Shimano Ultegra triple chain ring 24-39-52

[PhilWhitehurst]

Thought I'd let anyone know who wonders.

A 24t-39t-52t front chainring UItegra 6603 will work with Ultegra 6703 Front Derailler. You need the Ultegra 6603 drivetrian crank as it has a 74mm BCD for the small chain ring. a 74mm BCD allows a min 24t chainring. The Zelito ones fit and you can replace original 30t using a 5mm allen key. The Ultegra 6703 crank has a BCD of 92mm for the inner ring so cannot go below 30t.

Works a treat. with no chain rub. Slightly slower uplift from inner to middle. But no big deal. Bring on thos lower gears for hills.

[Steveo2020]

Very interesting thank you. I really like 53/39 rings because I am familiar with the jump between them but a bail out ring would be handy sometimes when loaded / knackered and good to have a really low gear without a wide ratio cassette.

Not immediately relevant but I fear somewhat for the future of road triple Brake / gear levers. Shimano and campag seem keener to push compact doubles - I hope shimano dropping the dura ace triple isn't the start of a trend that will drop down the groups.

[ChrisButch]

Not immediately relevant but I fear somewhat for the future of road triple Brake / gear levers. Shimano and campag seem keener to push compact doubles - I hope shimano dropping the dura ace triple isn't the start of a trend that will drop down the groups.

Sram have already recognised the limitations of compact doubles by introducing the Sram Apex, which aims to offer a range similar to a triple but on a double. Who knows, Shimano et al may follow suit. But the Apex itself has limitations....so sooner or later I guess somebody will reinvent the road triple. So it goes.....

[pedalpower]

Thanks Phil - this could be the answer to my prayers. I have an Ultegra 6603 chainset (30/39/52T) on my Audax bike along with a 6603 front mech and 6603 10spd Triple STI levers. Do you think this setup would work with the Zelito 24T or 26T small chainring or do I need to change the front mech to the 6703? If so do you think my 6600 STI levers will work with the 6703 front mech?

Steve

[freeflow]

What rear deraillier are you using?. Sounds like a good upgrade for when you are considering a particularly hilly route. Also, what range are you using on your cassette.

[PhilWhitehurst]

Thanks Phil - this could be the answer to my prayers. I have an Ultegra 6603 chainset (30/39/52T) on my Audax bike along with a 6603 front mech and 6603 10spd Triple STI levers. Do you think this setup would work with the Zelito 24T or 26T small chainring or do I need to change the front mech to the 6703? If so do you think my 6600 STI levers will work with the 6703 front mech?

Steve

Steve,

I don't see why not. According to the manual for the 6703 the capacity is 22t from biug rng to granny ring. But I also read elsewhere that as long as the jump between rings doesn't exceed 16t then generally you will be ok. So 39t to 24t is 15t jump. I can't imagine the 6603 front derailliuer is much different. You can get the Zelito 74mm 24t from SJS cycles. It's worth getting the ring fitted and see how you get on. As long as the chain doesn't rub on bottom of deraillieur you should be ok. I was replacing chain and cassette at same time due to wear and whole thing took just over an hour to do. I didn't even need to change the position of the FD as that is based on the size of the largest ring. I find as long as the chain is on the 5 biggest cogs on the back it works fine. My seat tube angle is about 72/73 degrees if that helps you make your decision. i.e. Audax frame angles

Phil

[PhilWhitehurst]

What rear deraillier are you using?. Sounds like a good upgrade for when you are considering a particularly hilly route. Also, what range are you using on your cassette.

I have the Ultegra 11-28t rear cassette. So my loweest gear ratio is now 24/28 a 20% lower gear than the old 30/28. So I would compare that to reducing a 24% gradient to 19% in terms of pedalling feel.

The rear derailliuer is this one

http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a26172 ... html?lg=en

[pedalpower]

Thanks Phil – I’ll give it a go.

Steve

[ChrisButch]

Not immediately relevant but I fear somewhat for the future of road triple Brake / gear levers. Shimano and campag seem keener to push compact doubles - I hope shimano dropping the dura ace triple isn't the start of a trend that will drop down the groups.

Sram have already recognised the limitations of compact doubles by introducing the Sram Apex, which aims to offer a range similar to a triple but on a double. Who knows, Shimano et al may follow suit. But the Apex itself has limitations....so sooner or later I guess somebody will reinvent the road triple. So it goes.....

Just to pursue this a little further...
I was interested to read today that Sram are extending the Apex concept to the full range of their groupsets. This allows a 11-32 cassette on a 50/34 double. It will now be available right through to their top-of-the-range Red groupset.
I know that Apex has had rather mixed reviews, but they clearly have confidence in the system and believe there's a market for it. Not surprising, really - if you ride a sportive you can't fail to notice the large number of older/less fit/ inexperienced riders struggling with overgeared bikes on the hills. They've obviously bought their shiny new carbon fibre bikes with the now standard compact double setup, and have had no reason to disbelieve the assurances that a low of 34/28 will get them up anything.
The same Cycling Weekly report which carries this announcement also mentions a rumour that Campag are going to reintroduce a triple next year.....

[Brucey]

.... Not surprising, really - if you ride a sportive you can't fail to notice the large number of older/less fit/ inexperienced riders struggling with overgeared bikes on the hills. They've obviously bought their shiny new carbon fibre bikes with the now standard compact double setup, and have had no reason to disbelieve the assurances that a low of 34/28 will get them up anything.
The same Cycling Weekly report which carries this announcement also mentions a rumour that Campag are going to reintroduce a triple next year.....

Plus ça change....

Its only matter of time before someone 'reinvents' the small BCD double (TA/stronglight etc) and 'proper' triples are once again widely available.

The '11speed hub link' here;

http://brimages.bikeboardmedia.netdna-cdn.com/2012/05/01/11-speed-road-bike-hubs-versus-10-speed-tech-breakdown/#more-43428

attracted the comment;

“Why is it so cool to cram as many cogs in the back but so un-cool to have 3 rings up front?”
and the inevitable reply....;

"You are not allowed to ask why things are “cool” Doing so is itself the height of uncoolness."

I thought (coolness aside) it was a fair question....

cheers

[pedalpower]

Thanks Phil for your advice. I changed the inner chainring on my Ultegra triple as suggested and it works brilliantly.

Steve

[PhilWhitehurst]

no probs - It was nice having the lower gears which got me up Hardknott (and all the other passes) last Sunday during the Fred Whitton

[tejbat]

Thought I'd let anyone know who wonders.

A 24t-39t-52t front chainring UItegra 6603 will work with Ultegra 6703 Front Derailler. You need the Ultegra 6603 drivetrian crank as it has a 74mm BCD for the small chain ring. a 74mm BCD allows a min 24t chainring. The Zelito ones fit and you can replace original 30t using a 5mm allen key. The Ultegra 6703 crank has a BCD of 92mm for the inner ring so cannot go below 30t.

Works a treat. with no chain rub. Slightly slower uplift from inner to middle. But no big deal. Bring on thos lower gears for hills.

re: ZELITO...take it that is the steel one last on the chainrings page of SJS ??
it gives no name as far as I can see...hope so, could be the answer to my prayers as been using MTB triples for years with road STI shifters and adjusters in the cables to move from grovelling end to `wheeeeee` end of the gear spectrum ..not often as normally grovelling these days

tej

[PhilWhitehurst]

Here

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/ta-74mm-pcd- ... r-prod208/

Regards

Phil

[tejbat]

saved 20 squid..ordered Shimano steel @ £6.99 (before your reply)
got it today and `still` works...perfectly
NB on this there are no recesses for bolt heads, still plenty of clearance and no movement as holes snug fit

Cheers

tej