# Early feedback on Venge Lunch Race?



## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

I put in my order for a Venge Lunch Race that is due to land sometime this week. I'm wondering if anyone out there has any significant time on this bike yet? I test-rode a Pro Race that felt fantastic with the Ultegra mechanical setup, but wasn't in love with the two color choices compared to the LR scheme. 

Before bolting on a shifter, derailleur, and some chainrings, I'm going to give it a go as a single ring beast with a Race Face or Wolftooth 44 narrow-wide... for now. With the 44t paired with the 11spd rear 11-28t cassette, I'll lose one gear low and two high compared to my current mid-compact (36/52) 10spd 11-25t. 

Right now, I don't see any N-W rings in a 130bcd between a 44t and the Specialized X-Sync 52t. A 48t with a WiFli rear derailleur and 11-32 cassette would get me *almost* there in terms of a comparable range to my current mid-compact if I could tolerate the extra two and three-step jumps at the top of the range. 

Anyone have any experience on the Venge LR or running a 1x setup like this? Probably some CX-ers out there...


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

No experience with a lunch race... but quite a few miles on a DA equipped Venge Pro. It is a fantastic frame and I think you'll find that it just wants to go faster and faster. If the lunch race version had been out when I plunked down my money, I probably would have gone for one and converted it to a 2x set up... it is a great looking, scheme. Post some pics when you get it.. please!


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

All right, here it is! This Venge is satin black, rocket red, and fast all over. The color scheme is only available on the Lunch Race model with the single chainring option. So far, I’m a very happy owner. My previous bike was a Tarmac SL4, but I wanted to try something that would help me launch some race breakaways this year. 









As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve swapped the 52t X-Sync chainring for a Race Face n/w 44t. Paired with the 11-28 11spd cassette, I’m really liking my gear options for training rides so far. The 52t ring is actually offset to the inside a few millimeters in order to get a friendlier chainline than the RF ring offers in the larger cogs. There are a few popping sounds here and there under power in the high side of the cassette, but overall I like the simplicity and the weight savings. 









With pedals, cages, and GPS on a 58cm bike, the weight came out to 16.28lbs. It’s not too bad considering the 60mm depth rims along with a 200g weight penalty for the Venge frame from the Tarmac SL5. I’m also running the stock 1170 cassette until I decide if I want more range. Eventually I’ll be swapping it for a Red 1190. The close gearing on the 11spd cassette is fantastic. I get my 16t back that I was missing on my 11-25 10 speed setup. With the 44t chainring, I’m often running back and forth in the 14-15-16-17 range. 









Now that I have the fit close to dialed in, the handing is amazing. I would say that the Tarmac has a very slight edge in winding descents and is a more nimble climber, but the Venge isn’t a slouch in either area. Paired with a 110mm stem and 25mm width Turbo Pro tires at 85-90psi, I’ve been able to begin to start to explore the limits of grip a bit. For building and retaining momentum, the Venge is a superstar. I’m anxious to get into a pack situation to see what the difference in effort to maintain speed is compared to the Tarmac. 









The Aerofly bar feels great and I like the shape and diameter better than the S-works carbon shallow drop bar I’ve been running. The cable management is the neatest I’ve seen, plus the wide tops are comfortable for cruising or climbing. Unfortunately, without tape on the bar tops, my top-tube is vulnerable to swing-arounds. For now, I have a bit of electrical tape in place, but I’ll add some strips of Shelter polyurethane tape to the trailing edge of the Aerofly bar for a little insurance. 









So far, so good! Thanks to Shane and the crew at Two Wheeler Dealer for sourcing the Venge and feeding my need for speed.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

great looking bike.. so jealous. 

completely at a loss... what are swing arounds? why is your top tube susceptible to them? I've never heard of this and I can't imagine what it means.


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

Sorry, I think my brain writes in its own shorthand sometimes. When picking up the bike or in crashes, the handlebars can flip around fast and whack the top tube hard. On aluminum bikes, especially mountain bikes, you sometimes see dings in the top tube from the brake lever. Carbon bikes can scuff or even crack under the right impact. 

Usually there is bar tape on road bikes to cushion things, but the Aerofly bars on the Venge are bare where they would impact the bike. No big deal, I just need to add some protection in those areas. 



TricrossRich said:


> great looking bike.. so jealous.
> 
> completely at a loss... what are swing arounds? why is your top tube susceptible to them? I've never heard of this and I can't imagine what it means.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

Schlim said:


> Sorry, I think my brain writes in its own shorthand sometimes. When picking up the bike or in crashes, the handlebars can flip around fast and whack the top tube hard. On aluminum bikes, especially mountain bikes, you sometimes see dings in the top tube from the brake lever. Carbon bikes can scuff or even crack under the right impact.
> 
> Usually there is bar tape on road bikes to cushion things, but the Aerofly bars on the Venge are bare where they would impact the bike. No big deal, I just need to add some protection in those areas.


ahhh... now I get it. I just went downstairs and checked my bike, sure enough it does, but just barely. Have you checked your bike to see if they actually contact? Your bars look a little higher than mine, you might just clear.

really love the color on this bike... wow.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

here's mine...


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

Nice ride! Sure like the looks of that DA 9000 group on it. 

The bars definitely make contact on mine. If you look close at my pics you can see where I have some electrical tape on the top tube to protect it until I pick up some thicker polyurethane film.


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## WRM4865 (Mar 4, 2015)

Schlim said:


> Right now, I don't see any N-W rings in a 130bcd between a 44t and the Specialized X-Sync 52t. A 48t with a WiFli rear derailleur and 11-32 cassette would get me *almost* there in terms of a comparable range to my current mid-compact if I could tolerate the extra two and three-step jumps at the top of the range.
> 
> Anyone have any experience on the Venge LR or running a 1x setup like this? Probably some CX-ers out there...


Something to consider if your gonna go with the wifli set up... i basically turned my old CX bike into a gravel grinder / urban assault bike and bought a 110 bcd spider for the S Works cranks (it's the same spider interface for the newer S Works cranks too..) so I can easily change front gearing as the CX1 stuff has the HL chainring profile and rings from 38t to 46t i'm still running a Rival rear der. and 11-28 and 42t as I live in Houston.

Another option if you want to keep the 130 bcd is the 48t SRAM chainring Universal Cycles -- Sram Courier Single Speed Chainring

I'm interested in the 1x11 set up for road as i was an early convert to the 2x10 for mtb and then the step to 1x11 was intuitive and switching the old CX bike to 1x10 was a no-brainer.


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## Wetworks (Aug 10, 2012)

Schlim said:


> View attachment 304001
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:thumbsup:


TricrossRich said:


> here's mine...


:thumbsup:

Beautiful rides, guys! Enjoy them in good health!


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

The 110 bcd would definitely add some different options, including the potential to use rotor oval cranks. So far, the smallest diameter n/w ring for 130 I've found is a Woolftooth 38t. From their info, it contacts just slightly with the bolts on rotation. I'm thinking about buying one to bolt to the inside slot on the spider for hillclimb purposes. Basically gets me one gear lower than my previous 10spd 36x25 low gear. 



WRM4865 said:


> Something to consider if your gonna go with the wifli set up... i basically turned my old CX bike into a gravel grinder / urban assault bike and bought a 110 bcd spider for the S Works cranks (it's the same spider interface for the newer S Works cranks too..) so I can easily change front gearing as the CX1 stuff has the HL chainring profile and rings from 38t to 46t i'm still running a Rival rear der. and 11-28 and 42t as I live in Houston.
> 
> Another option if you want to keep the 130 bcd is the 48t SRAM chainring Universal Cycles -- Sram Courier Single Speed Chainring
> 
> ...


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## WRM4865 (Mar 4, 2015)

Schlim said:


> The 110 bcd would definitely add some different options, including the potential to use rotor oval cranks. So far, the smallest diameter n/w ring for 130 I've found is a Woolftooth 38t. From their info, it contacts just slightly with the bolts on rotation.


There is NO WAY you could put a chain-ring smaller than 38t on a 130 BCD crank. Even with a 39t, the chain-ring bolts are nearly into the base of the chain-ring teeth.

The 110 BCD spider is going to be your best bet if you want to go smaller and still have the ability to go up to a 46t if you want. 

Yeah they are a pricey option Specialized Bicycle Components if you get it NEW. However They pop up on eBay quite often at a fraction of the price. 

Keep us in the loop with your progress as I'm interested on how the 1x11 works for you.


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

Yep - no question it would be a tight fit and that 38 is the limit for 130bcd. 

Wolftooth's 110bcd ring ranges from 34-50t. 

Sram Force CX1 rings are 110bcd and range 38-46t. 

Downside of going to a 110bcd spider is I lose the ability to run the OEM Specialized X-Sync 52t chainring, which is actually machined slightly inboard for a better chainline. Less cross-chaining might translate to a few extra watts in a crit, and possibly a little extra chain security. But who knows, it's all very fine differentiations when we are talking a couple mm. 



WRM4865 said:


> There is NO WAY you could put a chain-ring smaller than 38t on a 130 BCD crank. Even with a 39t, the chain-ring bolts are nearly into the base of the chain-ring teeth.
> 
> The 110 BCD spider is going to be your best bet if you want to go smaller and still have the ability to go up to a 46t if you want.
> 
> ...


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## JC634 (Apr 13, 2015)

Any more feedback on this beast? Really curious how the 1×11 setup is treating you.


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

JC634 said:


> Any more feedback on this beast? Really curious how the 1×11 setup is treating you.


Thanks for asking! It’s past time for me to post another update. I have 440 miles on the Venge so far, which is a good break-in time to get a sense of what the bike’s personality will be long-term. 

My first race on it was a short crit last Tuesday, and the Venge behaved incredibly well. I barely missed the podium and came up in 5th, which I was happy with given that I haven’t really been in the sprinter camp in the past. I did run the 44t ring along with the 11-28 cassette, and even at the finish I was still accelerating in and wasn’t geared out. As the season moves on, though, I will probably want to swap back to the 52t for flat courses for additional power options. 

I’m still pleased about getting a 16t cog with the 11spd cassette (15t to 17t jump on my old 10spd 11-25). It makes finding the perfect gear cadence much easier. Additionally, I don’t have to kick back and forth between chainrings when approaching the range limit of either. Having just one shifter to worry about is nice in a hypoxic race situation. The SRAM Force setup feels good, and once again I find myself stoked about the strong tactile feedback Doubletap gives while racing. 

The Aerofly bar feels ridiculously good. I was hesitant to give up my shallow-drop S-works bar, but I’m happy I did. The Aerofly is so comfortable with my current fit setup that I find myself spending a good amount of time cruising in the drops. For attack and sprint efforts, the bar feels rock stable under hard torque. 

I’ve recognized a few negatives as well. With the 1x setup, cross-chaining results in some significant clatter and chain buzz. It’s not a huge problem, but I’ll be looking into one of the XG-1190 Red cassettes to quiet things down a bit as well as reduce some rotating weight. Unfortunately, the noise probably signals a few lost watts due to friction. 

Another issue is the Roval CL60 wheels in strong crosswinds. Anything above 40mph downhill with a big side wind creates a some oscillating front end wobble that I don’t like much. In all other situations, though, these may be the best wheels I’ve ridden. It could be a weight distribution issue. I’ll probably be taking out spacers from under the stem as the season goes on, which may help. The stock brake pads are wearing through fast, but I like the stopping power, so I’m not complaining there. 

Climbing, the Venge lacks a bit of the Tarmac’s nimbleness, but I don’t feel like it is slowing me down unless I start to miss that last low gear offered by my old 36x25 setup. Usually, then, spinning turns into standing. The options are to either keep rolling or roll backward. So far, that lower gear hasn’t been worth adding a shifter, front derailleur, and additional chainring. Nor is it worth going to a wi-fli mid-cage setup with a wider range cassette. 

The Turbo Pro 25s are dang good tires. They feel so smooth and grippy that I have no inclination to go back to my previous favorite Conti GP4000s. I have the S-Works 24s ready to roll for racing this week, though, so I’ll report back if they are an improvement. 

Overall, I’m extremely happy with the Venge and happy I made the switch from my SL4. Plus, I get lots of kind compliments on the frame color from other riders. Most folks are curious if I'll fall off and die with the 1x setup. Not so far!


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## JC634 (Apr 13, 2015)

Thanks for the update, I am taking delivery of mine this week and am pretty stoked, and a bit nervous about the 1x11 setup when doing group rides with some hill activities. worse case, I swap out the 52t for something else or go to a 2x setup.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

Schlim said:


> Thanks for asking! It’s past time for me to post another update. I have 440 miles on the Venge so far, which is a good break-in time to get a sense of what the bike’s personality will be long-term.
> 
> My first race on it was a short crit last Tuesday, and the Venge behaved incredibly well. I barely missed the podium and came up in 5th, which I was happy with given that I haven’t really been in the sprinter camp in the past. I did run the 44t ring along with the 11-28 cassette, and even at the finish I was still accelerating in and wasn’t geared out. As the season moves on, though, I will probably want to swap back to the 52t for flat courses for additional power options.
> 
> I’m still pleased about getting a 16t cog with the 11spd cassette (15t to 17t jump on my old 10spd 11-25). It makes finding the perfect gear cadence much easier. Additionally, I don’t have to kick back and forth between chainrings when approaching the range limit of either. Having just one shifter to worry about is nice in a hypoxic race situation. The SRAM Force setup feels good, and once again I find myself stoked about the strong tactile feedback Doubletap gives while racing.


Awesome... good to hear.



Schlim said:


> The Aerofly bar feels ridiculously good. I was hesitant to give up my shallow-drop S-works bar, but I’m happy I did. The Aerofly is so comfortable with my current fit setup that I find myself spending a good amount of time cruising in the drops. For attack and sprint efforts, the bar feels rock stable under hard torque.


Love the aerofly bar on my bike...



Schlim said:


> I’ve recognized a few negatives as well. With the 1x setup, cross-chaining results in some significant clatter and chain buzz. It’s not a huge problem, but I’ll be looking into one of the XG-1190 Red cassettes to quiet things down a bit as well as reduce some rotating weight. Unfortunately, the noise probably signals a few lost watts due to friction.
> 
> Another issue is the Roval CL60 wheels in strong crosswinds. Anything above 40mph downhill with a big side wind creates a some oscillating front end wobble that I don’t like much. In all other situations, though, these may be the best wheels I’ve ridden. It could be a weight distribution issue. I’ll probably be taking out spacers from under the stem as the season goes on, which may help. The stock brake pads are wearing through fast, but I like the stopping power, so I’m not complaining there.
> 
> Climbing, the Venge lacks a bit of the Tarmac’s nimbleness, but I don’t feel like it is slowing me down unless I start to miss that last low gear offered by my old 36x25 setup. Usually, then, spinning turns into standing. The options are to either keep rolling or roll backward. So far, that lower gear hasn’t been worth adding a shifter, front derailleur, and additional chainring. Nor is it worth going to a wi-fli mid-cage setup with a wider range cassette.


I'd report the same thing about climbing on my Venge.. it seems to do everything I need it to do, with no real downsides. When it comes time to descend, it shines... it is SO FAST. I love cresting a hill with a few of my buddies in front of me and watching the Venge just reel them all in and pass them.



Schlim said:


> The Turbo Pro 25s are dang good tires. They feel so smooth and grippy that I have no inclination to go back to my previous favorite Conti GP4000s. I have the S-Works 24s ready to roll for racing this week, though, so I’ll report back if they are an improvement.


If you haven't tried the S-Works Turbos yet, you're going to love them... and if you give the S-Works Turbo Cottons a chance, you're gonna love them even more. They are literally SO grippy in the corners and SO fast in the straights.


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## Wetworks (Aug 10, 2012)

TricrossRich said:


> If you haven't tried the S-Works Turbos yet, you're going to love them... and if you give the S-Works Turbo Cottons a chance, you're gonna love them even more. They are literally SO grippy in the corners and SO fast in the straights.


I've been enjoying the Turbo Pros thus far, I may give the S-Works a shot next (although I really do miss my Ultremo DDs, talk about grippy and fast!).

Schlim, thanks for the detailed update about your LR, really enjoyed reading about your experience with it.


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## kevlar3324 (Jul 16, 2015)

I just ordered my Venge Lunch Race, I am going to set it up with a 11/32t in back and a drop down to a 50t in front. So the 50/32 is the same ratio as your 44/28 and I was curious with your setup of how it climbs and at what percent of climb does it become unmanageable?


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## JC634 (Apr 13, 2015)

kevlar3324 said:


> I just ordered my Venge Lunch Race, I am going to set it up with a 11/32t in back and a drop down to a 50t in front. So the 50/32 is the same ratio as your 44/28 and I was curious with your setup of how it climbs and at what percent of climb does it become unmanageable?


What 50t are you doing in the front? I haven't had any issues with climbing, although I am not in a mountainous area. Last ride I did was around 4-5k of elevation made up of smallish climbs. 
Curious on your review of the changed gearing. Keep us updated.


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## kevlar3324 (Jul 16, 2015)

I am going to go with a Specialized/Sram ring upfront. I've looked into the Wolf Tooth rings as well, but I figured I would start with the 50t and see how it feels with the 11/32 before dropping down any further.


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## Devinish2015 (Jun 27, 2015)

kevlar3324 said:


> I just ordered my Venge Lunch Race, I am going to set it up with a 11/32t in back and a drop down to a 50t in front. So the 50/32 is the same ratio as your 44/28 and I was curious with your setup of how it climbs and at what percent of climb does it become unmanageable?


What size did you order? I had a 56 but returned it, I now have a bit of a wait for the 54.


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## kevlar3324 (Jul 16, 2015)

I ordered a 56cm and it fits perfect. I did 35 miles for the first ride on the stock setup and damn this bike is a rocket! It's very lively and incredibly responsive, and to my surprise quite comfortable. I think the benefit of the bladed bars is really the vibration dampening. I did ride up some hills on it (no more than 5%) and the drive train is really noisy in the low gearing. I am going to go with a Sram Force 1 rear derailleur. It's designed for CX and the 1x11 set up as opposed to the Sram Force 22 rear derailleur which is meant for 2x11. I don't know why Specialized didn't us the Force 1 derailleur to begin with, seems like an obvious choice due to it being 1x11 specific. And the more I think about it I'm highly disappointed that Specialized didn't spec the 1x11 specific derailleur. I am also going to run a 11-36 cassette over the 11-28. I want to keep the high end ratio for speeds of 30+, but also want to be able to climb up hills that range from 5-12%.


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

I’m tossing out an update, as I’ve changed the setup on my Venge. 

I did decide that the gearing that I was running limited me pretty significantly. With the 44x11-28t, I was missing about two high gears for powering downhill, and at least one low gear – maybe two – from a mid compact 52/36 x 11-28t setup. As a climber, I need to be able to spin going up, and I also like to not be spun out and just hanging onto an aero bike when descending. The Venge handles and reacts better to input if you are still putting some power down. 

Like some others in this thread, I switched out the 130bcd spider for a 110 S-works carbon spider. Beware – this spider requires narrower diameter (Campy) chainring bolts that can be tough to track down or pretty expensive if you have to order them. I mounted a 50t Sram N/W X-Sync chainring to the spider, swapped the Red 1190 11-28 cassette for an 1170 11-36t, and pulled the Force 22 derailleur in favor of a new mid-cage Force 1 unit. 

























The resulting gearing is very close to the range I had with my Tarmac’s mid-compact 52/36 x 11-25t 10spd setup. So far, the verdict is good. That low gear feels natural again and I’m able to comfortably fly up ascents without feeling like I’m going into my legs too badly too early. The high gears are awesome to have back again. Time to go KOM hunting. 










Shift performance is fantastic. I was very close to swapping to an 11 speed Ultegra or Dura Ace setup, but really don’t want a front derailleur anymore. The Force 1 with the heavier tension spring and clutch gives me a much more precise feel at the shifter when paired with the internal cable routing. It’s just *bam bam bam* through the gears. The mid cage derailleur rolls right into the 36t without grinding. 

Downsides? I lose my 14t and 16t cogs for a 15% and 13% jump respectively. It doesn’t bother me so far, in fact, I like that I’m not clicking like crazy searching for gears. Ratios look pretty evenly spaced, so I don’t think I’ll have an issue over time. Secondly, there’s some drag in the system, especially at the extremes, so I’m losing some watts. The narrow wide chainring and jockey wheels add some friction and there’s a little noise, but less so than with the SRAM X-dome red cassette. 

And I added 255g. Dangit. When is SRAM doing a Red cassette in 11-36?? 

So far, it looks like this is the setup I’ll stay with vs. going to a Shimano 2x system. Even though I liked the 16t cog on the 11spd cassette, part of me rolls my eyes reading posts about 1x and people saying that they can’t stand the jumps and wouldn’t ever run a wide range cassette. Even racing, I don’t see how I’ll even notice it much once I’ve had some training hours on it.


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## TricrossRich (Mar 26, 2014)

great update.... thanks.


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## ridelikeagirl (May 20, 2016)

*Just bought the Lunch Race - Wondering cost to make the changes you made...*



Schlim said:


> Like some others in this thread, I switched out the 130bcd spider for a 110 S-works carbon spider. Beware – this spider requires narrower diameter (Campy) chainring bolts that can be tough to track down or pretty expensive if you have to order them. I mounted a 50t Sram N/W X-Sync chainring to the spider, swapped the Red 1190 11-28 cassette for an 1170 11-36t, and pulled the Force 22 derailleur in favor of a new mid-cage Force 1 unit.
> 
> View attachment 312254
> 
> ...


I just bought the Lunch Race (used) and I'm thinking of making changes similar to what you did. Would you mind telling me what it cost you to switch that out? Just roughly?

Also, are you still loving it with the changes? Do you ever wish it was 2x? Thanks!

Yes, I ride like a girl. Try to keep up!


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

ridelikeagirl said:


> I just bought the Lunch Race (used) and I'm thinking of making changes similar to what you did. Would you mind telling me what it cost you to switch that out? Just roughly?
> 
> Also, are you still loving it with the changes? Do you ever wish it was 2x? Thanks!
> 
> Yes, I ride like a girl. Try to keep up!


It was maybe $400 for the new parts, and I sold the old ones to recoup some of the cost. All in, you'll likely need a spider, chain, chainring and bolts, cassette, and derailleur. 

I still like the bike and the changes to the gearing and wouldn't go back to a double unless *maybe* it was with electronic shifting. It's nice to not have to worry about cross-chaining, dropped chains, and jumping between chainrings on hilly rides. I've even raced on this setup on a decidedly non-flat course year. The 50x11-36 is virtually perfect for my needs.


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## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

ridelikeagirl said:


> I just bought the Lunch Race (used) and I'm thinking of making changes similar to what you did. Would you mind telling me what it cost you to switch that out? Just roughly?
> 
> Also, are you still loving it with the changes? Do you ever wish it was 2x? Thanks!
> 
> Yes, I ride like a girl. Try to keep up!



Here's a comparison with a 1x 44 tooth ring and stock 34/50 chainrings.
34 red
44 black
50 blue

From Mike Sherman's Gear Calculator. The link for this setup. The popup tells you that you can bookmark/favorite this page to save the settings for later. Change cadence or cogs, and the charts update on the fly.

View attachment 314257


The 44 chainring is maxed out a little over 30 mph. And its missing almost 3 downshifts for hills.

But it has very good coverage in the 20 to 25 mph range, with reasonably close shifts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Schlim said:


> I still like the bike and the changes to the gearing and wouldn't go back to a double unless *maybe* it was with electronic shifting. It's nice to not have to worry about cross-chaining, dropped chains, and jumping between chainrings on hilly rides. I've even raced on this setup on a decidedly non-flat course year. The *50x11-36* is virtually perfect for my needs.


A 50 chainring and 11-36 Sram cassette. I wouldn't like this. There's larger jumps between shifts from 15 to 25 mph. It goes about one shift lower than the 44 & 11-28 setup, but that's still pretty high for steeper hills.









~~~~

Another copy of the 44 compared to 34/50 chart. (It wasn't showing in-line)


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## Schlim (Aug 20, 2006)

rm -rf said:


> A 50 chainring and 11-36 Sram cassette. I wouldn't like this. There's larger jumps between shifts from 15 to 25 mph. It goes about one shift lower than the 44 & 11-28 setup, but that's still pretty high for steeper hills.
> 
> View attachment 314259


It doesn't bother me. Here's a comparison to a 10 speed mid-compact with an 11-28 that lots of folks including me rode for awhile. My setup drops the 14t over that cassette. 

Compared to an 11 speed 11-28, my setup drops both the 14 and 16. Sure, it's nice to have extra gears in close-ratio succession, but a front derailleur isn't worth the trouble for me just to have 14t and 16t cogs. Others may disagree.


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## ridelikeagirl (May 20, 2016)

*A little more clarification, please...*



Schlim said:


> It was maybe $400 for the new parts, and I sold the old ones to recoup some of the cost. All in, you'll likely need a spider, chain, chainring and bolts, cassette, and derailleur.
> 
> I still like the bike and the changes to the gearing and wouldn't go back to a double unless *maybe* it was with electronic shifting. It's nice to not have to worry about cross-chaining, dropped chains, and jumping between chainrings on hilly rides. I've even raced on this setup on a decidedly non-flat course year. The 50x11-36 is virtually perfect for my needs.


Schlim - Would you mind emailing me so I can ask you some more specific questions (and I won't have to look dumb in front of everyone else on here)? [email protected]

Thank you!


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