Not necessarily. A compact crank is often a 36 rather than a 34. 53-39 = 14. 50-36 = 14.
Yep. On the one bike I have that has a compact, it has a 36 tooth small chainring.
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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