compact chainset advice

Robert Webster

I have a campy record standard chainset, short cage derailer and 12-26
cassette fitted on my bike

for the week end of the Alpine Classic only I want to fit a compact (or
lower my gears in some other way) but don't want to spend a $quillion -

any suggestions on the cheapest way to get the lower gears for the day?

Rory Williams

Depends how much you are prepared to compromise. I run compact triples on three of my bikes (46,36,26 road, 46,36,24 off road, 50,40,30 tandem). I think they were mostly about $25 secondhand (square taper). The bigger cost tends to be bottom brackets to get the chain line right. I have ones branded Sugino, Shimano, Richy logic and Sakae. The early mountain bikes mostly ran compact triples (110BDC) then it became the touring bike standard so there are quite a few out there. The mountain bike heritage means that 175mm cranks are quite common.

RoryW

Gags

"Robert Webster" <rwebster@netspace.net.au> wrote in message
news:fjque1$86b$1@otis.netspace.net.au...
>I have a campy record standard chainset, short cage derailer and 12-26
>cassette fitted on my bike
>
> for the week end of the Alpine Classic only I want to fit a compact (or
> lower my gears in some other way) but don't want to spend a $quillion -
>
> any suggestions on the cheapest way to get the lower gears for the day?

Rob,

If you get stuck, I have got a 13-29 Campy cassette and a long cage Record
derailleur that you could probably borrow for the event. Admittedly it
would only give you just over a 10% easier gear but let me know if no other
options come up and I am sure that we could work something out.

Gags

DeF

Robert Webster wrote:
> I have a campy record standard chainset, short cage derailer and 12-26
> cassette fitted on my bike
>
> for the week end of the Alpine Classic only I want to fit a compact (or
> lower my gears in some other way) but don't want to spend a $quillion -
>
> any suggestions on the cheapest way to get the lower gears for the day?

Robert, I've converted two bikes to compacts recently.

First, 9sp veloce went from 39-53 to 36-50 with a 13-23
on the back. No change in either dérailleur although I
had to lower the front by a few mm.

Second, 10sp Chorus went from 39-53 to 34-50 with a 12-25
on the back. I replaced the front dérailleur with a compact
specific one but I reckon you could get away without doing
that, especially if you're not using it for racing. Again,
I had to mount the front a little lower (which for me meant
also moving my cadence sensor).

In neither case did I change the rear dérailleur although it
is fairly clear that they're working harder than before (ie
using more of their range).

For price, there are still a few 2006 and older (ie square taper)
compact cranks around the place - I got some centaur cranks for
not much more than $100 a while a go. Based on my experience,
that is all you need. In fact, you don't even have to stick to
Campagnolo as any square taper compacts should do the trick.

Enjoy your ride!


--
e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au
To reply, you'll have to remove your finger.

Rory Williams

Adding to my earlier comment, I didn't change my dérailleurs either when I went from 52/38 to 46/36/26. The front one got moved down a bit and I'm sure I must have shortened the chain. Its probably a short to medium Veloce on the rear. The thing is I only engage the 26 on the front as a matter of last resort and I only ever use it with my largest two cogs on the rear - the 19 or the 21. Given the overlap, most of the other rear cogs fall within the range covered by the 36.

RoryW