I have a 48/38 set of rings on the way to replace a set of 52/42. I can use the bigger ones, but I would prefer to avoid it. I started riding in the early 90's on mountain bikes with 46 tooth big rings and a 12 in the back. Since I was broke, I could only ever afford one bike. I just got used to spinning those and since I am not fast, I tend to stick to them.