Using small chainrings with Di2 front mech.
 

Hi guys,

I am a junior in the and need to find a better setup to comply with the USAC junior gearing requirements for the 2018 season. I have a 52/36 on front currently and I've just been blocking out my 11,12,13 on my cassette. A friend recommended Wickwerks chainrings made for juniors (basically just 41, 33 chainrings). However, it requires a "fit link" for braze on derailleurs because since the front chainring is so small the front mech needs to be moved down. The fitlink from Wickwerks specifies that it isn't compatible with Di2 derailleurs:mad:.. Does anyone know a solution to move my Di2 derailleur down so I can still shift with 52/36 deraullers?

The "fit link" is basically an adapter that drops the braze on mount a couple cm so you can mount your front mech lower than the braze on mount on your frame.

My frame is a Hi-Mod SS Evo (with braze on mounts) and the front mech is Dura Ace Di2 9070 (braze on).

Thanks guys,
Rishav

As I see it , front shifters shove the chain from one plane to another. the chain ring being a disc with teeth on its edge.

Never touched any Di2 stuff, this area does not spend that kind of money on bicycles ..


Braze-on FD means , pretty much leave it as is , or sell the bike and get something that better suits your needs..
since you are un satisfied with what you have.




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Can't help on the Di2 problem but why not just use a 14-28 cassette?

Probably because they don't exist in 11-speed form.

Ultegra CS-R8000 11-speed is available in 14-28. (many online stores don't stock these. A little hard to find.)

It's a straight block from 14 through 21:
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 25 28


I use this for my fast-for-me group rides, since it has close shifts from 16 through 25 mph. The downside is having to shift 4 or 5 cogs when shifting the front rings (but that's fast and easy with Di2). And spinning out at 30 mph.

I'll also combine it with the 5 large cogs from an 11-32 if there's steep hills:
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 25 28 32

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The 14-28 with 34/50 chainrings. 36/52 would be about 1/2 shift higher gearing (a 4% difference). At 100 rpm, 52-17 is 24.0 mph, 50-17 is 23.1 mph.

Chart from Mike Sherman's Gear Calculator. Here's the link to this setup, with a 50 vs 52 comparison: 14-28 and 36/50/52

The 14-28 cassette is probably a better choice for racing than 33/41 chainrings. Easier to install, too!

It moves a lot of the shift points to ranges slower than racing speeds.
But on a hilly course, the rider could stay in the big chainring at slower speeds with these small chainrings, since the speed range is wider.

(These small chainrings would be good for older, slower riders though.)

33/41 and 11-28. Compare with the 14-28 chart above. Harder to get an optimal cadence at speeds from 16 to 25 mph.

OK, I'm convinced, they do indeed exist! A Google search didn't find it and a Lennard Zinn article on the Velonews web site didn't mention it and recommended the chainring combination the OP asked about so I thought the 14x28 11-speed wasn't made.

I agree that the cassette combination is the better choice.

I can put an 11-36T SRAM cassette and 46/30T crank on my bike with Di2 and it works. I do have a clamp-mount front derailleur however. There is quite a bit of adjustability in the height, so you might not have to do anything special.

There is an 11-speed Ultegra 14-28 cassette available.

I spent a couple of idle moments on Universal Cycles' website the other day and was pleasantly surprised that you can get 14-25T or 14-28T Shimano cassettes in 9-, 10-, and 11-speed. Good thing for juniors and those of us who don't need super-tall gearing. :thumb:

Yes, that was discussed several postings above.

I posted about my 14-32 fast-group-rides-with-hills combo cassette in another post.

Good:
Lots of close shifts above 20 mph, and low gears for very steep climbs.
Bad:
Having to shift 4 or 5 cogs when shifting the front ring. A 14-28 would have the same problem. My Di2 electric shifting makes this fast and easy.
Spinning out on even moderate downhills. I'll switch back to 11-28 or 11-32 if there's longer downhills, more than a mile long.
It's somewhat annoying on slower rides -- the 34 chainring doesn't go much higher than 16 mph, so cruising rides get a lot of front chainring shifts.

Certainly they do, I own one. It's an Ultegra 6800 model.

That with a 50 large ring should make you legal.

I put it on for Park City.

You're full of valuable contributions today.

Oh yeah, I remember that thread. :)

I agree that ~95" could be a little limiting as a top gear, but it's nice that you can just hang out on the big ring for a lot of your riding with that 14-32. In a pinch, you could cross-chain to the bottom of your cassette for the leisurely rides.

Too bad there isn't a 13-X cassette for you to cannibalize! :thumb: Even Campagnolo seems to be giving up on selling 13-X cassettes.

I don't think that could have possibly been more unhelpful lol, I'm sure there are plenty of other people here on Di2. electronic DA is actually far superior to mechanical in my opinion, as long as you are open to trying it.

I think that's what I'm going to do :)

Thanks for all the helpful responses about the 14-28 Ultegra cassette, I think I'm going to go with that :)