Changing to compact would be a solution, yes. I would replace the normal 50 tooth large chainring with a 46 at least temporarily. As you get stronger, you can push bigger gears, but, assuming you are a woman (just looking at your username - if I am wrong, please disregard with my apologies), you might never get to the point where you can push on a 53 tooth large gear comfortably. Most women I've met use a compact.
When I started out road biking I had a triple. I rode almost exclusively in the middle 42 tooth chainring for several years. I made the decision to get strong enough to ride in the 52 on the flats and almost screwed up my knees because the fit was bad.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
"If you’re new enough [to racing] that you would ask such question, then i would hazard a guess that if you just made up a workout that sounded hard to do, and did it, you’d probably get faster." --
the tiniest sprinter
Last edited by Brian Ratliff; 02-07-09 at 09:29 AM.