[DiRt DeViL]

My son's bike currently has 53/39:28/13 gearing and is hard for him on climbs, I ordered a compact 50/34 crankset in oder to ease the gearing up front.

Now the question is, should I change the cassette with a different gear combination? or should I keep the current one. I have 2 spare road cassettes that could use if needed, 23:13 and 26:12.

 

[amateur]

No...you'll essentially be taking a step backwards. The 26:12 will offer and ever so slightly lower ratio than the current gearing(old crankset) and a higher top end.

If he's spinning out after the swap, then throw on the 26:12, but if he thought the 53/39 with 28:13 was difficult, then the 23:13 will be almost impossible.

 

[Wumpus]

Here is a gear calculator.

 

[jacksonpt]

No. If he needs more gears after the compact cranks are installed, you'll have to go with a casette with more teeth on the big cog, not less... so you'll probably end up looking at mtb cassettes that generally run either 32 or 34tooth cogs.

FWIW... when I started out on my roadie, the gearing was very difficult for me as I was used to the easier gearing on my mtn bike. However, those harder gears have a way of whiping out-of-shape butts into strong pedalers. I say go with teh compacts and be patient as his body gets stronger.

 

[LordOpie]

28t is pretty much the biggest cog you can go with shimano road rear derail.

Anyone who needs more than 27t really should look at a touring crank (28-38-48)... that way, the gaps on the cassette won't be as extreme.

As for the son, go compact, leave the cassette as is.

 

[CowboyLeo]

that new crankset you ordered wont make too big of a difference. 28-38-48 sounds good. mtb cassettes do have big changes in between each gear so keep it tight and stick with road

harder gears are great for developing tendonitis too. most stock road bikes i see are geared way too high.

 

[JRB]

that new crankset you ordered wont make too big of a difference.

Really??? I saw a really huge change. I put on a 23 in place of a 25 due to the lowness of the gears.