Originally Posted by
due ruote
Good point about the FD. This is my only bike with a FD tab and I hadn't thought about that possibility. I'll check it out but my gut says it will probably be OK.
The bike has STI levers, so no, it's not friction.
STI shifters are more picky; they're kinda lazy and rely upon the ramps and pins on the chainrings to help.
That said, yours still should work fine with the 48T big ring if you can lower the FD a mm or two.
Originally Posted by
due ruote
Pastorbob, changing the rings is in fact what I am proposing, although, having played around some more with a gear calculator, I'm thinking maybe just the big ring.
I bet you could find a used 39T inner ring for $5 or less, if you want a little lower range for cheap. They're extremely common in 130 BCD; 52/39 was (and still is) a popular double road crankset.