Thanks.

Regarding your suggestion, short of taking the more expensive triple route, swapping the crank to a 36/46 is the best option. I think shifting from 36 to 46 would be really smooth compared to 34 - 50. However, I think the cassette should be changed too from 11-28 to 11-25. See the chart below:


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When I up shift from 34 to 50 I always simultaneously down shift 3 back gears. For example, I would shift from t13 to t17 or better from t14 to t19. This keeps the front/back overall gear ratio increase manageable. If I do everything the same using the 36-46 crank the gear ratios will go down (look at the red arrows), hence the speed is lower. If I switch to a 11-25 cassette it will be possible to up shift from 36 to 46 while down shift from t13 to t16 or t14 to t17 and get a light increase in gear ratios which would be perfect since the whole shifting process reduces momentum a little.

I expect the 36-46 and 11-25 combination to shift so smoothly and effortlessly compared to the 34-50 and 11-28 combination that one would not be bothered by the constant shifting anymore. Of course that is not as smooth as staying in the same middle chain ring on the triple, but I think it would be the next best thing available.

Now I think I should either look for a used Ultegra 6800 36-46 crank (doubt it will be available) or wait for the 105 5800 to be released and buy new crank/cassette/chain and use them with my current Ultegra shifters and derailleurs that I have now. I bet they would work smoothly, and I would not experience any noticeable drop in shifting quality because the 105 is so close to Ultegra.