How long has "new" 52+36 been around?

[mjr]

I was mildly amused to read on http://www.evanscycles.com/coffeestop/news/is-the-compact-chainset-dead/ of the wonderful new development of 52+36 chainsets. My 1983 road bike has that on, probably since the 1990s and possibly since purchase.

Does anyone know how long 52+36 has been in use?

 

[derrick]

I have been using one for the last couple of years. Am sure it has been around longer than that.

 

[Poacher]

I fitted a Stronglight 36/52 to my second-hand Bob Jackson frame soon after I bought it in ~1980. Still using 86mm BCD chainsets on a couple of bikes!

 

[TheDoctor]

Pretty sure my Carlton has a 50/30 chainset, from the late 70s.

 

[Citius]

Does anyone know how long 52+36 has been in use?

For as long as it has been possible to machine chainrings out of aluminium.

 

[Sharky]

Hard to understand what the hype is all about. A two tooth difference on the front is less than one tooth difference at the rear, so the change from 50/34 to 52/36 is minuscule. Can't really see what the advantage is or even the disadvantage. At the top end a 50x11 is more than enough for racing and at the bottom end, most people, on here especially, keep asking how to get a lower gear to cope with the hills.

The only radical change I've seen recently, is the movement to a single chainwheel, with a cassette range giving the same as a compact, but with the simplicity and smoothness of just one lever to worry about.

 

[mjr]

The only radical change I've seen recently, is the movement to a single chainwheel, with a cassette range giving the same as a compact, but with the simplicity and smoothness of just one lever to worry about.

I fail to see where the smoothness is in the chain twist of a 1x10 grinding away! If you want a wide range single shifter setup, there's always hub gears.

Thanks all for some pointers back. Has anyone got an known early dated 52+36?

 

[Fab Foodie]

Continental types have been using a combo of big ring and a granny ring for years, since the first days of double chainsets, so it's nothing new. Furthermore tourists using TA chainsets used any combo they pleased. Like much in modern cycling there is new hype for old ideas. It's called marketing.

 

[Sharky]

I fail to see where the smoothness is in the chain twist of a 1x10 grinding away! If you want a wide range single shifter setup, there's always hub gears.

Thanks all for some pointers back. Has anyone got an known early dated 52+36?

Chain twist or cross-chaining issues are not quite as sometimes perceived. With big/big or small/small ratios, the problem can be having too much chain or too little chain and the RD unable to cope or rubbing on the FD. If optimized for a single chain wheel, say 40T, then this disappears. And the newer RD's coming out are much more effective in taking up chain slack. I've been running a 1x9 combo with a 40T chain ring for over a year without problems.

 

[mikeymustard]

And the newer RD's coming out are much more effective in taking up chain slack.

This is the C&V thread, there are some on here that think five gears is modern nonsense!