Winston Leg-Thigh
Maximum Pace
- Mar 31, 2015
- 197
- 249
I wanted lower gears for the hills and off-road climbs but didn't want to (couldn't) spend a fortune. My current bike has got Sora with an FSA Omega 50/34 at the front and 11-30 at the back. I seem to remember that the max sprocket the wheel can take is a 30 tooth and with only 9 gears, 11-34 would probably be too gappy anyway, so I decided to go with a new chainset. Unfortunately my current chainset is the old 5-bolt style so I couldn't just order new chainrings. The new 4 bolt type comes in 50/34, 48/32, and 46/30. I went for the 46/30 to give me a 1:1 low gear. Cost about 90 euros inc delivery iirc.
Installation was straightforward enough: didn't need to change the BB, just had to lower the front mech and shorten the chain slightly. Shifting is fine and the lower bottom gear makes a big difference. Having never used any high-end chainsets / cranks I couldn't really tell you if it flexes or not under high loads, but I've not noticed anything. I don't race or anything so I can't say that I've missed the extra gear(s ?) at the top end. For the riding I do the gearing is pretty much spot on. If I had 10 or 11 speed I might be tempted to get a 32 on the back, but for the moment 30:30 seems okay except for some ridiculous bits off-road, but for those I'm not sure anything I'm going to get with road gearing would get me up.
Overall - highly recommended cheap way to get lower gearing.
Installation was straightforward enough: didn't need to change the BB, just had to lower the front mech and shorten the chain slightly. Shifting is fine and the lower bottom gear makes a big difference. Having never used any high-end chainsets / cranks I couldn't really tell you if it flexes or not under high loads, but I've not noticed anything. I don't race or anything so I can't say that I've missed the extra gear(s ?) at the top end. For the riding I do the gearing is pretty much spot on. If I had 10 or 11 speed I might be tempted to get a 32 on the back, but for the moment 30:30 seems okay except for some ridiculous bits off-road, but for those I'm not sure anything I'm going to get with road gearing would get me up.
Overall - highly recommended cheap way to get lower gearing.