Feasibility of swapping chain rings

On 6/21/2013 9:48 AM, Andre Jute wrote:
On Thursday, June 20, 2013 9:28:17 PM UTC+1, Duane wrote:
A guy in my club swaps out his chain rings depending on the ride. 53/39

for a flattish ride or a 50/34 for climbs. He says that he doesn't

adjust anything, just swaps them out.



I've been doing more climbing lately and some of them get pretty tough

on my 53/39. (ok, most of them lol) My cassette is a 12/27T 10 speed.

We have a lot of rollers around here and I love the 53/39 for them so I

don't want to lose that.



Does changing the chain ring like that make any sense? Can you get away

with it without adjusting derailleurs or brackets?

May be smarter to fit a triple and save yourself the constant swapping of chainrings. I imagine you use alloy chainring bolts and those things will wear out pretty fast.

Anyway, where will you get the chainrings in the tooth counts you want that fit the same (road) crank? You might have to change cranks, possibly to the 110mm PCD type, which has a really wide range of rings available, because it is the go-to format for utility and touring cycles which have wide load requirements and are traditionally fitted with big gearing ranges.

One advantage of these touring cranks is that many of them are beautiful (unlike for instance the ugly stuff sold to downhillers in the 104/64 PCD format). I use a Sugino Cospea branded by Stronglight which is very beautiful but there are other Sugino, especially the XD2, available at really attractive prices, including with TA rings, especially if you don't insist on a famous brand name on the cranks.

Sugino XD2:

Custom TA rings:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2004
If one of their choices of TA rings suit:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2002
With Stronglight rings at an amazing price: :
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p3
More on this page:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p0

The thing with Spa is to check with John what the carriage will be before you start window-shopping. There's been a report within the last week from Anto Kelly on the Thorn board that Spa's postage has come down and sounded very reasonable.

Same XD2 from Thorn, known to deliver to the USA, one of Sheldon's faves, but no choice in the rings, though for a cost they will no doubt swap out rings for you from their huge stock, though their really special rings is their own cut of touring rings, maybe a bit heavy for road use, though they last forever, and are then reversible:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stronglig...28t-prod18493/

Here's another company I can recommend for excellent prices and service (I shop with them all the time) that stocks the Impact, including the prettier (than the XD2) Cospea version in some of the range:
http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php
Fancier Z-Light cranks towards the bottom of the page if you're feeling spendier:
http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php

BTW, if you have to change BB, the Stronglight JP400 touted as good with the Impact cranks is the Czech Kinex commonly fitted to bikes for the Euro-elite, a super-quality item at half the price of a Shimano.

Don't be deterred by the Cospea's lightweight looks: to make up the tensile strength, Sugino cold-forged it, whereas the beefier XD2 is hot-forged.

I use an Impact Compact Double with only one ring on it, in the Cospea version (pic http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/...19603#msg19603 at bottom of post), because that was the best quality/price point of an aesthetically pleasing crank I found -- it took me bloody years to find a crank that would fit my very wide bike that wasn't butt-ugly. I removed the Stronglight rings because I use a Surly stainless chainring.

If you insist on a very narrow tread, check the Impact Q-factor before you splash out the money, because it isn't among the narrowest.

The guy that swaps his swaps the whole thing. Rings and cranks. I'm
not sure that I can easily fit a triple on my frame and I would rarely
use it. Even on my touring bike I have only used the granny gear very
seldom. Like I said, the touring bike is an alternative if I get stuck
on a ride. It's a Bianchi Volpe which they used to call a sports tour
type. It ways about double the road bike but it would get up this one
hill that I'm thinking of. Truth be told, I had to get off and walk
100m up this one climb and it bummed me out. Or I probably wouldn't be
thinking about this at all.

Besides, it's good to get a tech discussion going on rbTECH.

On Friday, 21 June 2013 16:40:07 UTC+1, Duane wrote:
On 6/21/2013 9:48 AM, Andre Jute wrote:

On Thursday, June 20, 2013 9:28:17 PM UTC+1, Duane wrote:

A guy in my club swaps out his chain rings depending on the ride. 53/39



for a flattish ride or a 50/34 for climbs. He says that he doesn't



adjust anything, just swaps them out.







I've been doing more climbing lately and some of them get pretty tough



on my 53/39. (ok, most of them lol) My cassette is a 12/27T 10 speed..



We have a lot of rollers around here and I love the 53/39 for them so I



don't want to lose that.







Does changing the chain ring like that make any sense? Can you get away



with it without adjusting derailleurs or brackets?



May be smarter to fit a triple and save yourself the constant swapping of chainrings. I imagine you use alloy chainring bolts and those things will wear out pretty fast.



Anyway, where will you get the chainrings in the tooth counts you want that fit the same (road) crank? You might have to change cranks, possibly to the 110mm PCD type, which has a really wide range of rings available, because it is the go-to format for utility and touring cycles which have wide load requirements and are traditionally fitted with big gearing ranges.



One advantage of these touring cranks is that many of them are beautiful (unlike for instance the ugly stuff sold to downhillers in the 104/64 PCD format). I use a Sugino Cospea branded by Stronglight which is very beautiful but there are other Sugino, especially the XD2, available at really attractive prices, including with TA rings, especially if you don't insist on a famous brand name on the cranks.



Sugino XD2:



Custom TA rings:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2004

If one of their choices of TA rings suit:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2002

With Stronglight rings at an amazing price: :

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p3

More on this page:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p0



The thing with Spa is to check with John what the carriage will be before you start window-shopping. There's been a report within the last week from Anto Kelly on the Thorn board that Spa's postage has come down and sounded very reasonable.



Same XD2 from Thorn, known to deliver to the USA, one of Sheldon's faves, but no choice in the rings, though for a cost they will no doubt swap out rings for you from their huge stock, though their really special rings is their own cut of touring rings, maybe a bit heavy for road use, though they last forever, and are then reversible:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stronglig...28t-prod18493/



Here's another company I can recommend for excellent prices and service (I shop with them all the time) that stocks the Impact, including the prettier (than the XD2) Cospea version in some of the range:

http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php

Fancier Z-Light cranks towards the bottom of the page if you're feeling spendier:

http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php



BTW, if you have to change BB, the Stronglight JP400 touted as good with the Impact cranks is the Czech Kinex commonly fitted to bikes for the Euro-elite, a super-quality item at half the price of a Shimano.



Don't be deterred by the Cospea's lightweight looks: to make up the tensile strength, Sugino cold-forged it, whereas the beefier XD2 is hot-forged..



I use an Impact Compact Double with only one ring on it, in the Cospea version (pic http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/...19603#msg19603 at bottom of post), because that was the best quality/price point of an aesthetically pleasing crank I found -- it took me bloody years to find a crank that would fit my very wide bike that wasn't butt-ugly. I removed the Stronglight rings because I use a Surly stainless chainring.



If you insist on a very narrow tread, check the Impact Q-factor before you splash out the money, because it isn't among the narrowest.



The guy that swaps his swaps the whole thing. Rings and cranks. I'm

not sure that I can easily fit a triple on my frame and I would rarely

use it. Even on my touring bike I have only used the granny gear very

seldom. Like I said, the touring bike is an alternative if I get stuck

on a ride. It's a Bianchi Volpe which they used to call a sports tour

type. It ways about double the road bike but it would get up this one

hill that I'm thinking of. Truth be told, I had to get off and walk

100m up this one climb and it bummed me out. Or I probably wouldn't be

thinking about this at all.



Besides, it's good to get a tech discussion going on rbTECH.


something else you may consider is fitting a bigger inside ring to the triple so that the mech just clears it (and it still clears chainstay). The advantage is that it provides a more direct chain line for greater efficiency than the middle, so you will use it more and likely not be getting on to that last rear sprocket so often. If you needing to get on that big sprocket a little too often then your gears do need sorting in some way so as there is mostly a big one in reserve.

On 6/21/2013 8:00 PM, thirty-six wrote:
On Friday, 21 June 2013 16:40:07 UTC+1, Duane wrote:
On 6/21/2013 9:48 AM, Andre Jute wrote:

On Thursday, June 20, 2013 9:28:17 PM UTC+1, Duane wrote:
A guy in my club swaps out his chain rings depending on the ride. 53/39
for a flattish ride or a 50/34 for climbs. He says that he doesn't
adjust anything, just swaps them out.
I've been doing more climbing lately and some of them get pretty tough
on my 53/39. (ok, most of them lol) My cassette is a 12/27T 10 speed.
We have a lot of rollers around here and I love the 53/39 for them so I
don't want to lose that.
Does changing the chain ring like that make any sense? Can you get away
with it without adjusting derailleurs or brackets?
May be smarter to fit a triple and save yourself the constant swapping of chainrings. I imagine you use alloy chainring bolts and those things will wear out pretty fast.
Anyway, where will you get the chainrings in the tooth counts you want that fit the same (road) crank? You might have to change cranks, possibly to the 110mm PCD type, which has a really wide range of rings available, because it is the go-to format for utility and touring cycles which have wide load requirements and are traditionally fitted with big gearing ranges.
One advantage of these touring cranks is that many of them are beautiful (unlike for instance the ugly stuff sold to downhillers in the 104/64 PCD format). I use a Sugino Cospea branded by Stronglight which is very beautiful but there are other Sugino, especially the XD2, available at really attractive prices, including with TA rings, especially if you don't insist on a famous brand name on the cranks.
Sugino XD2:
Custom TA rings:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2004
If one of their choices of TA rings suit:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2002
With Stronglight rings at an amazing price: :
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p3
More on this page:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p0
The thing with Spa is to check with John what the carriage will be before you start window-shopping. There's been a report within the last week from Anto Kelly on the Thorn board that Spa's postage has come down and sounded very reasonable.
Same XD2 from Thorn, known to deliver to the USA, one of Sheldon's faves, but no choice in the rings, though for a cost they will no doubt swap out rings for you from their huge stock, though their really special rings is their own cut of touring rings, maybe a bit heavy for road use, though they last forever, and are then reversible:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stronglig...28t-prod18493/
Here's another company I can recommend for excellent prices and service (I shop with them all the time) that stocks the Impact, including the prettier (than the XD2) Cospea version in some of the range:
http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php
Fancier Z-Light cranks towards the bottom of the page if you're feeling spendier:
http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php
BTW, if you have to change BB, the Stronglight JP400 touted as good with the Impact cranks is the Czech Kinex commonly fitted to bikes for the Euro-elite, a super-quality item at half the price of a Shimano.
Don't be deterred by the Cospea's lightweight looks: to make up the tensile strength, Sugino cold-forged it, whereas the beefier XD2 is hot-forged.
I use an Impact Compact Double with only one ring on it, in the Cospea version (pic http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/...19603#msg19603 at bottom of post), because that was the best quality/price point of an aesthetically pleasing crank I found -- it took me bloody years to find a crank that would fit my very wide bike that wasn't butt-ugly. I removed the Stronglight rings because I use a Surly stainless chainring.
If you insist on a very narrow tread, check the Impact Q-factor before you splash out the money, because it isn't among the narrowest.


The guy that swaps his swaps the whole thing. Rings and cranks. I'm

not sure that I can easily fit a triple on my frame and I would rarely

use it. Even on my touring bike I have only used the granny gear very

seldom. Like I said, the touring bike is an alternative if I get stuck

on a ride. It's a Bianchi Volpe which they used to call a sports tour

type. It ways about double the road bike but it would get up this one

hill that I'm thinking of. Truth be told, I had to get off and walk

100m up this one climb and it bummed me out. Or I probably wouldn't be

thinking about this at all.



Besides, it's good to get a tech discussion going on rbTECH.

something else you may consider is fitting a bigger inside ring to the triple so that the mech just clears it (and it still clears chainstay). The advantage is that it provides a more direct chain line for greater efficiency than the middle, so you will use it more and likely not be getting on to that last rear sprocket so often. If you needing to get on that big sprocket a little too often then your gears do need sorting in some way so as there is mostly a big one in reserve.
Like I said, not sure if I could fit a triple on the road bike nor
whether I'd want to. The double 53/39 serves me well most of the time.
It's not that I need to get on the big one that often but in a group
ride it's easier to maintain the constant speed. Riding solo, spinning
the small ring works well.

On Saturday, 22 June 2013 02:51:19 UTC+1, Duane Hébert wrote:
On 6/21/2013 8:00 PM, thirty-six wrote:

On Friday, 21 June 2013 16:40:07 UTC+1, Duane wrote:

On 6/21/2013 9:48 AM, Andre Jute wrote:



On Thursday, June 20, 2013 9:28:17 PM UTC+1, Duane wrote:

A guy in my club swaps out his chain rings depending on the ride. 53/39

for a flattish ride or a 50/34 for climbs. He says that he doesn't

adjust anything, just swaps them out.

I've been doing more climbing lately and some of them get pretty tough

on my 53/39. (ok, most of them lol) My cassette is a 12/27T 10 speed.

We have a lot of rollers around here and I love the 53/39 for them so I

don't want to lose that.

Does changing the chain ring like that make any sense? Can you get away

with it without adjusting derailleurs or brackets?

May be smarter to fit a triple and save yourself the constant swapping of chainrings. I imagine you use alloy chainring bolts and those things will wear out pretty fast.

Anyway, where will you get the chainrings in the tooth counts you want that fit the same (road) crank? You might have to change cranks, possibly to the 110mm PCD type, which has a really wide range of rings available, because it is the go-to format for utility and touring cycles which have wide load requirements and are traditionally fitted with big gearing ranges.

One advantage of these touring cranks is that many of them are beautiful (unlike for instance the ugly stuff sold to downhillers in the 104/64 PCD format). I use a Sugino Cospea branded by Stronglight which is very beautiful but there are other Sugino, especially the XD2, available at really attractive prices, including with TA rings, especially if you don't insist on a famous brand name on the cranks.

Sugino XD2:

Custom TA rings:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2004

If one of their choices of TA rings suit:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2002

With Stronglight rings at an amazing price: :

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p3

More on this page:

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p0

The thing with Spa is to check with John what the carriage will be before you start window-shopping. There's been a report within the last week from Anto Kelly on the Thorn board that Spa's postage has come down and sounded very reasonable.

Same XD2 from Thorn, known to deliver to the USA, one of Sheldon's faves, but no choice in the rings, though for a cost they will no doubt swap out rings for you from their huge stock, though their really special rings is their own cut of touring rings, maybe a bit heavy for road use, though they last forever, and are then reversible:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stronglig...28t-prod18493/

Here's another company I can recommend for excellent prices and service (I shop with them all the time) that stocks the Impact, including the prettier (than the XD2) Cospea version in some of the range:

http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php

Fancier Z-Light cranks towards the bottom of the page if you're feeling spendier:

http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php

BTW, if you have to change BB, the Stronglight JP400 touted as good with the Impact cranks is the Czech Kinex commonly fitted to bikes for the Euro-elite, a super-quality item at half the price of a Shimano.

Don't be deterred by the Cospea's lightweight looks: to make up the tensile strength, Sugino cold-forged it, whereas the beefier XD2 is hot-forged.

I use an Impact Compact Double with only one ring on it, in the Cospea version (pic http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/...19603#msg19603 at bottom of post), because that was the best quality/price point of an aesthetically pleasing crank I found -- it took me bloody years to find a crank that would fit my very wide bike that wasn't butt-ugly. I removed the Stronglight rings because I use a Surly stainless chainring.

If you insist on a very narrow tread, check the Impact Q-factor before you splash out the money, because it isn't among the narrowest.





The guy that swaps his swaps the whole thing. Rings and cranks. I'm



not sure that I can easily fit a triple on my frame and I would rarely



use it. Even on my touring bike I have only used the granny gear very



seldom. Like I said, the touring bike is an alternative if I get stuck



on a ride. It's a Bianchi Volpe which they used to call a sports tour



type. It ways about double the road bike but it would get up this one



hill that I'm thinking of. Truth be told, I had to get off and walk



100m up this one climb and it bummed me out. Or I probably wouldn't be



thinking about this at all.







Besides, it's good to get a tech discussion going on rbTECH.



something else you may consider is fitting a bigger inside ring to the triple so that the mech just clears it (and it still clears chainstay). The advantage is that it provides a more direct chain line for greater efficiency than the middle, so you will use it more and likely not be getting on to that last rear sprocket so often. If you needing to get on that big sprocket a little too often then your gears do need sorting in some way so as there is mostly a big one in reserve.

Like I said, not sure if I could fit a triple on the road bike nor

whether I'd want to. The double 53/39 serves me well most of the time.

It's not that I need to get on the big one that often but in a group

ride it's easier to maintain the constant speed. Riding solo, spinning

the small ring works well.

The simplest answer is to get a cassette with a 32 or bigger. SRAM are specifically targeting the road market and introduced their own bit of gobbledegook to persuade the masses empty their wallets, so don't think you'll look a whvvss in front of your mates.
http://www.sram.com/sram/road/technologies/wifli_tm

They have a chromed 12 - 32 10 speed for $80 IIRC and there are also lower quality offerings from them and Shimano for less dosh. Can't say I've looked hard at this, suffice is to say, you can continue with two rings and probably get the gears you need for any ride with just a new set of sprockets and chain.

On 6/22/2013 8:49 AM, thirty-six wrote:
On Saturday, 22 June 2013 02:51:19 UTC+1, Duane Hébert wrote:
On 6/21/2013 8:00 PM, thirty-six wrote:

On Friday, 21 June 2013 16:40:07 UTC+1, Duane wrote:
On 6/21/2013 9:48 AM, Andre Jute wrote:
On Thursday, June 20, 2013 9:28:17 PM UTC+1, Duane wrote:
A guy in my club swaps out his chain rings depending on the ride. 53/39
for a flattish ride or a 50/34 for climbs. He says that he doesn't
adjust anything, just swaps them out.
I've been doing more climbing lately and some of them get pretty tough
on my 53/39. (ok, most of them lol) My cassette is a 12/27T 10 speed.
We have a lot of rollers around here and I love the 53/39 for them so I
don't want to lose that.
Does changing the chain ring like that make any sense? Can you get away
with it without adjusting derailleurs or brackets?
May be smarter to fit a triple and save yourself the constant swapping of chainrings. I imagine you use alloy chainring bolts and those things will wear out pretty fast.
Anyway, where will you get the chainrings in the tooth counts you want that fit the same (road) crank? You might have to change cranks, possibly to the 110mm PCD type, which has a really wide range of rings available, because it is the go-to format for utility and touring cycles which have wide load requirements and are traditionally fitted with big gearing ranges.
One advantage of these touring cranks is that many of them are beautiful (unlike for instance the ugly stuff sold to downhillers in the 104/64 PCD format). I use a Sugino Cospea branded by Stronglight which is very beautiful but there are other Sugino, especially the XD2, available at really attractive prices, including with TA rings, especially if you don't insist on a famous brand name on the cranks.
Sugino XD2:
Custom TA rings:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2004
If one of their choices of TA rings suit:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....=m2b0s109p2002
With Stronglight rings at an amazing price: :
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p3
More on this page:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s109p0
The thing with Spa is to check with John what the carriage will be before you start window-shopping. There's been a report within the last week from Anto Kelly on the Thorn board that Spa's postage has come down and sounded very reasonable.
Same XD2 from Thorn, known to deliver to the USA, one of Sheldon's faves, but no choice in the rings, though for a cost they will no doubt swap out rings for you from their huge stock, though their really special rings is their own cut of touring rings, maybe a bit heavy for road use, though they last forever, and are then reversible:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/stronglig...28t-prod18493/
Here's another company I can recommend for excellent prices and service (I shop with them all the time) that stocks the Impact, including the prettier (than the XD2) Cospea version in some of the range:
http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php
Fancier Z-Light cranks towards the bottom of the page if you're feeling spendier:
http://www.xxcycle.com/crankset-stro...triple,,en.php
BTW, if you have to change BB, the Stronglight JP400 touted as good with the Impact cranks is the Czech Kinex commonly fitted to bikes for the Euro-elite, a super-quality item at half the price of a Shimano.
Don't be deterred by the Cospea's lightweight looks: to make up the tensile strength, Sugino cold-forged it, whereas the beefier XD2 is hot-forged.
I use an Impact Compact Double with only one ring on it, in the Cospea version (pic http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/...19603#msg19603 at bottom of post), because that was the best quality/price point of an aesthetically pleasing crank I found -- it took me bloody years to find a crank that would fit my very wide bike that wasn't butt-ugly. I removed the Stronglight rings because I use a Surly stainless chainring.
If you insist on a very narrow tread, check the Impact Q-factor before you splash out the money, because it isn't among the narrowest.
The guy that swaps his swaps the whole thing. Rings and cranks. I'm
not sure that I can easily fit a triple on my frame and I would rarely
use it. Even on my touring bike I have only used the granny gear very
seldom. Like I said, the touring bike is an alternative if I get stuck
on a ride. It's a Bianchi Volpe which they used to call a sports tour
type. It ways about double the road bike but it would get up this one
hill that I'm thinking of. Truth be told, I had to get off and walk
100m up this one climb and it bummed me out. Or I probably wouldn't be
thinking about this at all.
Besides, it's good to get a tech discussion going on rbTECH.
something else you may consider is fitting a bigger inside ring to the triple so that the mech just clears it (and it still clears chainstay). The advantage is that it provides a more direct chain line for greater efficiency than the middle, so you will use it more and likely not be getting on to that last rear sprocket so often. If you needing to get on that big sprocket a little too often then your gears do need sorting in some way so as there is mostly a big one in reserve.
Like I said, not sure if I could fit a triple on the road bike nor

whether I'd want to. The double 53/39 serves me well most of the time.

It's not that I need to get on the big one that often but in a group

ride it's easier to maintain the constant speed. Riding solo, spinning

the small ring works well.
The simplest answer is to get a cassette with a 32 or bigger. SRAM are specifically targeting the road market and introduced their own bit of gobbledegook to persuade the masses empty their wallets, so don't think you'll look a whvvss in front of your mates.
http://www.sram.com/sram/road/technologies/wifli_tm

They have a chromed 12 - 32 10 speed for $80 IIRC and there are also lower quality offerings from them and Shimano for less dosh. Can't say I've looked hard at this, suffice is to say, you can continue with two rings and probably get the gears you need for any ride with just a new set of sprockets and chain.
yeah, the 11-32 looks interesting.

On Saturday, 22 June 2013 15:50:42 UTC+1, Duane Hébert wrote:
On 6/22/2013 8:49 AM, thirty-six wrote:

They have a chromed 12 - 32 10 speed for $80 IIRC and there are also lower quality offerings from them and Shimano for less dosh. Can't say I've looked hard at this, suffice is to say, you can continue with two rings and probably get the gears you need for any ride with just a new set of sprockets and chain.

yeah, the 11-32 looks interesting.


Eye red sumit abut a Spaniard (issit?) athleet tha lyks non-organically certified beef who lyks to vvs dem sprokits fer werk. Just sayin lyk!