Originally Posted by
13ollocks
Buying individual rings can indeed be expensive - what I replaced Campagnolo rings, it was often cheaper to buy a whole NOS crankset than just rings (with the added bonus of eBaying the surplus crank arms). My standard drivetrain is a 53/34 with a 12-25 10sp cassette (12-17, 19, 21, 23, 25). The advantage of this is that I use all of the sprockets, rather than bringing along a rarely-used 11 for the ride. The only time this setup is a disadvantage is on a fast descent with a group - I'm spinning out on the 12 while the rest of the group is still powering on their 11s - however, this is a rare enough instance and not sufficient justification to ditch an otherwise excellent (for me) cassette choice If I'm soloing, if I spin out on the 12, I'm already going plenty fast - OK to coast. If/when I upgrade to 12sp (where an 11 sprocket is unavoidable), I'll probably switch to a 48/32 crank - still slightly more top end than my current setup, but I really don't need a 50/11 gear.
There are some lovely cranks availble for equal or cheaper than chainrings; 50/34 hollowtech II style, 110 BCD, $65 with steel rings with dents in place of lift pins, and $75 with aluminum rings with lift pins, and both with external bearings at that price.
53/34... say, that's a nice jump, above what I thought was current max of 16 teeth, I was wondering if I could do that on my crank as noted above, I would bet it would need big ring with lift pins. Aftermarket 52 rings seeing now on amazon, good price, no lift pins, flat and no dish to the outside as current 50, my guess is those are for 1X cranks.