SRAM also majors on single rings across its mountain bike range, from SX Eagle through to the flagship XX T-Type Eagle Transmission. It’s even more complex because there are different standards within both mountain bike groupsets and road groupsets. Some are inter-compatible, most aren’t, although you can buy adaptors for some combinations. I've used 10 speed chainsets on my 11 speed set up for a long while, and I'm using a 10 speed front mech and shifter on my steel winter bike, but with 11 speed rear. That also works fine. First, different cranksets may have a different number of arms or direct-mount interfaces (connecting the cranks to the chainrings), and they may be positioned differently. For those who may find this worth considering but feel that a 46-tooth front chainring is unacceptably low, they might consider the Shimano GRX FC-RX810 crankset, with a 48/31 gear combination. This combination will provide a higher top end than a 46, while the 31-tooth chainring will offer a climbing gear that is just slightly higher than a 30. Or maybe consider the various offerings by Shimano, Praxis, FSA, Rotor, etc., of a 48/32 combination. As you can see, there are a lot of options that allow riders to tailor their gearing to specific desires. Subcompact Front Derailleur Caveats

Combined with the cassette, the number of teeth on the crankset’s chainrings will define your bike’s gearing. However, chainring sizes vary significantly, with options for every type of riding, so we’ll cover them separately below. Drop to 11-speed and the BCD for a Force crankset goes out to 110mm or 130mm, dependent on chainring compatibility. There’s a different BCD again for SRAM’s non-direct mount S-650 Eagle MTB crankset – 104mm. That means there’s limited interchangeability between SRAM chainrings. He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.Those looking for something sub compact double chainset, the FSA Omega Adventurer range has 48/32 46/30 also 50/34. Yep. I noticed this with a few people I've ridden with - particularly on gently rolling terrain - they were swapping frequently between big-big and small-small. Fitting a wider range cassette isn't really a proper solution. Finance is subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. Performance Cycling Limited FRN: 720557 trading as Tredz are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a credit broker not a lender – credit is subject to status and affordability and is provided by Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC. Terms & Conditions Apply.

Nearly every new mountain bike now has a single-ring crankset, except at the very entry-level, making use of a cassette with a very large range to cut down on front-end complexity in the drivetrain.

combination is minimally faster than 50x12T. This is 47.5km/h (29.5mph) and is faster than 52x13T! At 100rpm it increases to 53km/h (32.9mph). Should one consider a rule of thumb to be that a chainset should not be more than 1 speed higher than the your groupset's speed? It’s indisputable that a lower gear benefits pretty much anybody who isn’t a pro, but does a super compact offer a high enough gear? However, all these chainsets are designed to work only with SRAM's 12-speed system. In terms of the gearing they provide and how you'd use them, they pretty much map against the double chainsets we've discussed. If you're used to 53/39 you'd choose a SRAM 50/37. Happy with 52/36? Go for SRAM 48/35. The SRAM 46/33 gives a roughly equivalent set of gears to a compact chainset while the 43/30 is SRAM's answer to sub-compacts. If you have a 130mm BCD crankset, for example, the smallest compatible chainring is a 38t. On a 110mm BCD crankset, the lower limit drops to 33t, and so on.

The impetus for the existence of chainsets like the Energy Modular BB386EVO has come from gravel bikes, whose rise has had bike and component manufacturers taking a second look at the gearing options they offer. Any bike that's ridden away from roads needs lower gears, but gravel bike gears don't need to be quite as low as mountain bike gears. The result has been sub-compact chainsets and the widest range of options has come from FSA, which calls them Adventure cranks and now offers six different sub-compact chainsets. Many first-generation gravel bikes had a compact road crankset with 50/34t chainrings, and you can still find some gravel or all-road bikes with this setup. Swapping chainring sizes on a double or triple crankset isn’t as simple as it sounds, because specific chainrings are designed to work together, with tooth positioning and ramps on the rings there to help the chain shift smoothly. I particularly notice the difference climbing. Just seems to be easier and I feel like I’m turning circles rather than ‘mashing’."SRAM therefore offers chainring combinations of 46/33, 48/35, and 50/37, plus the Force Wide system has a 43/30 crankset. Most road bikes come with a double chainset, meaning that you have two chainrings. The larger chainring gives you bigger, harder to turn gears that move you further per pedal revolution – so it's suitable for higher speeds – while the smaller chainring gives you gears that are easier to turn but move you a shorter distance per pedal revolution – so it's suitable for lower speeds, including riding uphill. In exchange for giving up your highest gear, you can gain significant climbing gears on the other end. How the Low Gear on a Subcompact Crankset Relates to Compact Gearing Power meters incorporated into the crankset’s arms or spider are popular with performance-focused road cyclists (and some mountain bikers and gravel riders, too). Pedal-based power meters are also popular. You can’t easily swap the number of chainrings your bike is set up for, because the front derailleur and associated shifter will be specific for your setup and would need to be replaced, too.

Swapping chainring sizes is possible, but compatibility needs to be considered. Simon von Bromley / Immediate Media Praxis Works make a 48/32 sub compact chainring set on a 110bcd, which means you don't need to buy a specific sub compact chainset. The inner mounts on the outer, as it's the BCD that dictates the smallest size inner chainring possible. Fitting a crank with smaller chainrings means you have to move your front derailleur down, and this is something to look out for before buying any sub-compact cranks. My gravel bike just had the necessary 8mm of adjustment, but I'm pretty sure the front derailleur mount on my road bike is too high. Alternatives The bolts form a circle around the spider and the distance across that circle at the midline of the bolts is the ‘bolt circle diameter’ or BCD (Shimano’s literature calls this the ‘pitch circle diameter’ or PCD). First, you need to remove your crank from your bike. Once removed, unscrew the 4 bolts that hold two chainrings together with a T-30 torx key. Remove both original rings.Regardless, make sure your bike is fit properly to your body and that you use equipment and components that best serve your needs, where your ride, and your riding style. In its 46/30 chainring configuration, FSA's Energy Modular BB386EVO crankset provides a very useful drop in overall gearing for gravel bikes, touring, and unhurried riding in general. It's solidly constructed, very nicely finished, straightforward to install and flat-out Just Works™.