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On my old bike I was riding around quite happily on 22-36-44 with an 11-32 cassette. On the new bike I've got an XT drive so I'm on 22-32-44 with an 11-34. Crank length is the same at 175 (a little too long I think as I get slight knee pain after a long ride on both bikes) - same pedals, maybe the seat position is different but it feels the same.
I can't believe how different it feels with just the slight change in gearing. I used to be in middle ring 95% of the time before, except for the very steep stuff to the extent that I was thinking about going to 2x10. On the new set-up I'm changing gear all the time and spending an equalish amount of time in each of the 3 front rings.
I'm about to buy the same chainset for a bargain price just to obtain smaller cranks - the rings are unused and I can keep those and the bottom bracket for spares. Before I potentially waste money on this, I was thinking I should seek some advice about whether this gearing is the best choice for very hilly XC.
To be honest, I don't mind having 3 rings on the front - I use the biggest for coming back on the road if I've gone too far or just need to get back quickly. And I do need the smallest to get up the steepness here. Should I just get used to it ? I don't see how I can keep XT and go back to the same gearing I had before.
I don't get it? You had a bigger middle ring before, same inner/outer and a smaller cassette, and you didn't used to use the inner ring, now you do... Makes no sense.
There is an XT 26/36/48 chainset, you could potentially use the middle ring from that if you want to replicate your old set up.
Well I don't really get it either - why it feels so different. I suppose I don't use the middle ring so much because I just feel like I'm pedalling too fast compared to what I was doing before. So I end up on the big ring more. And as for using the inner ring more, I now find it better to use the (inner) front with a harder ring on the cassette. I'm an amateur I know but it just feels weird.