Need some Roker Comp help!

ljsmith wrote:I am assuming SRAM gave you the part number for the shifting "guts" for the left shifter so you can install it in your 1x left shifter.  As was noted above, your Rival 1 derailleur will not work right with a 2x system, its hard to explain why but just trust me.  So you need a Rival 22 front and rear derailleur.  Looking at the pic of your bike it doesn't look like you should have any trouble fitting a front derailleur.  Some carbon bikes have squared seat tubes that don't allow for a conventional clamp on derailleur, but yours looks round.  You also need to make sure that your crankset has a ledge for the 34t chainring to sit on the back side or whether it is a dedicated 1x crankset.  According to Raleigh you have a SRAM S350 crankset.  I found a picture of the back, but its hard to tell if it has a ledge.  In the pic below you will see on the backside of the crank where I circled in red where the ledge should be under each chainring bolt.  I think it is there, but again its hard to tell from a picture.  Then  you just need a matching set of chainrings for 110 bcd.

LewisQC wrote:On SRAM website, S350 is list as 1x so I don't think it can go 2x...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SRAM-S350-Double-Crankset-for-Road-Bike-50-34T-GXP-175mm-2x10-Like-Apex-/192524099146



Looks like 10 speed Apex stuff.

https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-apex-crankset

ljsmith wrote:The FSA Omega is about 100g heavier than what you have. The FSA Energy 46/30 weighs about the same. The FSA SLK 46/30 is about 150g lighter than what you have, but quite a bit pricier.

Zurichman wrote:
 
Thanks for that info ljsmith. I see that the FSA slk 46/30 is a carbon crank and if I checked right 150 gram of weight savings is 5 ounces which sounds good to me. I see that at Competitive Cyclist it's $347.99 and that price at almost all online places. On Amazon it's $259.97 which is a $88 savings. They have a 172.5 mm crank and a 170 mm crank. I know the shorter crank or at least I think the shorter crank is what you call a sub compact crank. What is the advantage/disadvantages of the shorter crank. I though they helped in climbing but I am not sure.

Thanks
Zman

ljsmith wrote:

Compact refers to the size of the rings. Standard cranks have 53/39 rings. Compact cranks have 50/34 rings. FSA calls these Adventure cranks with 46/30. Crank length comes down to leg length and personal preference. The standard size for road bikes is 172.5. 170mm typically come on small and x-small frames. XL and XXL frames might come with 175mm. Theoretically Smaller cranks are easier to spin, but you lose torque. In reality you probably would notice no discernible difference between a 172.5 and a 170. Your current cranks are 172.5 so unless you have an issue with them that is probably what you need.

Read up a bit a bit on gear ratios.

Currently you have an 11-42 cassette with a 42T chainring. How much do you use the higher gears, and how much do you use the lower gears? Do you ever wish you've had either a higher, or a lower gear?

If you're that sensitive to jumps in the cassette, i'd go with an 11-32. 11-36 is a difference, but it might not be enough of a difference. 

The smallest chainring you could put on your current crankset is 34. If you buy a sub compact crankset that's 46/30. 46/11 is a harder gear than you currently have, and 30/32 is a slightly easier gear.
With a standard compact you'd have 50/11 which is a much harder gear than you currently have, and then 34/32 which is a tiny bit harder than the 42/42 that you currently have. 

Tanpan and road link is for Shimano stuff. The SRAM road derailleurs can handle an 11-32 cassette max in theory, in practice they might be able to go bigger. With SRAM 11 speed road shifters you can use a 10spd MTB rear derailleur, so you could even have a clutch rear derailleur that could handle an 11-36 cassette out of the box. But again, an 11-36 cassette might be still too much for you.

Here are the ratios:

11-12-13-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32
11-12-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32-36
11-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32-36-42

If you're replacing the cassette, rear derailleur, crankset, chain, and you're buying a front derailleur, and front shifter (or shifter guts) I'd do the math and look at complete groupsets too. That's a lot of parts. When you separately add up all the different parts that make up a groupset it always comes out more expensive than if you just buy a complete groupset.
At this point it might make more sense to just sell your current groupset and buy a new complete one. One catch is that no manufacturer offers a complete groupset with a sub compact crank yet, although we don't even know if you'd want/need one. 

HollyBoni wrote:

Read up a bit a bit on gear ratios.

Currently you have an 11-42 cassette with a 42T chainring. How much do you use the higher gears, and how much do you use the lower gears? Do you ever wish you've had either a higher, or a lower gear?

If you're that sensitive to jumps in the cassette, i'd go with an 11-32. 11-36 is a difference, but it might not be enough of a difference. 

The smallest chainring you could put on your current crankset is 34. If you buy a sub compact crankset that's 46/30. 46/11 is a harder gear than you currently have, and 30/32 is a slightly easier gear.
With a standard compact you'd have 50/11 which is a much harder gear than you currently have, and then 34/32 which is a tiny bit harder than the 42/42 that you currently have. 

Tanpan and road link is for Shimano stuff. The SRAM road derailleurs can handle an 11-32 cassette max in theory, in practice they might be able to go bigger. With SRAM 11 speed road shifters you can use a 10spd MTB rear derailleur, so you could even have a clutch rear derailleur that could handle an 11-36 cassette out of the box. But again, an 11-36 cassette might be still too much for you.

Here are the ratios:

11-12-13-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32
11-12-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32-36
11-13-15-17-19-22-25-28-32-36-42

If you're replacing the cassette, rear derailleur, crankset, chain, and you're buying a front derailleur, and front shifter (or shifter guts) I'd do the math and look at complete groupsets too. That's a lot of parts. When you separately add up all the different parts that make up a groupset it always comes out more expensive than if you just buy a complete groupset.

 

At this point it might make more sense to just sell your current groupset and buy a new complete one. One catch is that no manufacturer offers a complete groupset with a sub compact crank yet, although we don't even know if you'd want/need one. 

Zurichman wrote:

Hollyboni thanks for your reply. I actually had the front gearing switched out from a 42 to a 38. Some of the problems I have is that I am not back in shape from a medical issue the other year and gaining 15 lbs. The jump in the gears bothers me when I am riding around other riders when I am gravel riding/racing. The not having enough of lower gears is when I am trying to climb the nasty gears on the East Coast mts. and probably will continue rides with heavy climbing in it. I don't guess I can have it both ways. No big jumps but yet a low climbing gear. The LBS that I went earlier this summer was going to do a conversion from Sram Rival 1x to Shimano 2x for around $500 with giving me credit for my Sram Parts. I probably should go back to them and see which way is the best deal for me. I also have a Shimano 105 crank extra that I think is 50/34. My thoughts are since I am going to do this change one way or the other I want to get it right the first time but I don't know enough about components to know which way to go or buy to save weight as I think the 2x will be heavier than the 1x I have now.

Thanks
Zman

If you want to keep the same easy gear as you have now, with a 50/34 you would need an 11-36 cassette, with the 46/30 you would need an 11-32. If you combined the 46/30 with an 11-36 you would get a really easy gear. 

An alternative option would be a mountain crankset, like a 42/28:

http://bombtrack.com/mountain/beyond-1/

or even lower:

https://salsacycles.com/bikes/fargo/2019_fargo_tiagra

So yeah, there are a few options, probably a lot of information at once. Visit your LBS, see what they say. First I would figure out what kind of gearing I really want and then see what options are out there to achieve it. 

Still in my opinion the best solution would be a 46/30 with an 11-32 or 11-34. 
With that setup i'd probably go Shimano, now they have derailleurs that can handle an 11-34 but you can push it further, and there is even a clutch version. I also think their front derailleurs are better. Sadly you will need a 3rd party crankset since none of the big 3 makes a 46/30.
Just my opinion, currently a SRAM 1x user. 😉 

drwelby wrote:Yet another option:

IRD Lobo

You can get it off-the-shelf with 28-40, and paired with an 11-32 you get a tiny bit more gear range, with the addition of halving the steps between your highest gears.

Gear Calculator Link 

The Lobo is basically a clone of the Sugino OX601-D but should be easier to get. It's a little overpriced for what it is, but it's an easy way to get the gear range you want.

If you want lower, there's also this option:

Middleburn X-type 24-38

Combine this with an 11-32 if you want really low gears, or a 12-28 if you want more tight gears and want your gear range lower by about a half of a shift. The Middleburn is actually cheaper than the IRD even with shipping.

HollyBoni wrote:

At these ratios wouldn't it make more sense to just go with a mountain double? Shimano still makes a few. I know you increase the Q factor but goddamn these prices!   

With let's say a 40/28 do you need to go with an MTB front derailleur as well?

drwelby wrote:

Yeah, except for aesthetics, Q factor, and maybe wanting a little tighter chainline the MTB cranks make more sense.

Considering you can't give away MTB doubles right now there are deals to be had.

You could get this equally nice crank to the Middleburn for $100 less:

Stronglight Lexar

And it doesn't look MTB overbuilt.

For front derailleurs, yeah, you'd want a compact road (CX70 or the IRD one) or MTB one. Just don't ask me about cable pull