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Gearing Question

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Old 05-13-13 | 12:55 PM
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From: North-Central VT (just outside Montpelier)

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Gearing Question

I'm running a Specialized Roubaix Pro SL2 with a mix of Red and Force components. My chainrings are 50/34, my cassette is 11-28 (Ultegra I think). Living in Vermont I've been struggling with the Cat 4 and steeper climbs, I could really use one or two easier gears. I know, 34-28 isn't bad, but being a spinner, I just can't spin it fast enough, so I end up more like Jan Ulrich and have to pound the gears to get up our gap rides, resorting to switchbacking using the whole road at times. I was wondering if I can go to an 11-32 cassette and keep my Red rear and front Force derailiers, or can I go down to a 30 small chainring, (but then do I need to go down to a 48 big chainring)? I have the Pro model S-Works carbon crank (stock on this bike), so I don't even know if going down to smaller chainrings is an option which is why I thought the cassette option might be the better way to go..
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Old 05-13-13 | 01:09 PM
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may just have to add a the Long cage RD or at least Medium, if you will adopt a Triple crank.
Hollow tech stuff means whole crank as the tube spindles are attached tothe Rt Crankarm now..

Compact double .. 34:34 is the best you can Do..
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Old 05-13-13 | 01:13 PM
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I figure red can handle 54/39 rings and 11-28 cassettte, wonder if the Red RD can handle 50/34 and 12-30 cassette. Has anyone actually tried this? I know all the literature says 28 is max on the back, but I want to see if anyone actually tried the new 12-30 with the compact 50-34...
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Old 05-13-13 | 02:09 PM
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Wrap, chain take up, math is tooth counts (Big+ big ) --( Little + little ) .

don't own that exact kit . so Hands on owners of that combo,
May be a while before someone else pipes up.

good luck or just give it a try
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Old 05-13-13 | 04:34 PM
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You cannot go below the current 34T chainring by enough to matter as your crank's 110mm bolt circle diameter will accept a 33T chainring as an absolute minimum. If you really need a true granny chainring you will need a triple crank and SRAM does not offer one in any of their road groups.
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Old 05-13-13 | 10:21 PM
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Originally Posted by dreamwalkn
I figure red can handle 54/39 rings and 11-28 cassettte, wonder if the Red RD can handle 50/34 and 12-30 cassette. Has anyone actually tried this? I know all the literature says 28 is max on the back, but I want to see if anyone actually tried the new 12-30 with the compact 50-34...
The crux of the matter is getting the jockey pulley to clear the largest cassette cog. Frames with a longer derailleur hangers are more tolerant of "pushing" cogs beyond spec.

Try it and see. If it doesn't work, an Apex rear derailleur can be had for less than $80. And if you're concerned about mixing SRAM levels, don't be. Contador won the Giro using an Apex rear derailleur before WiFli became available for Red.

It's highly likely you'll need a longer chain.

Last edited by oldbobcat; 05-13-13 at 10:28 PM.
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Old 05-15-13 | 01:16 PM
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This might help you.
https://home.earthlink.net/~mike.sherman/shift.html
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Old 05-15-13 | 01:27 PM
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I've used a SRAM Red WiFli (longer cage) RD successfully with an SRAM XG-1099 11-32 cassette in combination with a compact (50-34) crank set. Works beautifully and letts me keep my cadence > 75 on all but the very steepest grades around here. And I'm a poor climber... BTW, it did require an addition link length in the chain.
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Old 05-15-13 | 01:37 PM
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Generally good practice to change the chain when changing cassettes. Unless the chain is very new, I wouldn't personally add links.
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