I've mostly ridden with a compact chainset and when I was in France I definitely thought that it was making a big difference. I then used a 53x39 chainset when in Mallorca cycling almost exclusively up mountains and I noticed that it wasn't so much what my lowest gear was, just that I was using it, that made the difference. It's a similar feeling to when I increased my gear on my fixed-gear. I don't feel like I'm putting in more effort or spinning slower. I just go a little bit faster.
So what does everyone run on their geared bikes then?
Also, does anyone know if it's possible to get 110 BCD 53x39 chainrings? I've had a look but haven't been able to find anything. I'm not really interested in getting a new chainset as I'm wanting to upgrade relatively soon anyway.
I've just swapped a 50/34 on my road bike for a 53/39 but I run a 11-28 on the back and never used 34/28 so 39/28 will basically give me the same as 34/24 which was my ususal steep climbing or bail out gear.
I swapped not so much for the 53 ring but to get a 39 as most of my cycling is done in the small ring
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