[DeronD]

I am currently running XTR 44-32-22 and 11-32. If I were to upgrade in the near future to the new XTR race, what front ratio would most match my current setup? (40-28 possibly)
Is there a rule of thumb for ratios between the front and rear such as 3 to1? So by going to a 36 in the rear how many teeth does it add in the front? Hopes this makes sense.....

 

[Fred Smedley]

I am currently running XTR 44-32-22 and 11-32. If I were to upgrade in the near future to the new XTR race, what front ratio would most match my current setup? (40-28 possibly)
Is there a rule of thumb for ratios between the front and rear such as 3 to1? So by going to a 36 in the rear how many teeth does it add in the front? Hopes this makes sense.....

http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

 

[NA1NSXR]

What logic are you using to possibly consider 40-28? The smallest cog is still an 11. You need a 44 big ring to match the top gear. To match your current lowest gear using a 36 cog in the rear requires a chainring of 24.75T.

So to answer your question if you want to maintain your current range of gears you need a 24 or 25T small ring and 44T big ring using a 11-36 cassette.

The XTR race choices will only cover a portion of the old range no matter what you choose. So in that sense this is a question you need to consider personally as to what gears are most useful to you and what gears you are willing to sacrifice moving to a double.

 

[jeffscott]

Yup the loss of the top end is unacceptable to me.....

Maybe they will figure it out...

 

[DeronD]

Hmm. so the ratio front to rear is almost 1:1? I thought for every extra gear in the rear I could at least add 2 in the front. So if I run a 36 in the rear I would at least think it would equal a 26 front ring. For me I can get away with dropping the very low granny gear and do away with the very high top end. I guess I have a few months to research since Shimano is not releasing the product till end of year anyway.....

 

[NA1NSXR]

Yeah the new range selections are disappointing to me. I would've like to at least kept the old range. What is weird to me is that Shimano is not offering the 42-28 that SRAM is. The 42-28 makes the sacrifice smaller, giving up only the top and bottom 2 gears compared to current 11-32/triple setup.

I know Shimano is selling this new "close front" ratio thing but in my opinion if you are going to pack 10 cogs in the back there is no excuse to be reducing the range of gears.