Originally Posted by
Drew Eckhardt
Note that the compact only provides one gear lower than you get with 53-39x13-29 and your current left lever will run a triple crank with inner rings as small as 24T.
Places with lots of bikes have mobile bicycle mechanics unaffiliated with brick-and-mortar shops.
Not sure I understand. As far as I can gather, a 39/25 vs. a 34/29 is a good-sized swing ("advantage" for me). Also I believed that going to a 13-29 cassette (from 12-25) was likely going to require a rear-derailleur change anyway to some sort of medium cage.
Would you recommend trying finding a "mobile mechanic"? Or stick with an LBS?