WTB - 39/53 chainrings Fix it, repair it, how do I do it, what's the best part to use, and now: how do I get there?

[ragnar]

[AndrewW]

Going from a 42-tooth to a 39-tooth isn't going to be much of an improvement - less than ten percent. It'll basically give you a low gear that's about half a shift lower, assuming your cassette has pretty "road" spacing. If you already use a wide-ratio cassette you won't notice at all.

To get significantly lower gears, you're going to want either a triple crank, a compact double, or a cassette with really wide spacing. Triples tend to have either a 32 or 30-tooth small ring, depending on age, and compact doubles seem to be going for 50/34 ring pairings a lot of the time. That'll make your low gear a whole lot easier.

The easiest change is probably going to the compact double - you'll need to retune your front derailleur, but you can use the same one. A wider-ratio cassette may require a new derailleur and is fairly likely to need a new chain, and upgrading to a triple will require a new derailleur and, depending on the kind of shifter you use, may need a new one of those too.

Hooray for friction shifters!

[Rogelio]

[ragnar]

[AndrewW]

[ragnar]

[Finn]

[AndrewW]

[rob]

[Rogelio]

[ripper]

I had a biopace triple. My knees hurt more when I rode those rings. Correlation != causation, but I hate biopace.

Alabama speaks truth. If your chain, cogset, and chainrings have been in an abusive relationship, you may need to replace all three.

Is your crank 130 BCD, or 110? I have a very nice set of 130 BCD 53/39 FSA chain rings that I'd be willing to surrender for a few 22oz bottle of good beer. I won them at the FHR, and I don't ride 130bcd cranks, nor rings of that size.

[Eric_s]

edited for yelling.

If ragnar here decides he does not need super light 10sp chanrings, I have a project I can use them on..

[ragnar]

I use 130. i will definitely trade you for good beer. What's your fancy?