hendrick81

Just curious what percentage of you people here use standard double cranks, over compact, and what are the positives, and negatives of each.

Thanks

sparrowlegs

Compact for me. After some knee injuries and finding climbing really painfull on normal cranks I swapped to compact. Did't make me any better on the hills but at least now I can just sit and spin my way up.

daxr

Compact for me, as I know I will never be a sprinter. With a 12-27 on the back, 50 is plenty on the big ring for the flats and descents, and 34 is small enough for any climb. A triple would just be carting around an extra ring all the time.

rob!

I'm still fairly new to road riding so I still have a compact. I went from a CX front gearing 38/48 to a compact 34/50 and I'm still trying to get used to it.

badhat

just went from a triple to a compact with 11-28 in the back. theres a couple of big jumps in the back but i dont really mind and find that the range is worth it to me, and also i can pretty much climb el cap now if i had to.

f4rrest

I have a "triple-compact" 34/42/53 with 11-21 on the back. It's like the best of all three.

Richard_Rides

Compact

dcvelo

Hmm...okay. Standard, with 12-25 cassette, on both road bikes.

umd

53/39

umd

The positives or negatives of each are to use whichever is necessary to get the appropriate gearing for your fitness and typical riding terrain.

hendrick81

Thanks for the info guys..

MONGO!

Standard 52/39 (Campy), I could never get comfortable with a compact, though I was wishing for one on that 21% climb today...

badhat

yeah i gues it'd be useful to qualify that i spend nearly all my roadie time climbing in the foothills/rockies and dont paceline or sprint.

fbxcore

53/39 Standard

Few hills here, to get to the nearest hill worth mentioning it's a 40 mile loop in itself.

dperreno

Standard. Few hills here. If I had any hills to worry about I'd definitely want to try out a compact.

Pi}{ie

Compact Double

agarose2000

Standard on a tribike.

I'd caution anyone, especially new riders, that if you may possibly be riding mountain grade-roads at ANY time (even once!), get the compact. My standard gearing 53-39/12-25 is really tough on climbs exceeding 15% (steep). At super-steep climbs of 18-20% (rare, but they are often sought out by local bike clubs), odds are that if you're not a bike racer, you'll have to dismount on the climb.

Carbon Unit

I don't have any experience with them, but an FSA compact crankset can accept chain rings larger than a 53 and smaller than a 50. The small chain ring can also accept a variety of chain ring sizes. However, I had heard from some that FSA cranksets do not shift as well as Campy or Shimano but I wouldn't know.

On an FSA you can use these TA 110MM

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/chainrings.asp

yogi13

I've got both...compact on one bike, standard on the other. I suck at climbing, and having a 34-26 gear combo helps a lot with some of the climbs around here. I also like that with the compact I pretty much stay in the mid-range cassette cogs on flats and rollers. Main advantage of the standard tends to be on group rides; with the slightly closer gear ratios it's a little easier to match the pace of the group or paceline without under or over pedaling.

ptle

Standard because I can take it...

Actually I would probably go with a compact and a small cassette in the back. Small gear jumps in the back and lighter weight.

JonnyV

Got through my first ride with a compact today. Normally ride a 52/39 but the tri-relay i'm doing is about 85% uphill so I borrowed a crank off one of our floor models. And the stuff said about the FSA Gossamer, unfortunately is all correct. Shifting is horrible. Can't wait for the Red compact crank to show up. Anyway, back on topic, I climbed one of the tougher climbs in the immediate area and though it wasn't a night and day difference there definitely was a difference. I think I'm a believer in the compact crank now.

youcoming

I'm actually going from a compact to a standard. Right now it's a 50-34 with 11-25 I can't remember the last time I was on 34-25 and the LBS group I ride with all pretty much ride standard so I thought I'd join the flock and give the standard a try. 53-39 with 11-26 Sram Force coming with my soon to arrive project one.

terrymorse 

Compact: 50-34 with a 12-27 cassette.

I'm a climber.

bikeM3987

53/39 and 12-25 or 11-23.

I race in Texas, but I have not had any problems climbing in AR with the 12-25. If you are racing, and you are not incredibly slow, I would say go with a standard.

msincredible

Compact, I live and ride in the hills.