Compact Chainset Outer Ring

[jowwy]

I'm trying to decide whether to change the outer ring on my compact chainset from a 50 to a 48 tooth

Reason being that there aint many flat sections were i ride here in south wales and find that its very rare i use the 50/12 or 50/13 combination.

so was wondering whether to switch the outer ring to a 48 and would that help in using the lower two cogs or am i just better off cycling in the 50/15 - 50/17 rings and not use the bottom to of the rear cassette.

Thoughts??

 

[Broadside]

Personally I wouldn't bother. Changing the outer ring will not ultimately give you a lower bottom gear so it doesn't seem worthwhile. All It will give you is a lower top gear and a higher concentration of gears between the new max and min inch space.

If you really want to bettter lower gear then you should be thinking about swapping the cassette if the rear derailluer can handle it, or the inner ring up front.

And besides why don't you use the top 50/12 coming back down the hills? ;-)

 

[jowwy]

rear cassette is a 12/26 - i do use the 50/12 going down hills and its very rare that i spin out

so was just trying to give myself other options