rpeterson

Anyone running this? I'm putting a new bike together and was thinking of doing something different. Other than a little extra spacing between cogs is the mid-cage derailleur going to affect the shifting in any way?

datlas 

Just get a compact if you want that range.

ChucklesKY

Compact (50/34) + (11/28)

rpeterson

I don't like compacts, I find myself cross-chaining too much in the mountains, and the 34 is pretty useless for racing, with the 53/39 I can toss an 11-23 on. I just wanna know if it'll give me any weird problems compared to a short cage and an 11-28

ChucklesKY

Go to https://www.gear-calculator.com/#
You can compare both gear ratios.
What you're proposing (53/39 + 11/32) is essentially identical to a 50/34 + 11/28 and the latter makes a whole lot more logical sense. And we all know that BF is all about "logical sense".

kbro1986

I'm running a 53/39 + 11/26...no big deal

Yaniel

It's a lot easier and cheaper to add a long cage derailleur and throw on an 11-32 cassette on a spare set of wheels, and just change wheels when you need the extra gearing than it is to buy a new crank and swap it out every time you need the extra gearing.

Kind of Blued

I run an 11-32 with a compact on certain mountain rides (read: gravel). It'll work fine with a mid-cage on a 53/39, so that's /thread.

That said, I find a narrow range crankset with a wide range cassette really obnoxious. Shifting from the 53 to the 39 would be the same as shifting two cogs in some instances, and you might find yourself having to shift the front derailleur in order to find an "inbetween gear" for the right cadence. The 13-15t jump, and the 19-22t jump are especially noticeable for me on a SRAM 11-32.

I really like a 52/36 compact with an 11-28 for climbs if you really need that big gear top end. You'd end up cross-chaining less as well, compared to a 50/34.

prathmann

I have 52/39 and a 13/32 cassette without any problems. Of course mine is a 7-cog cassette but I don't see why you'd encounter issues with more cogs.

njkayaker

Same low gear but a lower top gear.

The 39/53 with a 11-32 might produce more useful gears from double shifting (the 34/50 with 11-28 requires more complicate shifts).

Trucker Dan

If you can spin out an 11-50 you need to go pro. I have seen juniors win cat 3 downhill sprints with a 52-14.

ChucklesKY

50x11 @ 120rpm = 43mph

RichardGlover

I rather enjoy my 50/34 and 12-32. I don't spin out the 50x12 on anything but descents, but that 34x32 can sure come in handy climbing hills near the end of a 200k.

Trucker Dan

At that speed you are better off tucking in as tight as you can than trying to pedal. I have done 50 mph descents in races with a 53-12 and never got dropped by the guys with 11s. The jumps on an 11-32 would be terrible. Go compact if you need the gears.

brian416

*** runs this combo
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hlight=sram+xx

dleccord

Is a triple ring an option?

Nachoman

I had the opposite experience when I first switched to a compact. I found myself frequently cross-chaining in the flats, but rarely in the mountains.

merlinextraligh

Shimano road derailluers, even with long cages are not spec'd to handle a 32 tooth cog. You can make them work (I've run an 11-32 with a long cage 105 derailluer) but it's not ideal shifting.

You'd want to run that set up with a Shimano MTB derailluer, or a SRAM Apex.

rpeterson

I'd be using an Apex RD, so no worries there I suppose.

I don't like compacts in the hills because with a standard I can just throw it in the 39 and stay in the middle of the cassette, instead of shifting around the front constantly if the road is only 3-5% The 34 fine when it's ~6-10%, but then, so is the 39, and with a 32 it would have more than enough range to let me spin up the >12% stuff that I normally just stand and push through now.

bobonker

You can run that setup just fine with an Apex or Rival mid-cage rear derailleur.

Your chain will be really long if you're gonna set it up so that going big-big is safe to do.
Run the 12-32 instead of the 11-32. The gaps are a lot more friendly IMO. 12,13,14,15,17,19,22,25,28,32

Bob

Dean V

If you really want to cover that range of gearing I would go for a triple. No cross chaining issues and you could use a tighter rear cluster.

DinoShepherd

I have found the 50-36 to be a nice way to go. I run it with an 11-26.

Tightens up the front shift and give (slightly) more speed in the small ring.

Seems to be plenty of low end for our steep hills around here even well into a hard ride.

Brian Ratliff

You might have to fuss with that "B" screw a bit to get good shifting when you move between a, say, 11-23 cassette and your 11-32 (to put the top derailleur pulley closer to the cog), but you should be fine otherwise. You would be carrying around a bit more chain than you would otherwise is all. The shifting performance should not change a smidge.

rotti

I just converted from a 50/34 with 11/28 to a 53/39 with the same 11/28 cassette. It's only been a week but I love the set up and I haven't had any problems. I live around some steep 2-3 mile climbs and plenty of rollers and the gearing is just about perfect for me. It's so nice with the rolling terrain to be able to pop to the 39 or back up to the 53 without having to hunt for the right cog.

gregf83 

Maybe you should go with Shimano's new 11-speed: 52-36 crank with 11-28 cassette.