Easy climbing gears and faster downhill on road bike. Compact 50/34 & 10/42 cassette. (11/42, 11/36)

As fitted to my Trek Emonda ALR for easier climbing, faster pedalling downhill/flat, and for touring.

(Note this works the same for both rim brake and disc brake bikes)

Components as follows :

Chainset/Crankset : Shimano 105 50/33 11 speed.
33 tooth Specialities TA X110 chainring fitted to replace the standard 34 one. This is certainly not essential but does give a little extra climbing assistance!
Rear derailleur : Shimano GRX RD-RX810 (cage is longer than standard Ultegra r8000 and 105 r7000 gs medium cage versions and also I believe than the otherwise excellent Ultegra RX “RD-RX800-GS” ). This extra length allows for the greater range of 10-42. A medium (GS) cage Ultegra derailleur will only allow 11-40 from experience, with a hanger extender fitted. Clutch not engaged on this GRX derailleur btw
Note I have fitted a generic “tear shaped” hanger extender” to ensure sufficient capacity although this derailleur may not require one. The Wolftooth equivalent is called the “Roadlink”.
Chain : KMC X11SL 11 speed. I will probably fit a 12 speed chain soon though as that should further improve shifting, as on my other 11 speed set ups.
Cassette : Sram GX XG-1150 10-42 tooth 11 speed. This cassette requires a Sram XDR freehub. These hubs can be retrofitted to most rear wheels. Otherwise this set up works equally well with a Shimano 11/42 11 speed cassette on a standard Shimano hub. You just lose a little pedalling speed potential on the downhill / flat that’s all.
Front derailleur adjusted to lowest position possible - gap may be larger than recommended by Shimano. Note I could have lifted it slightly higher to avoid chain rub at the top when in “big-big” but as this combination should be avoided anyway, I preferred to keep the derailleur as close to the chainrings as possible for better all round shifting.

Please note it’s vital to get the “b” screw adjustment just right. My set up works best with winding the b screw in far enough that the top jockey wheel just clears the 42 cassette sprocket. Any more and shifting up and down the smaller sprockets is compromised. As mentioned, a 12 speed chain may further improve shifting..

Shifting is good but not as smooth as with a smaller 11/34 or 11/40 cassette. Waiting to see if the 12 speed chain helps as with some of my other set ups : see my other videos for comparison..

NB. Noisy in video as filmed indoors in closed room. Very smooth gear changing on the road.

Hope this helps / inspires …