride to the beach and back on flats. I'm at 85rpm average on my mountain days.

On several of the long downhills I really would like another gear or two on the high end so that I could pedal at around 90-100rpm and not "spin out". The OP isn't being an arrogant person.

The Sheldon numbers are always referred to in threads like this one. I've looked at them and they are interesting. But I also know that I personally want an extra gear or two on my mountain rides.

On the flip side, I sure appreciate my 12-28 and the compact on some of those very same climbs!

umd

downhill != flat ground

echappist

then learn how to spin faster. it's not an aerobically taxing exercise.

Goriot

Great replies, thanks.

Now, I'm riding usually 50km - 80km rides, maybe 1-2/wk and 30k rides otherwise. Most of the terrain is Flat (West of GTA), but this also includes what I'm told is the steepest hill in all of Ontario (Appleby line, 18 degrees?). I always ride solo and I have no computer. Sometimes I bump into groups and join them, and yes I have had my ass handed to me. I do find its the cadence they maintain in such a high gear that is hard to keep up with. Again, when I say i'm pushing my max gear on flats, its probably not at the cadence you guys would all expect, I'd assume its around 70rpmish.
I'll check out Sheldon Brown's calculator.

Fox Farm

Put a cassette with an 11 tooth small cog on the bike and leave the compact there. But, then again, when I lived in Michigan, at 53/42 with a 12/23 did the trick. It did not when I moved to Utah and tried to go up real hills.

Accordion

I'm not at all thrilled with what you highlighted and your flippant response. I HAVE learned to spin faster. I started with my road bike on April 1st of this year for the first time ever. I have almost 3000 miles now. I had to learn how to use clipless pedals, how to shift with STI levers, how to use brakes that weren't on a flat bar, etc.

I was around 210 pounds when I started. I'm almost 185 now. My 2-hour mountain ride took almost three hours when I started five months ago.

My average cadence was seriously in the low 60s. I have brought myself all the way to 90-95 now. I AM learning to spin faster. I have hit a wall, however. I am not, nor have ever been a fast runner, fast swimmer or fast biker. By nature I'm a big dude but am very strong. I have great endurance but I am not fast.

So don't tell me to learn to spin faster and that it's not an aerobically taxing exercise. It IS for me. That's like me telling you that you should just learn some doctorate level Calculus since it's not really brain-taxing stuff. By the way, it isn't for me. But it may be for you.

zstjohn

Get aero and coast down the hills. No need to power down the hills you're not racing.

Assuming cadence is different than knowing. If you're doing 60-70 rpm shift to a bigger cog and spin faster.

ricohman

And it can work the other way also. I'm 155lbs and I don't have a pair of quadzilla's. I find that anything under 95 or so is to slow and I can feel it in my legs. I'd much rather be spinning at 105-120 which seems to be the happy spot for me.
So if anyone told me to spin slower it would be detrimental to my body type.

And to the OP. I had a compact and got rid of it because of the endless cross chaining and shifting.
With the 52/39 I don't have nearly as much front RD action and its easier to find the right gear. But the one serious hill around here finds me in the 39/27 at 95rpm/18kmh climbing every time.

zstjohn

same here. +1

Accordion

Unreal. I'm 6'1 and played college football at 262 pounds. I couldn't spin at 120 if you paid me $1000 a minute. I think it's probably physically impossible for my body type.

echappist

the truth is, learning how to spin fast is more of an anaerobic process at the beginning, and i'd imagine doing bursts of anaerobic stuff for football would help you. you just need to train your body to do it. here's how you start.

find a slight downhill, shift into 39x25 or whatever your lowest gear is, get in the drops. as you approach the start of the downhill section, start spinning very fast for 20 seconds. most of this work will be purely anaerobic. you'll know you're getting somewhere when you can spin at 150rpm. recover for a few minutes and have another go at it. do this three times per ride, 3-4 times a week. you should find you'll be spinning a lot faster

here's the other thing. most trackies are not what we'd consider as aerobic types, and their leg mass is humongous. but alas, you get a 47x14 as your only gear, and in order to go faster, you have to have faster turnover. sprints often get up to 50mph, and in order to go that fast, you'll need a cadence of 190rpm. Good track cyclists can often do 210+

so no, your natural disposition of fast twitch vs slow twitch muscle won't be an issue here. the main issue is the adaptation you'll need to get comfortable with a cadence ~120