Originally Posted by
Retro Grouch
I would think that 52/36 should work fine. It's the same gap as commonly used compact cranksets.
The real trick to compact cranksets is your favorite flat road gear combination. If your favorite combination falls at either end of the cassette, you'll find yourself constantly having to make annoying double shifts. If, on the other hand, if your favorite flat road gear falls in the middle of the cassette you'll probably love it.
Thanks for that advice. Often, I do ride on the 46/12 combination when on flat roads. Do you mean having to make double shifts to skip some sprockets? I do that often now skipping the single tooth increments. I had hoped, initially, to be able to replace the 12 - 30 cassette with something like an 11 - 36 [.........I think that was what I looked at] but the derailleur would not handle that range.