Originally Posted by
globecanvas
And back to 1x
... a friend is perma-lending me an old aluminum cervelo P2 frame. I'm thinking of building it up with a 52 single chainring and 11x28. I figure that spins out around 42 mph and still gives me a small enough gear to get up small hills. I could also swap a 54 on there for super flat courses. I figure the bike will heavy enough that it wouldn't be ideal for any course requiring small ring climbing anyway, and the aero benefit of no FD is meaningful.
We have a 50x11-28 (wife and I share) that I built for mild uphill TTs like Killington. Cielo ended up being way too hilly for that setup so we used road bikes. So as long as you know it's not the best tool for every job, build away. I went sram x-sync, 6870 RD and ultegra right side TT shifter. Cheap.
As for cornering grip: I've found that my mental limit is met before my tire limit in normal situations (no sand, manhole covers). I recall a situation at the end of an interval where I had about 10 extra MPH around a corner and was in the pain cave. Parts of my tire that have never seen pavement before finally met it, and it was fine.