I have been riding a compact with 12-25 and feel I spin too much up hills on the 34 but like the 50 upfront to ride on flats (using most gears in back on rolling hllls)

Never get to the 12 unless going downhill where i would want an 11

Don't want to slow down cadence too much either

What are thoughts on going with 11-28 with 11 speed and either mid compact or standard?

Was thinking of mid compact as good compromise but bike shop recommends standard

Stick with the compact and get an 11-23 cassette? Doesn't sound like you need the 53/52 big ring at all.

Keep everything the same, but change the 34 ring to a 39 or 42.

So 50-39 with 12-25?

I had compact on last bike, when I ordered my P1 Domane I went back to standard 53/39 and 11/25. Same issues you have, spinning out on long downhills and the flats. Maybe need a compact in 10yrs but for now no go for me.

If you're spinning out your 34 on hills why not just shift up a few gears or take the hills in the big ring? I guess I'm not following why you would want to make a change.

The problem with the 34 tooth is that unless you are doing some long climbs at 10mph, you'll rarely use it. If you are doing long climbs in the saddle at 12mph or above, or you are doing short climbs out of the saddle at 8 mph or above, then you can use a 42x25 as your smallest gear. You can then stay in the 42 ring up until about 20mph.

the 34 in many gears in the back causes me to spin
Need an easier gear than the big ring to climb some hills so thinking the 36 might be better choice with the 52 for flats and downhills

Changing the small ring is the cheapest option. I'd do that first to see how I liked it.

What he said

How do you change just all ring? Thought it was all or nothing

No, they are separate.

No, simply using a bigger gear would be cheaper.

He ain't going up the hill in the 11 or 12 cog.

Yeah. I agree.

I don't even slightly understand the problem.... You never use your highest gear, nor your lowest gear.

How does that head you down the path of needing different gears?

If you have low gears that you never use such as 34 x 23 & 25, decide what the lowest gear is that you will ever want, then look up on a gear chart what chainring you need with the 25. Keep the 34 in your parts box in case you want it later. Or as suggested get a tighter cassette when your current wears out, but that probably leaves you with 34 x 23.

Switch to Shimano 9000 and you can have both for when one or the other is most appropriate. I first bought the 50/34 crankset and just ordered some 52/36 rings. But I'm an old fat guy not like the typical 41 super stud my hammer only dropes to 297.5 wats...

Where did you get your 36 rings for compact? I don't like the 34, and want to go up, but can't find them online.

Want to ride big ring on flats and down hills and be able to stay there on some rollers
Ride little ring on bigger hills
Feel like spinning on little ring when going up hill
But feel at correct cadence in big ring but could step it up a little
Compacts sometimes make you have to shift more than you otherwise would so thinking of switching

Ebay or

Universalcycle

Thing is the 9000 ringsets are supposedly engineered so the pins and ramps work together by type, as in either MA MB MC MD.... You may want to pay attention to that

34 to 36 is not much difference

if the bolt pattern is 110mm you can use a scram 36 ring. I did this to my compact. I run a 50/36 with a 11-23 cassatte. Shimano and sram are interchangable with the small rings. I run the 6700 ultegra and it worked great. Also when i want to change out the crank I put on an older Dura/ace 7800 53/39 crank and the setup works flawless

prior to Shimano 9000...?

Yes. i believed, correct me if i am wrong, that the OP was talking about cranks before the 9000 shimano series. Yucan use scram or praxis on the outer rings but cosmetically it will look funky

Thanks--I have Ultegra 6700. I'll have to see what SRAM has. I liked the 53/39 before, but the compact came with the bike.

FWIW: Big and small rings are often matched sets as the tooth profiles, ramps and lift pins on the big ring are optimized for a particular number of teeth and phase on the small ring. If you use a mismatched set, it'll still shift and probably shift reasonably well, just not as well as a matched set.