I have transcended the need for a beard...

If you were able to spin out the top gear on your bike you might not miss the 53, the change of 1 tooth up front is a reduction of 2.5 gear inches which is very small and if you are not engaging in 80 kmh descents you probably won't miss it.

My vintage road bike has a 54 tooth chainwheel but that is because there was no such thing as an 11 tooth cog for a freewheel, 13's were the most common and I managed to build up a custom block with a rather rare 12 tooth cog which brings the top gear close to that of a modern road bike and lets me descend in the mid 70 kmh - 80kmh range.

A 52:11 is just a little higher gear than a 54:12.

What would change is the steps in the rear with a 52 instead of a 53... they will all be a few gear inches lower and might mess up your cadence.