Originally Posted by
SpongeDad
I would think any inner ring below 130bcd, which I think limits you to 38 teeth or more. I'd get a compact, but I'd like to use shimano rings, and they don't make 50/36 rings for 10 spd - 50/34 is too big a jump.
I don't think the chainrings are truly 9/10 speed specific, despite what Shimano says. I think you'd be fine with 9-speed rings.
Incidentally, referring to the post about a 53/34 crankset, I think that is too big of a chainring difference for front derailers to handle.