What's It Like To Ride Pro Gears? (Are They Really Faster?)

What is your perfect chainring-cassette size combination?

25 years ago, I rode my 53/39 Dura Ace 7700 (2x9) with 11-23 cassette around Dallas, Texas, very flat terrain. Eight years later, I moved to mountainous west Texas, where elevations vary from 3,500’ to 6,800’ asl within 40 miles of my front door. I changed my rear derailleur to an XTR (M952) and cassette to XTR 11-34, which worked for a while, but aging into my 60’s forced me to seek lower gear for climbing. Today, I have two primary road bikes; both have triple chainring cranksets (50/39/30), and 11-32 cassettes. I’m 69, always seeking new ways to keep riding on a budget, and having a lot of fun with inexpensive, used, 3x9 and 3x10 driveline components. Funny thing though; I still like to go as fast as I can downhill, and I miss my 53t big ring! Currently seeking 52t upgrades for my Claris and 105 cranksets. Keep on riding as long as you can, you won’t regret it!😁😎❤️

On my old (1976) Raleigh i have a 54/42/28 with a 12/28 cassette. Haven't found anything in 45 years that it won't handle.

In my 20s, I rode 52/39 & 12-25 on my road bike. By my 30s, it was 53/39 & 11-28. 40s was 52/36 & 11/30 or 32. Heading into my 50s, I’m on 50/34 & 11-36, plus my crank length has shrunk as well. Stuff big chain rings and cassettes - I’d rather be able to get up hills and have knees that still work afterwards, thanks!

Shimano, thanks for helping to make my rides great for close to my entire life. Keep chatting with your customers, asking good questions, and listening: appreciate your hard work.

Wait so my 53/39 shimano 105 from the 1990s is a pro level kit, NICE!!!

Gearing is so personal, don’t think I’ve seen two comments yet with the same combination. Throw my (slightly illegal) 46/34 chain set in for another take. Loads of mid range gears for a perfect cadence.

with front shifting today so good, we'll soon be on the next great thing, triple chainrings!

I’m running a 53/39 on my 105 R7000 groupset. Love it, makes my custom road bike that much faster and more fun to ride

My Specialized Allez (2012) was 52/36 with a 12-26 cassette when I bought her used in 2022. Decided to take her to Trail Ridge Road in Colorado in 2023 (I'm 65 and live in Houston) and looking at the math of cadence vs power output vs HR I went to a 50/34 and a 12-32 cassette. My cadence was still lower than I'd like, but I made it up to 12,150 feet. Coming down was the fun part! 45 mph.

I love my 34 front with 34 spocket, like walking without getting off , I'm not pro , not racing so it doesn't matter what my speed is

54 -10 is what am using , pretty suitable in my area

In the old days 53 / 42 was a common setup on any road bike. With a straight cut 7 speed rear block. Knees who needs knees.

I'am on 53/39 and 10/36 and it's amazing!

I use a 53/36 Shimano 105 in the front. Never had any problems with my front derailleur. It gives me a big ring on the flats and a reasonable gear on ascents. It doesn't overlap as much as a 53/39 and I love it a lot! Totally recommend it even though Shimano doesn't 😂

Swapped a 50/34 to a 46/30 with 10mm shorter cranks. Much more comfortable and no hill too steep!

I love my SRAM setup. I'm running 50/37 and 10-33. 50-10 is like 55-11

I'm still a major proponent of a triple for anyone who's not a hard core rider, simply because of the inexpensive nature of the drivetrain. We ride a 3x8 setup on mine and the wife's bikes. 48/38/28 on both, HG50-8 11-30t on mine (OG was HG50-8 11-32t), and a custom made HG50-8 based 11-34t (11-13-17-20-23-26-30-34, basically an 'an' cassette with the 15 pulled out and a 30 from a 'Ca' added to the stack) for the wife. it suits her needs better than the OE 11-32t it came with. I've been contemplating my next step as i'll be coming due for a new cassette soon, and the chainrings are the OG from when the bike was bought new in 2006. I want to find something that'll give me a better spread (higher top speed, a bit lower grunt gear for when i'm totally bashed) and something that results in fewer 'duplicate' ratios. We "commute", we get a meal, and pretty soon I want to start hooking the kid's old bike trailer back up (used to take him to day camp in it when he was a toddler... 13+ years ago!!) and start doing some non-perishiable grocery runs with it. I need "excuses" to get my fat ass out there and ride more anyways, so goals are important. :D Having like a 26/34 for the low end, and a 52/11 like I have on my old "touring" bike (03 Trek 1000, did many centuries and a double called The Longest Day once with it) would probably do it, but I'd need a middle ring of probably a 39 or 40. The question is, how to do it. (addendum: 52/39/26 would be a nice even spacing between the 3.) My point of all this is, not only are the pros changing their thinking, but so are the amateurs, and even some of us filthy casuals. :D

54/42...o how I loved racing in the the 90s! People sneered the you dropped down to 39 lol

Holy goal post moving Batman.... They sold us 10 speed with this exact same "smaller gaps between gears" from the 9speed. The 11 over 10. Absolutely hilarious 😂