52x36 - It just wasn't working for me

I recently picked up an alloy GT Grade 105.  Love the bike, love the 5800 group.  It shifts wonderfully and the 11-32 in back is a nice spread for the fire roads and dirt foothill roads that we ride most often.  The thing that I can't seem to adapt to is the 52/36 rings on the front.  I understand that this combo is popular recently on road bikes and in theory sounds like a good setup for gravel, but I just find myself in the small ring maybe 80% of the time on my rides.
That said, I swapped the rings out for a take off set of Shimano CX 70 46/36 rings.  I just did it last night, so nothing to report other than the switch was an easy, mostly bolt on swap.  I did have to drop the front derailleur a few millimeters and remove a full link from the chain.  On the around the block test track the front seemed to shift very well, perhaps better(?) than the stock setup.  The Shimano rings do seem to have a more intricate ramp/pin setup than the FSA set.

Did I miss something on the 52/36 combo?  Did I not give it enough time?  Anyone have a secret technique or method of riding them that they want to share?

I will check back in after I've put a few miles on the new setup.

Henry

The trick to riding a 52 is to make sure all your rides are downhill with a tailwind.

42-46 teeth is a much more realistic size if you have an 11 tooth small cog on your cluster.

Here's a pic of the CX 70 46t ring.  Actually much nicer looking (and perhaps higher qualiity?) than the stock FSA 52t.




I did about 25 flat pavement miles today with the 46t installed.  With a tailwind I was able to hit about 29 mph @ about 85 rpm.  I think I'll be pleased with this combo.

Henry

I also have a GT Grade Alloy 105 & ditched the 52T for a 46T outer ring. I was only using the largest 4 or 5 sprockets and the drop to the 36 was too great, so I'd have to dump a load of rear cogs with every front downshift.
I replaced the 52 with a 46 and have a much more useable set of gears. Really nice ratios now.

I'm surprised at the speccing of a 52/36T. I'd guess that a lot of customers for this kind of bike would find that a bit tall.

50T+ rings have no place on my bikes. I do not race any more and if I am over 30mph it is likely downhill and coasting in a tuck is faster.\n\nMy current road/mixed bikes have 46/34 and 44/30 rings with 11-34 cassettes. Spend most of my time on the big ring in the middle of the cassette, which is the best way to determine your gearing.

I like my 50/34 with an 11-36 out back. 

Nubster wrote:I like my 50/34 with an 11-36 out back. 

I've got a 50/34 and an 11-32 cassette, and it works really well for me.  I stay in the big ring 95% of the time, and only use the little on really steep stuff or at the end of a really long day when my legs are threatening to strike.

I have a set of paved road wheels with skinnier tires and an 11-28 on them, and with the 50/34 I still have all the gears I need when doing fast group rides.

Yeah...hoping with some weightloss and better fitness I can go back to 32 in the back. But really...it doesn't matter I guess. I hate climbing so there's really no point in making it harder for myself...lol...if it wasn't for the not stop climbs around here ranging from miles of 6-9% grades and those short steep walls of up to 28%...I'd be able to roll with a more traditional 11-28.

henrypretz wrote:I recently picked up an alloy GT Grade 105.  Love the bike, love the 5800 group.  It shifts wonderfully and the 11-32 in back is a nice spread for the fire roads and dirt foothill roads that we ride most often.  The thing that I can't seem to adapt to is the 52/36 rings on the front.  I understand that this combo is popular recently on road bikes and in theory sounds like a good setup for gravel, but I just find myself in the small ring maybe 80% of the time on my rides.
That said, I swapped the rings out for a take off set of Shimano CX 70 46/36 rings.  I just did it last night, so nothing to report other than the switch was an easy, mostly bolt on swap.  I did have to drop the front derailleur a few millimeters and remove a full link from the chain.  On the around the block test track the front seemed to shift very well, perhaps better(?) than the stock setup.  The Shimano rings do seem to have a more intricate ramp/pin setup than the FSA set.

Did I miss something on the 52/36 combo?  Did I not give it enough time?  Anyone have a secret technique or method of riding them that they want to share?

I will check back in after I've put a few miles on the new setup.

Henry

I agree- 52/36 isn't a good setup for my gravel bike. Fortunately, my Haanjo comp. came with a 46/36 CX setup which works much better for GG riding. Unfortunately, many of the new 11 speed road 2x cranksets use assymetric chain rings which male it very difficult and/or expensive to setup one off combinations like the 50/36. In fact if you want to convert an Ultegra 53/39 to a 46/36, it is less expensive to buy a new 46/36 crankset, than purchase a set of 46/36 chainrings! BTW if you find that you could use some lower gearing than the 36/36, and you have a medium cage rear derailleur, I've found that the the Wolftooth Road link combined with an 11-40 cogset works great on my Haanjo. I don't use the 40 cog much; but when I need it, I need it!