Is there any company that sells a set of 48-32 chainrings that bolt right up to Shimano cranks? I’ve seen that Absolute Black makes oval rings that will replace the current, but not sure I’m ready for the oval experience lol. Any insight would be appreciated!
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I’ve been down this road. I run a 46/30 sub-compact crankset on all 3 of my road bikes. Given that you’re running Shimano cranks with a 24mm spindle, your best bet is either a Rotor Aldhu/Vegast crankset, or a Sugino ox2-901d.
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Bikingreen 48-31 (they also do a 46-30).
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Years ago, pre-GRX, I wanted a subcompact setup for my Ultegra 50/34-equipped gravel bike and wasn’t excited about replacing the whole crankset. I saw the Absolute Black subcompact oval sets and had the same reaction. Bought just an inner 34, tried it, liked it, and have been riding the 46/30 set ever since.
My take on the ovals: If you have a beautiful smooth fast spin, you probably won’t like them. If you tend towards lower cadence/higher torque, or like to stand, they might be worth a try. The biggest difference I notice is standing – they feel smoother across the bottom of the pedal stroke.
For replacement cranksets, Praxis and Easton also have subcompact options. Some are designed for the wider GRX chainline.
48x33 sets are possible from Stone (Aliexpress). Reviews I’ve seen have been positive. Rings with <33T that I’m aware of are not round; Sugino, Gearoop and maybe others make these. 33T round is available from TA, and probably others too; TA make both 11 & 12 speed rings for Shimano 4 bolt.
Great ideas, and thanks for the feedback. Just to dip my toe in the water, I’m thinking of the bikinggreen 46/30 since it will bolt right up. Also the cost is more attractive then getting all new cranks and bb.
This should work fine on my aluminum travel bike because the fd can be moved significantly. It will also allow me to see if it will work on the carbon bike which is a brazed on FD. The carbon bike only has about 5mm adjustment left that the FD can be lowered. I’ve heard that 48/32 works on the gen 3 Domane, not sure about the 46/30.
If anyone has any insight on how sub-compact works on brazed on FD, I’m all ears.
I guess it’s going to depend on the type or age of bike. Here’s a list of chain ring radii. The column on the left is the number of teeth on the chain ring. The middle column is the chainring radius in inches, and the right column is the chain ring radius in millimeters. You should hopefully be able to see if there’s room on your FD braze-on to lower the FD to the right……or maybe more correctly, to lower your FD to account for the smaller radius of the 48T chain ring.
I used to have a Look 595 ( 2008 model year) whose FD braze on barely allowed me to drop the FD enough to use a 50T chain ring. I’m kinda thinking that more modern bikes are more likely to have FD braze-ons that will allow use of a 48T chain ring.
Please ignore all the decimal places. I forgot to format the cells to 2 decimal places for the center column and 1 decimal place for the right column.
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I successfully used the Sugino MT-OX mount adapter to lower the braze-on Ultegra FD far enough to work satisfactorily with my Rotor 46/30 crankset.
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Same here. My gravel bike has Ultegra 6800. I bought the Bikingreen 46/30 and it’s working great. My FD mount is the band type that can be moved, fortunately.
Hamish : Just FYI – I’ve got an old road bike with 6800, and found that the 8000 brake calipers(and probably the 105 7000s) were a nice upgrade. Stiffer, better feel, can set the levers closer to the bar if desired.
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Thanks Peter. I have the 6800 with the non-series disc brakes (RS685), hardly the pinnacle of ergonomics 
It’s also heavy and has quick release wheels so I think I’ll replace it all rather than any more individual parts.
FWIW I’m not convinced the newer calipers are an improvement, for two reasons:
- I don’t like the stiffer feel at the lever, and prefer to set the older style brakes up with more pad clearance. That brings the lever closer to the bar when the brakes are on, and reduces the chance of pads rubbing if a wheel goes out.
- There’s significantly less lateral clearance under the newer calipers, not great if you’re trying to run fenders or maximise tyre width; without fenders 28s are okay but 30-32 (which can clear on some frames and forks) are likely to rub on the calipers.
Good to know! I hadn’t seen the Bikingreen set and I know someone who’s looking for a lower grearing option.
Purely by happenstance, I just saw that Croder has subcompact chainrings for the Shimano 110 BCD.
Those look identical to the Bikingreen which you can get a lot cheaper.
Yep. Just giving options.
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If you want to go 12-psd you can do 34x34 or 34x36 easily. That should get you up just about any paved road around.