[boleiro]

been laboring between a standard and compact crankset and have maybe found a nice middle ground in the compact crankset with 52/36T chainrings. Anyone have experience with this set up? I'm either going campy compact or campy standard. Dot Bike has a huge selection of chainrings for the 110 bcd. Oh, ramps and pins, how much do these really help? Or better, how much of their benefit is percetable? Most of these replacement rings don't have the ramps and pins.

My concerns are the usual, I see the benefits of both. But as I like to climb a lot and would love some good low end. Yet, I also love mashing my current 11t cog downhill. So, I want something more all around.

My research has pulled up some sparse info mainly that shifting is dicey between with the 16 teeth jump. I want shifting to be precise, but I don't mind if its a little slower as I don't race. So I could deal with a slower shift, as long as its on point.

advice, experiences, thoughts?

 

[Peanya]

Ramps and pins help shifting considerably, moreso if you're switching between rings a lot. Why not go compact and get a 11-28 in the rear? You get a LOT of range, and can use common chainrings.
The biggest thing about a compact isn't a "dicey" shift, it's that it's a big jump in gear ratios. If you don't have a problem with shifting the rear a click too, then it's no big deal.

 

[The Moontrane]

If the front mech is set up right, the shifting is fine. Same with a conventional crank. Go with the 16-tooth gap.

I’ve only used the ramped and pinned chainrings and wouldn’t alter that.

 

[Spanky_88007]

Not trying to be a smarta$$, but a 50/34 compact has the 16 tooth gap and works just fine... Just a drastic jump, as Peanya has stated.

 

[AvantDale]

I'm running a SRAM Red crank with a 52/36 and 11-26 cassette. I find that it works pretty well for me. It keeps me from spinning out on the downhill and gets me up the longer climbs.

 

[boleiro]

good to hear this is more than feasible without lots of tweaking. The only problem is finding campy cassettes in the 11-28 configuration. I have a miche 12-28t on its way, that should keep me content until I find something like the 11-28.

thanks for the info, helful board as usual...

 

[tron]

I think Miche cassettes are adaptable to fit different ranges and you can buy the teeth separately. I got one when I wanted an 11t as well.