I looked in the archives but couldn't really find anything. I have a a Ultegra 9 Spd triple, it's 52-42-30, everything works fine but I'd really like to be riding 39 in the middle so I can be riding a ratio closer to what most of the guys I ride with ride and don't have to end up in the granny gear mid rear cog to match what dudes on their double are using.

Anywho long story short is it possible to swap out the 42 middle chainring for a 39 or do you need a whole knew crankset for that?

Nope, you won't need a "knew" (or even a new :-) crankset.
That 13 tooth drop from 52 to 39 is fine. (I believe the standard is up to 16 teeth)
BTW I have the same 52/42/30 on my LeMond. 12-25 on the rear.
One day thinking of going with a compact + Q-Rings 50-34

Haha good catch on the spelling error.

Yah I don't mind the 52-42-30 and I run 12-26 in the rear but I notice most cats are running 53-39. What I really want is a double but I don't want to spend the money on upgrading a 9 speed system you know, so I'm waiting till I get my next bike w/10 spd.

The 52 seems to work fine for me but I notice that sometimes I feel like I'm pushing too big of a gear and would rather not have to get down into my granny gear to replicate what other riders are pushing in 39, too much shifting ya know?

photo.. I mean fauxto, look at this. What you want to do should work.

https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...t.aspx?sc=FRGL

you may need to tweak your fd

I assume ill have to tweak the fd, thanks for the feed back. Now i have to find the damn chainring ugh. I kinda assumed the cranks were gear specific b/c my mid ring has the sizes of the big chaing ring and ggranny on it. This is awesome now my IT bands can get a damn break.

I got a 39t chainring at my LBS, the Ultegra chain ring with installation and derailleur adjustment was $30 so I'm a pretty happy camper.

Also now that I'm running 52-39, I'm curious what kind of rear cassette do you guys who ride double on 53-39 run, I assume my 12-26 is a bit high for 39, maybe more appropriate for longggg climbing. I'll need a new cassette soon anywho.

Nick, I run an 11-26 on my 53/39, but you know I do a lot of climbing. I'm thinking of switching out and making a tighter cassette be my standard gearing and only use a 26 or 28 for epic climbing days.

Also, I don't see why you would have to adjust your FD if your big ring didn't change.

The FD hadn't been tuned up in forever, I think the guy just saw that there could be improved shifting in general. They have really cool mechanics at the Bicycle John's in Burbank..

What gearing did you use for that day we went up that epic climb (Gibralter?). I tried to do it in 42/26 I ended up having to do it in 30/26-23.

I assume I was in 39x26. We were going pretty slow so I would have wanted as much cadence as I could get.

Yah....slow, haha. I'm really curious to see how I would handle that hill now, was that in fact Gibralter btw? Hopefully next time I can complete it in my 39.

Yeah, that was Gibraltar. Btw, UCSB is putting on a time trial up it in January. It's on Active.com I think. I'll probably do it. If you want to go up it again one of these days we can probably do it this Sunday afternoon, after my morning ride.

TT UP THAT THING?! Good lord they need to curb that drug issue at UCSB.

I was just about to ask when you could take me up that again, sadly I'm hitting the velodrome with PAA this Sunday so I won't be able to, how about next weekend?

Next weekend I think I'm going to try a cross race... I think that there is usually a casual ride up it on Christmas or new years or around there somewhere.

Well we can always plan on the new year, actually I think I'll wait till I get my new Easton wheels before we do it again.