Standard vs. Compact Gearing
 

I have always ridden standard gearing and usually with 11-28 cassette (but also 12-25 on another bike)
Climb pretty well/very well and ride decently on flats (low 20s)
But probably push too much as opposed to riding with a nice fast cadence
Would I be better off with compact gearing?
So I can spin more and not wear out thighs so much?
Want to have some easier gearing on flats to keep up cadence without losing too much on climbs and spinning too fast

it seams to be what you need. However, don't expect to have the same resistance/speed on your highest gear.

Do you have large hills / small mountains near you? If not, your gearing is probably fine and you can work around your cadence issues regardless of which crank you have.

If you don't have the low enough gears to tackle mountains near you then a compact is essential. You can get very nearly the same range of gears out of both, just depends on whether you need a little more on the low end or high end.

I've got an 11-28 and just recently switched to a 53/39 from a 52/36 (mid-compact).

We've got really varied terrain where I live and I'm finding it much easier to keep my cadence up after switching to the standard.

With the mid-comp, I was cross-chaining a lot, spending most of my time in the big ring, but with the standard it's been much easier to divide the rings between their respective halves of the cassette.

In fact, I can generally stay pretty much in the center range of the cassette, using the rings to accommodate shifts needed when approaching climbs or descents.

The net result has been smoother transitions in shifts, higher speeds on the flats, and easier spinning up hills without mashing.

Sorry, I know that's likely the opposite of what you wanted to hear. But just my experience. Do what works for you.

There are plenty of online gear calculators out there. I suggest you play around with one, incorporating the type of riding you do and your individual preference.

Pick the gearing setup that works best for YOU.

/thread

Going from a 53 to a 50 on the big ring is worth roughly one cog tooth in the back on the high gear end. Going from 39 to 34 on the front ring is worth about 2 cog teeth in the rear on the low gear end. So a 50/12 is roughly like a 53/13, and a 34/25 is roughly like a 39/27.

The only word of caution: I think chain drops going from large ring to small ring are somewhat more likely on a compact due to the small diameter of the 34 and the larger jump (16 teeth on a compact, 14 teeth on a standard) from large to small ring. The effect is only slight with matched rings and modern shifters and derailleurs.

I went the opposite way. I had a compact for about 3 years and we have virtually no flat roads where I live; every route around here has steep rollers or long moderate climbs. I found the compact to be really annoying as I was always shifting due to the constantly changing terrain, worst of it being at the front which typically required a 2-3 shuffle at the back. Since moving to a standard, I've gained a bit of speed, my cadence is more consistent, and I'm shifting a lot less.

If you have the SRAM 11-28 then your 39x28 will be approximately equivalent to a 34x25 (i.e. just one cog in the rear). Not dramatic. The biggest thing I notice between the two is how useful the 39 is at the upper end of my cassette. 39x14-13-12 is a lot more reasonable for rolling terrain than the 34x14-13-12.

Does not compute. A 39x25 is not low enough on the flats ?

Thank you for the input. Any suggestions on sticking with standard but increasing cadence so not pushing too hard a gear?

Get into the right gear?

I'll try solving this but from a unique point of view of a recreational rider spinning for fitness and health. Would you be able to answer this question: on a flat course what gear would you be in that lets you spin in the mid to high 80s rpm sustained for at least one whole hour so that you are always between 80% and 90% of your aerobic capacity? Just ride and see for yourself. Ask yourself what gear inches that would be. And again ask yourself, for that number of gear inches, if I were to put the chain somewhere in the middle of the cassette (i.e., 5th or 6th cog from either end), what would the gear calculator say the number of teeth for the big chain ring would be? That's how I figured what my "ideal" big chainring size would be. (And if the chainring size is something that doesn't even exist, play around with different cassettes and see if you can come up with a big chainring size that actually exists.) This way you will have 4 or 5 cogs to go either high or low from that cog where you can spin quite nicely on the flats with the big chainring. Well, this is how I did it for myself, a recreational rider. All of this probably is meaningless or illogical to someone who races. Good luck.

How low is your cadence and what sort of hills are you talking about? On all the climbs around here, I'm usually sitting at 88-95rpm; any faster and I feel like I'm wasting energy, especially on longer climbs. If I'm "attacking" a somewhat short but steep hill, then 100-105rpm feels pretty good if only for the feeling of momentum and staying on top of the gear.

I'll second that! That's been my experience, too- only going from a triple to a standard double. Didn't even think I'd be strong enough yet to ride the standard on the hills here.....but I took her out for the first time, and not only made it up all the hills...but had the best performance EVER! Going to the standard has instantly made me a better cyclist.

My triple is essentially a standard double (52-39 though) with a 30-tooth granny. For relatively flat terrain out here west of Chicago I can just leave it in the 39 all day long and be pretty happy. I will throw it onto the big gear if I am hammering a longish descent.

On a compact, I prefer to run in the 50 most of the time and shift down to the small ring only if needed for a steeper hill.

Note that I do not lose any sleep over cross-chaining -- if you do, my methods will probably not suit you.

Usually 80 cadence at best over 60 mile ride at 18MPH with 3000 ft of climbing
This would be standard ride for me
But legs feel sore later on and after leading me to think I am mashing too much
Rarely ride hard so feel out of breath so not cardio enough

Use a lower gear.

What gear do most people ride in generally?
Small ring and middle of cassette?
However it is set up

ride one gear lower than normal. try 90 rpm

If you need a compact in your daily life, you should know it by yourself without asking the forum.

When my new bike came with a 34/25 low gear, it took me one ride (including a 1.5 mile 8% climb) to conclude that I can't live with that gearing. Now I'm down to 34/32 and I can keep going up and down the same grade all day.

It is my general observation that people living east of I-35 typically don't need compacts or triples, because they don't have hills like we do. I don't know how you manage to average 50 feet/mile of climbing on Long Island. I see that kind of altitude gain riding in San Diego, where you can't go anywhere without running into a hill. Long Island is practically flat by comparison.

The middle to south shore of Long Island is flat
The north shore is very hilly
No mountains but many hills that are 200-300 feet for less than one mile
I can go up hills pretty easily
I just feel many times that I am pushing too hard a gear
Not going 90rpm but 10-15 less and grinding it out

See Mike Sherman's gear calculator. Here's a link with your 11-28 cassette and 53,50,and 34 chainrings. You can compare 50 and 53 here. (Ignore the 'bookmark this page' popup--just click OK, it doesn't actually save it)

The 50 to 53 difference is about 1 mph for any given cog. See the Speed over RPM chart near the middle, with the 53 chainring speeds in blue and 50 chainring in black. You can change any setting, and the charts update on the fly.

The 50 tooth chainring has slightly closer gear speed changes from 15 mph to the low 20s. So that would probably work well for you.
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I run much lower gears, 50/34 chainrings and 13-29 cogs. But I don't really miss the 50-12 or 50-11 combinations. I just coast downhill if the speeds are over 33-35 mph.

I'll even use the lowest 34-29 on a 5% grade, spinning at 90-95 rpm.

I use the cadence reading on my bike computer a lot (more than I expected!), mainly to remind me to stay in the mid-90s if possible. It's easy for me to drift down into the low 80s if I'm not paying attention. If I'm doing a easy cruise, then I'll stay in the low 80s, since I'm hardly pushing the pedals.

I don't do "that" much flat road riding. There's usually at least a small grade. So I'm always shifting gears, even for a short change of grade, just a few pedal revolutions.

Good chainring and cog selection depends on what typical flat road speeds you hit, and what cadence you like. I like small gear speed differences at my cruising speeds, so I can shift into the exact cadence I want.

When you need a replacement cassette, maybe you should try a 12-27 cassette, instead of the 11-28. You would add the 16 cog. At 90 rpm, that cog is 21.9 mph on a 50 chainring, or 23.3 mph on a 53 chainring. You'd only lose some top end speed in the mid to upper 30s. (You can add the 16 cog to the Gear Calculator, showing 11 gears, to see how it might help. Add it to the end of the list, it'll be inserted in the correct spot.)


That's pretty typical for climbing. I'm often in the 70-80 rpm range, and have gone down to 32 rpm (about 1 pedal stroke per second) on very steep hills. Most riders don't have low enough gears to do 90+ rpm on real grades.

When you feel that you're mashing, are you in your lowest gear?

What about the Appalachian mountains?

You need to get out more. There's plenty of steep stuff east of I-35.