Originally Posted by
NLB32
All right, thanks. I went in and was fitted on the 51cm tonight. Feels better to me. He had to adjust the seat back a bit and pointed out that on the 51cm, there is more seat post out of the frame than there is on the 54cm...but I would need a different stem on the 54cm because I am reaching too far. I think I'm going to go with the 51cm.
Secondary question: As I am relatively new to riding and hopping from a hybrid to a road bike, the shifting is different. I think I have a pretty good understanding of the set up on the Dolce (2 on the front - left handle controlled, 8 on the rear - right handle controlled). My hybrid was 3 on the left with 7 on the right, and what I appreciated was that I could see what i was in at all times. So it will take some getting used to. My understanding is that I should stay on the larger chain on the left and adjust as needed, up and down, with the right, using the small chain on the left when climbing hills. Is this "correct"? Also, with my hybrid, if I was in say 2 on the left, and 4 on the right, I would jump up a few to 5 or 6 before dropping down on the left to 1 before hill climbing. Is this the right mentality? Make it a little more resistant on the right before making it easier on the left? And vice versa. I've always understood that you don't want to drop to the easiest gear on the right, then drop to the easiest chain on the left, or go to your most resistant gear on the right then up your resistance on the left...
Does this make any sense?!
As far as the sizing and adjustments, it makes sense.
"Correct" doesn't really apply. Your new gearing system is called "compact." Usually there's a really small inner chainring, and a normal sized large outer chainring. The numbers don't matter that much. They usually differ by more than the difference between your hybrid's third and second rings (tiny and middle). So your strategy of shifting over a few gears in the back before shifting in the front will still work on your road bike - you just have to compensate with a few more little steps in the back than you used with the hybrid bike.
Sounds like you're now doing well!
Just one thing - my opinion is that with modern indexing systems chains are quite flexible side to side, so the resulting wear and tear due to cross-chaining is nowhere near as big a deal as it was for early 7 and 8 speeds. I'd not worry about it much at all.