Originally Posted by
mschwett
the math is the math and gets you either way. go increasingly compact and you get smaller rings/cogs all around, especially up front, but bigger proportional jumps. 42 up front and 9 to 10t in the back is 11% and nothing you can do about it! the same big gear at 56 up front and 12 to 13t in the back is just over an 8% jump… but assuming the FD capacity is the same in either case you’re stuck with 42 or so for your little ring and then to get towards 1:1 you’ve got dinner plates front AND back!
compact 2x12 seems a sweet spot to me for now, lots of 1t steps, from 11t to 12t isn’t too bad, 1:1 at the low end and doesn’t spin out too badly at 50:11. but another cog wouldn’t hurt, and i like the range of choices campy has created.
Optimal would probably be 1x23 with ~120t chainring and 22-131 cassette. Limiting myself to parts on the market, with no regard for compatibility, I would use a 12sp 10-36 cassette with 50-34 chainrings. Including compatibility, probably 48-35 chainrings, depending on crank length.