# Compact Crank for Touring? Am I Screwd?!!



## bikezombie (Feb 28, 2008)

I'm almost all set to go on my tour following the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route eastbound and then breaking off in New Mexico and heading up the I25 to Santa Fe and I'm getting nervous about my gearing. Right now I have 12/27 10sp rear cogs and a 50/36 compact crank. The guys at my bike shop repeatedly assured me that these gears would work fine for the loaded touring I am planniing on doing but the more I read about touring bicycles the more I notice that they all have triple cranks with 30 low gears or less. I trust the guys at my shop but what do you guys think? I can't really afford to by a new crank and rear dérailleur but I will if I need to. Any advice and/or reassurances?


----------



## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

bikezombie said:


> I'm almost all set to go on my tour following the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route eastbound and then breaking off in New Mexico and heading up the I25 to Santa Fe and I'm getting nervous about my gearing. Right now I have 12/27 10sp rear cogs and a 50/36 compact crank. The guys at my bike shop repeatedly assured me that these gears would work fine for the loaded touring I am planniing on doing but the more I read about touring bicycles the more I notice that they all have triple cranks with 30 low gears or less. I trust the guys at my shop but what do you guys think? I can't really afford to by a new crank and rear dérailleur but I will if I need to. Any advice and/or reassurances?


The universal answer is "it depends". How much are you packing, what kind of climber are you? I tour on a 50/34 compact with an 12/34 rear and it works great, but you might be a stronger rider than I am. I tour with about 25 lbs of gear and I do the passes of Colorado.


----------



## StageHand (Dec 27, 2002)

If you're worried, the easiest thing to do is to switch your cassette and derailleur to mountain versions compatible with whatever you're running (If you use Campy, you may be SOL, but I'm not a compatibility wizard). If you run Shimano, you can use any Shimano high normal mountain derailleur. I think SRAM derailleurs are all interchangeable, but I'm not sure.

You can tour on what you have, but the heavier your gear, the harder it is. If you get a chance, load up your bike and take a day ride locally, to shake out what you like, or don't like and what needs to change.


----------



## KeeponTrekkin (Aug 29, 2002)

*Those low gears are there for 2 reasons*

Steep hills and when your legs are tired. You should be able to get information about the grade profiles on the route so you can compare to slopes that are available locally. Do the comparison and keep the tired legs in mind. It reminds me of a very long and steep climb with my and my gf's panniers on my heavy touring bike, many years ago. It was very slow going in a 30/26 and she couldn't keep up.

I have a 50/34 compact crank on a road bike and alternate between a 12 - 27 and an 11 - 34 cassette. 34/34 equates to a 27 inch gear. It's really low and I can climb some pretty steep stuff seated, albeit slowly. Interestingly, it's too low to climb standing; I switch to a smaller cog to climb the steepest slopes standing.

Get out there and experiment.


----------



## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

bikezombie said:


> I'm almost all set to go on my tour following the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route eastbound and then breaking off in New Mexico and heading up the I25 to Santa Fe and I'm getting nervous about my gearing. Right now I have 12/27 10sp rear cogs and a 50/36 compact crank. The guys at my bike shop repeatedly assured me that these gears would work fine for the loaded touring I am planniing on doing but the more I read about touring bicycles the more I notice that they all have triple cranks with 30 low gears or less. I trust the guys at my shop but what do you guys think? I can't really afford to by a new crank and rear dérailleur but I will if I need to. Any advice and/or reassurances?


As Mootsie indicated, I think it depends on your fitness level, grade and amount of stuff you will be packing.
Why not execute a reconisance ride?
Packing up extra stuff and find the hillest route you can find near where you live and go for a long ride...


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

OverStuffed said:


> If you're worried, the easiest thing to do is to switch your cassette and derailleur to mountain versions compatible with whatever you're running (If you use Campy, you may be SOL, but I'm not a compatibility wizard). If you run Shimano, you can use any Shimano high normal mountain derailleur. I think SRAM derailleurs are all interchangeable, but I'm not sure.


You can mix-and-match Shimano shifters and 2:1 actuation ratio SRAM shifters with any Shimano indexing rear derailleur (with the exception of early Dura Ace shifters and derailleurs). 

I'd suggest a mountain bike crank set, 46/34/24, with a mountain bike 9-speed cassette of 12-32. A long cage Shimano Deore rear derailleur would have the capacity to accomodate this gearing range and you can use mountain bike shifters or road bike shifters, depending on the handlebars you are using.

SRAM's road bike shifters and derailleurs have an actuation ratio of about 1.4 while their 1:1 Actuation mountain bike shifters and derailleurs have an actuation ratio of 1.1 so they're not compatible.

As to the OP's question, there's a reason that old touring bikes have granny gears and wide ratio gearing: to be able to have enough gears for any situation you may be presented with out on the open road. With fresh legs you may be able to pedal up a 20% grade with a 34/27 on a light weight racing bike but what if you encountered a 10% grade at the end of a long day and your destination is on the other side of that last mile-long climb and you are carrying 25 pounds of gear on a 25 pound touring bike? I'd sure hate to push my bike for that last mile uphill.


----------



## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

*More $$*

Should you consider the 9-speed mountain cassette/derailleur solution, start with thinking about how you want to do your shifting on that tour. Replacing your 10-speed STI brake shifters with 9-speed STI brake shifters would be very expensive. As mentioned, 9-speed mountain bike shifters on another bar would work. So would 9-speed bar-end shifters on your existing drop bar.

/w


----------



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Re: wide range 10 speed cassette.*



wim said:


> Should you consider the 9-speed mountain cassette/derailleur solution, start with thinking about how you want to do your shifting on that tour. Replacing your 10-speed STI brake shifters with 9-speed STI brake shifters would be very expensive. As mentioned, 9-speed mountain bike shifters on another bar would work. So would 9-speed bar-end shifters on your existing drop bar.
> 
> /w


You can get a 11-34 10 speed Shimano cassette from Santana Tandems. That is going to be a whole lot cheaper that replacing your levers.


----------



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

bikezombie said:


> I'm almost all set to go on my tour following the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route eastbound and then breaking off in New Mexico and heading up the I25 to Santa Fe and I'm getting nervous about my gearing. Right now I have 12/27 10sp rear cogs and a 50/36 compact crank. The guys at my bike shop repeatedly assured me that these gears would work fine for the loaded touring I am planniing on doing but the more I read about touring bicycles the more I notice that they all have triple cranks with 30 low gears or less. I trust the guys at my shop but what do you guys think? I can't really afford to by a new crank and rear dérailleur but I will if I need to. Any advice and/or reassurances?


#1. Ask the guys in the shop if they have ever done that ride on a loaded touring bike?

#1a. It sure doesn't sound like it to me.

#2. I like low gears for touring and really don't have much use for gears much over 100" or so, if I am going over 25mph with a load I'll be coasting that downhill or being pushed along by a screaming tailwind. I might even be feathering the brakes a bit.

#3. It is one thing to push yourself up a long hill with only a 36/27 for a low gear on a one day ride. It is a whole different issue when you are into your third week of riding and your third pass for the day. 

#4. A one-to-one gear ratio would be the largest small gear I would consider for a cross country loaded tour. I would be quite happy to have a 24 chainring and a 34 tooth cog on my bike.


----------



## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

All I know is that I really appreciated my 30 chainring and 34 tooth cog on my overloaded tourer in the Texas hill country about day 2.

YMMV

I'll echo MB1 comments about getting a 11/34 10 speed for that bike. If your rear derailleur can handle it that is.


----------



## Squidward (Dec 18, 2005)

Chris H said:


> I'll echo MB1 comments about getting a 11/34 10 speed for that bike. If your rear derailleur can handle it that is.


That 11/34 combined with a Deore, Deore LX, or Deore XT rear derailleur would work well here and be reasonably economical.

One thing you may want to consider: with more gears come smaller gear jumps. With a small gear ratio range each shift results in a smaller change in gear ratio per shift. It manifests itself when you find that you're spinning out one gear but the next gear is too low. With more chainrings at your disposal you can go with a narrower ratio rear cogset to reduce these gear jumps. I think that's the reason they used to use half-step plus grannie gearing back in the day. The closely spaced larger chainrings results in the ability to find the correct gearing for any situation while having the granny gear to climb up that gnarly hill.


----------



## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

Squidward said:


> That 11/34 combined with a Deore, Deore LX, or Deore XT rear derailleur would work well here and be reasonably economical.
> 
> One thing you may want to consider: with more gears come smaller gear jumps. With a small gear ratio range each shift results in a smaller change in gear ratio per shift. It manifests itself when you find that you're spinning out one gear but the next gear is too low. With more chainrings at your disposal you can go with a narrower ratio rear cogset to reduce these gear jumps. I think that's the reason they used to use half-step plus grannie gearing back in the day. The closely spaced larger chainrings results in the ability to find the correct gearing for any situation while having the granny gear to climb up that gnarly hill.


It's pretty much the set up I used. An XT rear derailleur matched to a 11-34 9 speed cassette. It works great. I did it all for around $100.00. If you shopped around you could probably do it for much less. MTB guys are always selling off their stuff for the latest and greatest.


----------



## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

*"loaded"?*

If you really mean loaded touring -- i.e., self-contained, carrying all your own gear -- you should listen to MB1, the most experienced long distance guy on this board. Personally, I absolutely would switch to a triple, and a wider-range cassette as well. 36/27 is nowhere close to the bailout gear I'd want to have available on a ride like that. You will likely have stretches where you're pulling into a headwind all day, up a moderate grade, with occasional steeper pitches. With 20 pounds of stuff on the bike, and the extra drag of panniers, I'd sure want a lot more low gear to play with than that.


----------



## bikezombie (Feb 28, 2008)

thanks everybody. I figured I'd probably have to switch my gearing. hopefully I'll be able to find some used stuff on the cheap. Look for my pics when I get back in early May.


----------



## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

I didn't even ask... Just how far are you planning on going?


----------



## bikezombie (Feb 28, 2008)

I'm going from San Deigo to Santa Fe 900mi I'm aiming for 80mi days and yes I'm training. Wish me luck!


----------



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*That is about right.*



bikezombie said:


> I'm going from San Deigo to Santa Fe 900mi I'm aiming for 80mi days and yes I'm training. Wish me luck!


80 mile days loaded are pretty tough but do-able. I've done the route from Huntington Beach to Santa Fe and there is going to be some climbing. Likely the hardest is going to be around Prescott and Sedona (if you are going that way) with some crazy downhills too.

You might think about giving yourself an off day somewhere in there.


----------



## Chris H (Jul 7, 2005)

MB1 said:


> 80 mile days loaded are pretty tough but do-able. I've done the route from Huntington Beach to Santa Fe and there is going to be some climbing. Likely the hardest is going to be around Prescott and Sedona (if you are going that way) with some crazy downhills too.
> 
> You might think about giving yourself an off day somewhere in there.


Absolutely. 

Also, the one thing I learned was if you can't make your projected mileage in a day... don't sweat it. Remember you're supposed to be enjoying yourself.


----------



## bikezombie (Feb 28, 2008)

For sure, I'm trying for 80 a day and I think I can do it. I believe in myself which is kinda the whole point of this trip. Its to re-enforce my own self worth I guess. I say I'm gonna do something and I do it. Your making a promise to yourself and by finishing whatever endeavor you set your mind to doing, (marathon, triathlon, even earning a PHD) you keep that promise and that builds character. Otherwise you're a lier and worst of all, you've lied to yourself which is the worst kind of lying because it undermines your integrity. Upholding your integrity builds character just as persevering through hardship builds character. Its all good stuff. And besides that I've given myself a few days of cushion just in case I need to take a day off or I fall behind on my daily mileage.


----------



## anthony.delorenzo (May 8, 2007)

I would agree that an 11-34 cassette would be the simplest solution. With that you can end up with a suitably low gear, IMHO. A new rear derailleur may or may not be needed, with some tinkering I have used an 11-34 cassette with a short derailleur. 

It does also depend on you as a rider. I am 6'6", use long cranks (180 - 190 mm), and do most of my riding off-road on singlespeed mountain bikes. I am probably more adapted to push a gear rather than spin up a hill. 

My all-purpose road bike (including touring) is a 36/50 compact with an 11-34 8-speed. My touring setup is pretty minimal with a large saddlebag and handlebar bag, no panniers. 

YMMV may vary if you are going fully loaded with camping gear and such for a 3-week tour... I'm more of a 3-day B&B tour kind of guy.


----------



## ispoke (Feb 28, 2005)

My wife did a 1-week camping tour pulling a loaded trailer behind her Italian racing bike with 53/39 double crank. It was PCH in NorCal and nothing but hills. Anyway, she borrowed an XT rear derailleur and mountain cassette (maybe 13-34?) and was fine. Easy retrofit as long as you also check for correct chain length.


----------

