I switched to a FSA Carbon Compact and a 11/28 cassette about 3 month's ago and will never go back. A 50 x 11 is bigger than a 53 X 12 and a 34 x 28 is much smaller than a 39 X 25 so it works well for me. I am 52 and there are no flat rides around here, so the extra climbing gears is great especially on longer rides when I might be getting a little tired. By longer I mean 75 to 100 miles. Your not going to get the nice crisp shifting you get with a smaller cassette like a 11x23, but if your not racing it shifts just fine.