52 / 34 chainring combo (Shimano road) too big a difference ?

[Ridgeway]

Need to replace the front chainring, currently it’s 50 and 34 combo. The 50 is well worn but the 34 still seems to have good life in it. Was just about to buy a direct replacement but then thought maybe about going for a 52 but remembered some where that 16t is max recommend difference. Any thoughts or experiences on this ? I assume it will work with 52 - 34 but that the change up maybe a struggle ?

Thanks

 

[Ridgeway]

That’s good to know. It’s mainly for those long descents, hopefully it will come in handy there.

 

[Juan Kog]

Big gears for long descents , Nah Gravity works for me .

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Big gears for long descents , Nah Gravity works for me .

Exactly, once past 70 mph why pedal?

 

[Ridgeway]

Exactly, once past 70 mph why pedal?

Got to slow down for bends on long descents, +10km long is not uncommon here so getting back up to a reasonable speed can be a benefit.

 

[cyberknight]

I would ask yourself how often you use your fastest gear and how fast are you going speed and cadence wise before you run out of usable gears , unless your holding about 25 mph on the flat and pedalling at 100 + cadence i think it might be easier and cheaper to replace the chainring with the same size .
my setup is a 50/36 with an 11-28 cassette .

just had a play with calculator , from a 50 to a 52 at 90 rpm with an 11 tooth sprocket i gain 1.3 mph

 

[Twilkes]

FWIW I recently switched from 50-34 to 46-34, with an 11-32 cassette, and I'm enjoying the much smaller jumps when changing between the rings, and also being able to stay in the large ring for longer on shallow climbs.

 

[Ridgeway]

So based on the good advice above i stayed with a 50t. I think it was cybernight’s comment that swung me.

Just on the spinning out comment, today i tested that and at 100rpm my speed was 60kmh on the 50/11 combo, obviously can spin faster though😉