Campy Chorus chain ring question
 

Hello! Currently my bike has a 50-34 chain ring. I'd like to have a lower gear for climbing.

Would a straight swap of the 34t chain ring for a 32t ring work OK?

Thank you for answers!

Typical 50/34 cranks have 110mm BCD, so 34t is the smallest that would fit in the spider (I am not familiar with Campy, if the rings are attached via traditional spider or centerlock - so there could be a caveat there). If you want a lower climbing gear, the common solution is to get a cassette with a larger big cog, but beware of rear derailleur limitations as older short cage road rear derailleurs are limited to a 28t or 30t max cog and have a chain capacity limit (sum of the small-big differences at the cranks and the cassette) as well that will restrict the overall range.

The other consideration is the relative number of teeth between the rings. Even if you could fit a 32 tooth ring the 18 tooth difference between the large and small rings might be more than your front derailleur can handle. Campagnolo does make a version of the 12 speed Chorus crank with 48/32 chainrings however

To my knowledge, the smallest inner CR on a Campy Chorus compact crank is 34t.

Thank you all for your input. I live near the foot of the Colorado Front Range so I'm faced with short grades of up to about 10%; 6% and above give me a good workout so more climbing ability would be useful. The current setup on my bike yields a 1:1 granny ratio (34/34). A 32 front / 34 rear represents almost 6% increase in "lowness" (32/34 = 0.9412). I can purchased a Campy crankset with 48-32 but I'm just trying to be a cheapskate.

So you knew about the 48/32 version of the Chorus crank already? Is your current setup 12 speed?
I can offer an alternative that might be less expensive but not from Campagnolo. The Shimano GRX crank on my gravel bike has 48/31 chainrings. Front shifting works well, but it isn't Campagnolo

Yes and yes. Thanks for your input.

That makes me wonder if the 32 tooth chainring for the 50/34 12 speed Chorus crank might actually fit your current cranks

There's a good chance it might, but as someone else already mentioned, the front der might not work, I'm not currently impressed with the current shifting of the 32/48 combination, 32/50 might suck even if it does work. Last time I looked up the cost of the chainrings, it bordered on being cheaper to replace the crank over the rings but bike24 might have them at a reasonable price.

According to Campy's website, the new 12-sp crank accepts several ring sizes, including 32t. Also, the U.S. rep for "Legend by Bertoletti" bicycles, a Campy dealer himself, told me earlier today in a phone call that the 32t ring will fit. I hope so.
That noted, I wonder if shifting between 50t and 32t will work properly or will I be best off to replace both the 50 and the 34 with 48 and 32.
Insights and insults much appreciated!

Russ Roth, I just now saw your informative post.

Chainrings are often sold in matched pairs. So, a mismatched ring might degrade shifting slightly.

I've done pretty well shifting a fairly large jump up front.

Shift your current setup to the small/small combo. Check that you have at least some clearance above the tail end of the front derailleur cage.

Setting the chain length can be a little tricky to get the sweet spot between slack on the small/small and too much tension on the big/big.

One thing to check is the price of buying 2 chainrings compared to a whole new crank. Sometimes the difference can be quite small. Also consider that if you buy a new crank the old one can be resold

The current chorus 12 crank accepts, matched pairs of 48/32, 50/34 or 52/36. I used the 48/32 with an 11-34 Campy cassette for a year or so before switching to SRAM AXS. The crank works fine with a SRAM 10-36. I just had to get new free hub bodies for my Campy wheels. The AXS chain works great too.

https://www.campagnolo.com/US/en/Com...set_12x2_speed