Originally Posted by ericm979

Cross chaining is bad for chain wear no matter what the cogs and chainrings are. If you get the correct derailleur and size the chain correctly then you won't explode things if you accidentally shift to the 50x29. I sometimes run a 30t large cog for climbing races. I size the chain so 50x30 will work. I try to stay out of the large chainring/large cog but sometimes at the top of a climb I'm not thinking all that clearly.

I went from a triple to compact double six years ago. I no longer needed the low gears of the triple. Front derailleur adjustment is no more difficult on the compact than it was with the triple. The one drawback to a 50/34 compact is on rolling terrain, where you wind up doing a lot of shifting of the front chainrings. Using a fairly wide range cassette helps, as you can get a lower gear while still in the big ring. If I only needed a 23t large cog then I'd use a 50/36 or 53/39 to cut down on the front shifts.