Originally Posted by
j mazz
yah, yah, yah, don't cross chain - I say, then why is it there? I want to get down the street as fast as possible not do calculations in my head, I don't even want to look down. What chain am I on, how many teeth, let's see, if I shift now, what ratio will I be in? will I have to up or downshift from there?, etc. etc. easier to just stay in that ring and make the quicker shifts.
I finished a 30 miler this morning... annoying to have it rub, nobody else on my group ride seems to have this iisue, Bianchi, Felt, Scott. Switching from the small to big ring is not clean and quick on the Rival either. Just not a big fan of it, debated getting the 105 group... woulda, shoulda, coulda.
I do most of my riding in the big ring (compact chain rings) - I only go down to the small for climbing. However, if the FD is setup well shifting between the front rings should be fine. It takes a bit longer than the rear shifts, but it's really not bad and not a problem on my bike - it's very close to what my old ultegra-equippped bike used to shift like on the front. Oh, and my Ultegra bike rubbed a bit too if I tried to go small small.
And just an FYI - chains really aren't made to bend much laterally. If you run cross chained, even if there's no rub, you are reducing the life of your chain. The small cogs are there to be used with the big ring, and the big cogs are there to be used with the small ring. The ones in between are there to be used with either. IMHO.
JB