Chainring upgrade procedure
 

The wife has a relatively new Felt F85. She doesn't seem to like the 50/36 crankset and complains that she maxes out too easily on the relatively flat MUP we spend most of our pedaling time on.

My initial solution is "pedal faster." She didn't respond too kindly to the suggestion...

So I did some reading about gear inches and whatnot and figure a new 53t outer chainring will have the desired placebo effect for a lot less than a full crankset+cassette upgrade.

As far as I can tell, the process will require a new chain and a new FD cable job as it's bottom-pull (I think) and will need to be moved up a bit. Is there anything else I'm forgetting?

Thanks!

(I still think the real solution is to pedal faster, but this way I get to buy new shiny tools as well as log some time with a wrench. :D)

Are you sure she's not pedaling in the 36t ring instead of the 50t? Because my gosh, assuming she's got an 11 or 12 tooth small cog, a 50t on a flat MUP should be more than she'd ever need. It will go fast. Seriously. If she's really pedaling in the 50t, with an 11 or 12t small cog, on a flat MUP, and she feels like she's not going fast enough, then yeah, she REALLY DOES need to pedal faster. If she's pedaling with any reasonable cadence at all, she should be flying. Tell her it's better for her knees to learn to spin (which it is)-

Yeah, that was my first thought too, but sure enough, she's at 50-12. It's only an issue for her when we're descending from an overpass, and I don't think she's spinning faster than about 60 RPM.

We're approaching our 10th anniversary, so I've learned to accept the fact that I can't tell her anything. So here's what's going to happen: I'll slap on a 53t chainring and she'll stay happy. Two or three years from now, she'll have more road experience (and will have listened enough to everyone but me) and she'll want to go back to the compact crank. It's win-win! :o

+1
The 50 is more than enough, suggest you get her a computer with a cadence meter. My 63 year old wife spins 100+ rpm for hours on the open road, mostly on her 39t middle ring. A 50t chainring and 12t cassette cog is good for at least 33 mph. A higher cadence is much better for joints, especially the knees, also better for the cardiovascular system.
A 53t chainring combined with a 50t would likely cause shifting problems due to the big size difference. And the 53 would have to have a 110 BCD to bolt up to the crankset.

Al

This is one of those rare circumstances where the wife is actually wrong.

Tell her you aren't paying for her knee surgery.

I think this says it all.

... Brad

It may be easier to just swap the cassette for one with an 11 tooth little cog. It will give a bigger gear than a 53/12 and you won't run the risk of having crappy shifting from the big chainring size difference.

So, um, back to the procedure at hand. Assuming the 53t ring will replace the 50t ring without issue*, new chain and FD cable and we're good to go?

* - I need to measure. The Felt specs don't jive with the Gossamer configurations on FSA's site. If it is indeed a CC then this whole post was an exercise in futility.

That sounds promising. Using Sheldon Brown's online calculator thingy I'm looking at 119.5" using the existing 50t ring and a new, 11-21 cassette. I was looking at 116.1" using the 53t ring and the old 12-25 cass. Seems like I should be able to use the existing chain too. Savings abound!

As Nancy Regan recommended -

'Just say NO!'

:)

Most likely, even if you have a compact crank, your bike still has a regular derailler which will shift to a 53 tooth chainring just fine obviously. Depending on how your bike was set up, you may or may not need a new chain. Sometimes, chains that are set up conservatively (basically, doing it by the book) will allow for a couple tooth difference +/- without issue. It really depends on the derailler and the gear combinations used. The cable is almost definitely long enough to deal with the raised derailler height unless it was cut very close to the derailler pinch bolt.

FSA makes 52 tooth 110 BCD chainrings: http://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...&category=2628 but that's the biggest I could find.

You'll need to replace both the 36 and the 50. Going from a 52 or a 53 down to a 36 might be too large of a difference for the FD to handle. You also have the 110 vs 130 bolt hole spacing issue to deal with.

One question - on the site, it mentioned the Felt comes in a 650C and 700C version. Does she have the 650C? Because that would make the larger gears somewhat less insane. Somewhat. ;)

Not so obvious when you're shifting up from a 36.

??? Switching to bigger ring just doesn't make any sense at all. Especially for a MUP. Frankly it is a horrible waste of money and time. If it is really that troublesome that she feels she is spinning out then chances are there is something else wrong. I'd be willing to bet she is poorly fitted to the bike which is leading to poor pedaling. Before you break down and switch the chain ring you really should do her (and yourself) a favor by figuring out what the REAL problem is. It can only result in a more rewarding cycling experience.

Why bother with a "placebo" solution if the REAL problem will remain unsolved?? Usually that means the same or worse problems will just crop up later....

Oh yeah, and send her to BF or any wrench worth a dime if she "needs convincing."

60 rpm is not spinning

But is that really possible? Don't they know everything?

:)


Below is some good advice:

Good point. I had made a comment about that earlier in my first post but probably should have reiterated. My point was just that 52/53 is the "designed-for" large chainring size for a standard road derailler.

Yeah, OK, but I really think the reason road bikes typically come with 52 or 53 big rings is because that's what the pros use so that's what sells. But they spend a lot of time at speeds above 30 mph and sprint at 45 mph or more.

No argument from me there. I could easily live with a 42/11 as my largest gear. By "designed for", I referring to the shape of the derailler cage and nothing more.

your dérailleur cage is going to be set to the 50t, and IF it was set up properly, you WILL need to re-position the dérailleur if you dont, you most likely will find the front der. will hit the inside of the 53t ring when upshifting...

again, this is all if it was set up PROPERLY. if it wasnt, well...then it might work?

even my 18 year old girlfriend knows that pedalling at a higher cadence means less hard effort, and less pain (she has a bad knee from a soccer incident). she cruises along on her comfort/hybrid easily at 12mph using 38/20t while i am probably at 32/16 on my mtb...of course i could pedal that mtb all day at that gearing...very easy :)

sounds like the wife needs to bump her cadence up to 85-90. she will be amazed at what it accomplishes.