Originally Posted by
Latif
I'm the guy with the ultegra 9sp triple. Thanks for the idea, didn't know that was an option. I do have a 39 middle now, it's a 53,39,30. I spend most of my time in that 39 middle, love it. Would I need to deal with a new chain for a smaller combination if I changed the small ring to a 28 or 26 which would give me 28/25 or 26/25? My lbs infered that if I upped my cassette to a 27 or 28 I'd need a new longer chain. I've got a new chain right now so would rather not. The smaller inner ring sounds like a dandy idea. Will look into that.
I run a 48/38/22 triple. When I switched from a 48/38/28, I found I either needed a larger capacity rear derailleur to handle the chain on small-small, or, in my case, I got away with shortening the chain. If you do shorten the chain,
please make sure your chain is long enough to shift into big-big. Bad things will happen if this is not the case and you accidentally do it on the road.