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SRAM road F mechs, chainring size difference capacity?
Hello all. I need to buy a new road front mech. I currently run a 38/52 double but may be purchasing a semi compact 36/52. I've seen a sram rival mech on ebay that says '50-53' on the inside of the cage, but nothing about the maximum teeth difference between the chainrings it'll work with. Is this something I can find out? Or will it just be fine to use on either a compact or a standard double?
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3 comments
Thanks for replies, very useful.
As SS comments, generally it is the chain length difference and the chain stay length that is critical. The main brands don't offer different front mechs for "standard" and compact. Going to compact might give you a issue on extreme cross-chaining (the answer being -don't). Remember to shorten the chain for the revised max and min capacity. Probably need to reset inner and outer limits due to differing chain angles.
The only significant difference is that you will need to lower the mech, and it is likely that your frame has been designed to allow that.
I also run a Sram front mech, Red in my case. I started off with a 50/34 on the front and 11/32 at the back. However my advancing years encouraged me to gear down a bit so now I'm running a 46/30 chainset paired with an 11/34 cassette. This using the same mechs front and rear. I feel that if you maintain a maximum chainring spread of 16 teeth, as I have done you should not go far wrong.