Small Differences Can Matter

Recently, I was on a familiar road, but riding it did not feel familiar. It seemed like I was straining to stay on top of my gear, whereas usually I just spin along. Was I exceptionally tired? I didn’t feel that way…
Then I remembered that I had replaced my 46-30 chainrings with 48-32 for Paris-Brest-Paris. In PBP, I sometimes ride in big groups and with a strong tailwind… Then my tallest gear of 46-14 – big enough for my riding in the Pacific Northwest – might not be quite tall enough.
So my big ring was 2 teeth larger than usual, hence the difficulty to stay on top of the gear. The difference is about 5% – small, but noticeable. Now that I have returned from PBP, I will re-install the 46-30 rings, since they suit my usual riding better.
It’s too bad that customizing your chainrings isn’t as easy as it used to be. Today, most makers only offer only very few chainring sizes, and none are small enough for non-racers. I have not yet been dropped because I spun out and could not keep up… and yet my biggest gear of 48-14 is 20% smaller than 50-12, the smallest maximum gear you can get from mainstream makers today.

If you have a healthy spin, you’ll rarely, if ever, use the 2 or 3 smallest cogs on a modern drivetrain. And that makes your 10-speed cassette effectively a 7-speed. With smaller chainrings, you could get a closer-ratio cassette, and have smaller steps between your gears, while maintaining the gear range that you currently use. Or you can keep your current cassette, and trade the super-large gears you never use for extra-small gears that will come in handy in the mountains.

With that in mind, we are offering dozens of chainring combinations for our René Herse cranks, from 52 to 42 teeth for the big ring, and down to 24 teeth for the small one. That way, you can equip your bike with gears that you’ll actually use!
Click here for more information about the René Herse cranks.