2ndGen

I don't know what condition you're in, but you should never need to
go to your smaller chainring at a light if the road is relatively flat.
You should put yourself in an appropriate gear in your cassette.

I'm just a lowly recreational rider. I rarely use my small chainring.
I usually employ it on a long climb, but even then, I wait until the last moment.

I could be 100% wrong here as an amateur, but I'd say work on learning how to set
yourself up when coming to a stop by utilizing the right gears in your cassette.

(I am open for correction by any more experienced rider)

kabex

lol wut? What would people do these days if they had to put up with DT shifters?

I started on a 14 speed DT bike and never shifted when stopping.

bikerjp

I stay on the 50 most of the time including at lights and just cross-chain a bit here and there. Not such a big deal on the compact - especially big to big. I don't see much reason to do small-small and you get more chain rub since the front derailer probably has a trim setting on the big. The gearing on the cassette is part of this too. I don't know the specs of that bike but I'm guessing it's probably around a 12-27 give or take a tooth. You should be able to start from a stop on the 50 and the second or third largest cog without much cross-chaining issues. I'm pretty much an out of shape beginner and this is pretty easy to do and be somewhat quick. Much smaller cog and it becomes more of a slow build up. Of course, if you have an 11-23 or something back there then you need to htfu or shift the front more.

Yep, it's a bigger change than you might expect. I was feeling I needed to stretch out a bit and debated taking out a spacer or two or flipping. Flipping gives a flat stem (depending on the particular set up) and drops the bars down and out and maybe gives a bit better handling. It didn't seem like much until I road it. It's not uncomfortable, but definitely something to get used to.

wrr1020

Yes. I ride a compact on one of my bikes and never change to my small ring for lights, don't know anyone else that does either. If you find yourself cross chaining on the big ring don't think about it so much, i've done it a few times and i've got a lot of mileage on my drivetrain and have no issues.

DGozinya

Depends on how far apart the lights are. In town, going block to block, you probably shouldn't even be in the 50. If it's more suburban, 1/4-1/2mile to the next light kinda thing, then sure. It sounds a little like that you're not concerned yet with cadence and you're probably cranking way to slowly. Higher cadences ease pressures on the knees and give you that ability to accelerate quicker when you realize a car is about to hit you unless you boot scoot it out of the way. You don't want to be stuck in a 50-11 going 12mph in that situation. You've got 20 speeds, use 'em all.

bonz50

nice bike, i'm very seriously considering the exact bike and tryin to decide if goin for the 2.3 is worth the extra ching...

revchuck 

I just stay in the big ring, and stand to accelerate when the light changes. Also, occasional cross-chaining doesn't hurt anything with modern drivetrains. If I know I'm going to stay above about 12 mph going up a hill, I just stay in the big ring and downshift as necessary. I'm running a 12-27 cassette.

acckids

Is that a fender mount on the rear of the seat tube. I don't think I have ever noticed that.

sosojeffcc

Yeah, I can accelerate fine being on the 50 and the 2nd to largest cog. If I need an extra boost due to traffic or something I just stand and pedal. And sounds like that's "fine" and not really an issue with cross-chaining. It's only for a short duration before shifting to smaller cogs anyways. Most of my crosschaining is big-big, and hardly ever small-small.

However, if I take cadence into account, I would much rather be on the small chainring as DGozinya mentioned.

Thanks for the comments guys!

MinnMan

1. Bought a 2010 2.1 last spring. Love it. Of course, I'm already kind of thinking about upgrading, but that's not the bike's fault.

2. You're absolutely right - it's too early to think about flipping the stem and such. Just put in the miles for now.

3. Don't worry about cross chaining too much. The 105 drive train is up to it. With the 50/34 compact, you can stay in the big chain ring pretty much always except for steep or long climbs.

4. Wish I were riding in SoCal this time of year. Had a taste of road riding in Las Vegas this weekend - I was in heaven - but now I'm back in the nation's ice box, where it's winterbiking or indoors for the next 2 months. Damn...