Groupset advice please

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MissyR

Senior Member
Location
Airdrie
My partner is upgrading her groupset soon on her roadie and has several questions regarding it. She has recently had a hip replacement and will need the "granny gears" to aid on those pesky hills we live on. She is currently running 9spd Tiagra on a triple but as this are slowly but surely disappearing can anyone recommend a gear ratio that can accommodate hills with ease. She is torn between Shimano and campy 11spd any advice on which is the better option?

The bike has syncross RR2.0 wheels on it at the moment am I right in thinking the hub will need to be changed to suit the new groupset?

Sorry for all the questions its a complicated thing this cycling malarky!
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
can anyone recommend a gear ratio that can accommodate hills with ease.
A low one. (sorry ... being flippant).

But to be serious, what I'd recommend is working out her current bottom gear (there are a ton of calculators out there on the web, like this one) Then, if she wants a lower gear than her current bottom one use that as a starting point - work out what range she wants. Is she happy with her current top gear? Then figure out what range she wants. Do your sums on that and THEN consider which brand you want, and find out whether each particular brand can supply what she needs.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
Has the bike got a long or short cage rear deraillier ?
It would be a lot cheaper to change to a long cage rear mech /mtb mech and get a wide range cassette , an 11 speed groupset will not have any lower gears , just slightly smaller jumps between gears but on a triple it should not be an issue.
Change the front chain rings to smaller ones .

But if your partner is determined to go 11 speed then according to the blurb should have a spacer on atm(?) that you take it off the hub to make it 11 speed compatible.
@Nigelnaturist is the god of triples .........
 

raleighnut

Legendary Member
Why change the entire groupset, if the triple crank is still ok then continue with it, OK if you alter the number of gears then the rear mech and shifters need to match and have sufficient capacity but that is about the only thing that does.
 
Location
Pontefract
@MissyR Campy do an 11sp triple, if money isn't an issue, The RD has to cope with two things range (primarily can it do a large rear gear i.e. 30 or 32th) and capacity, this is how many teeth it can accommodate front and rear, generally a GS (medium) rear cage is needed for a triple and a compact double sporting a 50/34, though not always, depends on the range of the cassette. Not dure if your front is 30/42/52 or 30/39/50 taking the former as I suspect it might be, the capacity is the difference between the large and small rings in this case 22th, then take a cassette of say 12-28 this has a capacity of 16th add these two together you get 38th so the RD has to cope with this amount, another example take a pretty normal road bike 52/39 and a 12-23 this needs 13+11=24 so a short cage is needed (SS) finally a compact double of say 50/34 and 12-28 16+16=32 a short cage should be ok in this set up, however if you fit a 32th rear on the same you would need a GS.
I am not sure but I think the Tiagra 9sp chainset uses a 74/130 BCD in which case you cant fit a smaller inner ring say a 28th ( I had a set up with a 26/38/50 front, so it should work on a 30/42/52) and say a 40 middle, I have also had a 30/40/52 setup and know that works)
Changing just the front inner ring alone from 30 to 28 on a 25th rear will give you on a 700x25c wheel an extra two inch, 31.8 to 29.7" on a 50/34 you would need to have a 34x32 to have a lower gear even a 10sp tiagra will have big gaps, 12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30, the 24-28 are not to bad, but the 15-17-19 those missing you really notice them, sticking with a 9sp triple of say 28/40/52, and a 10sp double compact (50/34) to have the same range of about 29" to 110"
This is a chart showing the gear inches if you just changed the middle and the inner
upload_2015-4-8_10-19-25.png

This on a 50/34 12-30 rear 10sp
upload_2015-4-8_10-21-44.png


Its easy enough to make your ratios by splitting the cassette if you wish (with shimano you grind the rivet head off and separate the cogs though the spacers are quite delicate on 9sp's) and you could start from 13th from one cassette which is not so bad on a 52x13=105"
There are so many variations you can do. The 50/38/26 I had worked well on my 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27 but not so well on my 12-23, too big a gap dropping down to the inner 26th, had to go back to many gears to be in the same range (50/34 chainsets suffer this) You could fit a 24/36/48 front and 12-25 to give
upload_2015-4-8_10-38-52.png

Though not sure on the 24 inner, but this is what I had and it worked pretty well, its just i found I was never using the lower gears.

upload_2015-4-8_10-37-47.png
 
OP
OP
MissyR

MissyR

Senior Member
Location
Airdrie
Wow thanks for the reply Nigel. I have to admit 90% that went straight over my head. Gears are something I've never got my head around. I looked out the receipts for the bike to see what was actually on it at the moment and its shimano tiagra triple 30/39/50, crank 172.5, medium rear gear, 12-28 cassette. Money isn't an issue as the bike is being stripped down to go for repaint and now is as good a time as any to upgrade it with new parts as my LBS will be doing the work. She is looking for something that will come as close to that set up as possible but preferably in compact version. We are definitely not big cog types and never really push massive gears.
 
Location
Pontefract
@MissyR sorry I sort of get carried away, I just don't think that for many cyclists a compact double is really the right thing, but as many new cyclist haven't ridden a properly set up triple they don't know how good the options with gears are.
Campagnolo do an 11sp triple £133 for the brifters, I believe these are compatible with shimano 11sp, not sure what options there are on the campy gearing side, but I guess much the same, I know the FD-5703 does 24th from outer to inner ring say 26/38/50 or 28/39/52 ( I may try that later in the year) not sure on campy FD's The whole groupset is about the £600+ mark
 

Drago

Legendary Member
You can still get an 8/9 speed Tiagra striple crankset, and there are masses of firms out there making similar, directly compatible stuff, like Race Face, Tioga, FSA etc. Or you could just replace the chainrings, which are equally obtainable.
 

gavintc

Guru
Location
Southsea
@MissyR I just don't think that for many cyclists a compact double is really the right thing,

I am not advocating a compact double for someone who needs really low gears, but as a do everything set of gears for a reasonably fit person, they are ideal. I have had a 50/34 compact chainset and marry it up with a 12-25 and occasionally a 12-27 if I am doing really steep roads. For me it is perfect and I rarely need 50-12 option except for going downhill.
 
Location
Pontefract
I am not advocating a compact double for someone who needs really low gears, but as a do everything set of gears for a reasonably fit person, they are ideal. I have had a 50/34 compact chainset and marry it up with a 12-25 and occasionally a 12-27 if I am doing really steep roads. For me it is perfect and I rarely need 50-12 option except for going downhill.
May be i should have put "new cyclists" the point I keep trying to make, is many cyclist think riding triples doesn't make them proper cyclists and are pressured by peers or salesman into a compact 50/34 because its the in thing, being fit which i can tell from you choice of cassette and knowing there are one or two hills your way, you can get away with it I ride a 12-23 on a 28/38/50 and like you only need the 50x12 down hill, but where the triple is better is the close grouped cassette, I really appreciate having that 18th, its actually made me a little quicker, not that I am quick, but I have other choices you don't get with a 50/34 out of choice I wouldn't ride on either ring as most of my riding is done on the 38th, though in all honesty I have been finding it a little short at the moment and I am thinking of putting a 39th on but I can keep my low end as is and possible get a tiagra cassette so I can make up a 12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-24 for a range of 31-110" my low gear on the middle will be touch shorter but a longer range, but than I guess riding a low gear of 32.3" as my so called granny gear is higher than many seem to look for on a compact 34x30, even a setup of 28x24 is higher.
Sorry if going of topic a little.
 
Location
Pontefract
So is this the one we are talking about?

http://www.comtat.co.uk/products/79...YBzRQQXyqLFfNZf3HM_RRp6tIUQ_FS70qoaAk8P8P8HAQ

What ratios for jabby wee hills
Yea thats it, from stock this looks a good bet, the 30/39/52 (which i am thinking of doing myself well 28/39/52), with a 12-29 cassette these are the gear inches
upload_2015-4-9_19-56-18.png


if you let me know your setup I can give a a chart a a comparison (remember theses are for 700x25c) in the mean time a compact to cover the same range

upload_2015-4-9_19-59-39.png
 
Location
Pontefract
You can still get an 8/9 speed Tiagra striple crankset, and there are masses of firms out there making similar, directly compatible stuff, like Race Face, Tioga, FSA etc. Or you could just replace the chainrings, which are equally obtainable.
My 7/8sp chainset worked on my 10sp set up, its the outer width of the chain thats changed over the years, though I am not sure about 11sp front ring spacing if they are closer together or not.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
I am not advocating a compact double for someone who needs really low gears, but as a do everything set of gears for a reasonably fit person, they are ideal. I have had a 50/34 compact chainset and marry it up with a 12-25 and occasionally a 12-27 if I am doing really steep roads. For me it is perfect and I rarely need 50-12 option except for going downhill.
I have an odd 50/36 double with a 12-25 on the commuter and an 11-28 on the weekender , i dont even touch the 13 or smaller till 30 + mph and the other end are bail out gears but that does not help the OP .
 
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