On my S-Works Creo, I ride lots of nasty hills in our area (18%+ grades) and rarely use the motor unless I need it, so I actually went to an E13 9-46 and dropped down to a 42 in front so now I have almost the same gearing as my Tarmac had. Just with bigger jumps, which is totally fine with me. Shifting is 95% of what original was.
Creo and chainring/cassette configurations
- Thread starter kattanm
- Start date
Just had to change the driver to an XD, and I dropped over a half pound of weight in the process. Another plus is that cassette you can replace just the larger cogs when you need to. Using the original Shimano chain with no mods. Quite pleased, I've been riding it for about 7 months now. Here in Hawaii our hills are a lot steeper than almost anywhere you're going to encounter on the mainland so you might need a little different gearing. I've ridden Death Ride twice, and the hills are nothing compared to this! You can probably leave the 46 on in the front and have some really nice high end gearing with the 9 in the back
If you want smaller jumps, then just try the Garburak cassette 10-46 or 10-42.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Garbaruk
abercrombie
Member
Anyone know if the Creo chain guard is only compatible with a 46T chain ring? I'm thinking of upgrading to a Wolf Tooth 50T.
Alaskan
Well-Known Member
I ride a Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon - a drop handlebar gravel bike that is similar in some ways to the Creo. It does have a more powerful motor, bigger battery and left front fork which gives is another 10 lbs of weight. The wheels are 650B with 47mm tires.
As I ride it at more on pavement than off road so I wanted a top end that did not require such frantic spinning. It came with the GRX group set, a 11-42 cassette and a single 44 tooth chain ring.
In order to get my candence down to 75 rpm at 25 mph, I swapped out the 44t chainring for a 48t and bought a larger front chainring guard to cover it. Shimano specs the GRX to accommodate a max cog size of 42 teeth but I found the 11-46 worked just fine with an adjustment to the B screw.
I live in a hilly, mountainous area at the top of a 600 foot hill to end every ride. Changing to a 11-46 cassette allowed me to recover lost climbing ability with the larger chainring. I used a Sunrace 11-46 cassette (all black) as it shifts smoother than the Shimano and has much more even spacing between gears.
Unless I was to go to a 2x chainring or change over to a 1x12 speed system with a 10x50 cassette and a 44 or 46 tooth chainring, I could not do any better and am quite happy with both the top end and bottom for my riding. That would require a new hub with a or microspline driver, a significant added expense.
As I ride it at more on pavement than off road so I wanted a top end that did not require such frantic spinning. It came with the GRX group set, a 11-42 cassette and a single 44 tooth chain ring.
In order to get my candence down to 75 rpm at 25 mph, I swapped out the 44t chainring for a 48t and bought a larger front chainring guard to cover it. Shimano specs the GRX to accommodate a max cog size of 42 teeth but I found the 11-46 worked just fine with an adjustment to the B screw.
I live in a hilly, mountainous area at the top of a 600 foot hill to end every ride. Changing to a 11-46 cassette allowed me to recover lost climbing ability with the larger chainring. I used a Sunrace 11-46 cassette (all black) as it shifts smoother than the Shimano and has much more even spacing between gears.
Unless I was to go to a 2x chainring or change over to a 1x12 speed system with a 10x50 cassette and a 44 or 46 tooth chainring, I could not do any better and am quite happy with both the top end and bottom for my riding. That would require a new hub with a or microspline driver, a significant added expense.
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mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
@Alaskan i made some similar changes to my creo; but i did it in the opposite way, changing the chainring from 46 to 42 but then changing the cassette from 11-42 to 10-42. top end remains the same as it started (4.2:1) but the climbing ability improves from 1.095:1 to 1:1.
as you note, going to the 10t on the rear cassette requires changing the driver, which i was happy to do since it also reduced weight quite a lot and wasn't terribly expensive. it was the cassette that was $$$
as you note, going to the 10t on the rear cassette requires changing the driver, which i was happy to do since it also reduced weight quite a lot and wasn't terribly expensive. it was the cassette that was $$$
I haven’t seen it with stock derailleur, but I have seen it when using Garbaruk’s extended derailleur cage for the RX812. I’m sure someone out there has tried with a road link or something similar, but I haven’t seen it.
kahn
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- northWET washington
While I did buy a wolf-whatever smaller ring for the front to make climbing easier it has not been installed. Alum Creo here.
Have 2020 S-Works Creo with road setup (50mm wheels, Di2). We have LONG flat(ish) areas and monster hills, some over 26% many over 18% and often on the same ride. So went to a XD driver and a e-thirteen 9-46 and a 42T chainring.
Gives me almost same 2x gearing had on my S-Works Tarmac, and I don't mind the spacing too terribly. Sitting is crisp. Sometimes ride with no power, typically ride @ setting 1 set to 10% to mimic analog bike. Use power only when needed. Works great.
Gives me almost same 2x gearing had on my S-Works Tarmac, and I don't mind the spacing too terribly. Sitting is crisp. Sometimes ride with no power, typically ride @ setting 1 set to 10% to mimic analog bike. Use power only when needed. Works great.
So 46 at the rear wheel works with your derailleur without any changes?
But I guess Di2 ist not the same as GRX...
I would accept some slight changes or "updates" to my derailleur. But not if I need a new derailleur or other parts in the same price range.
But I guess Di2 ist not the same as GRX...
I would accept some slight changes or "updates" to my derailleur. But not if I need a new derailleur or other parts in the same price range.
Dazmanturbo
Well-Known Member
The derailleur depends on the version of the cage. Short cage is normally to 30, Med/ GS cage is to 34 (I have run 36 with no issues) and long cage is up from there. You can also use the Wolf Tooth hanger extender, to give more reach. I run 38 front (Absolute Black round) with E-Thirteen 9 to 34 rear, which I find really good for the hilly place I am in
Pretty much what I do regarding assist. Ride at 15/25 which seems to neutralize the bike weight on gentle climbs and provides a little bump on flats. Battery consumption at this rate allows >150 mile range. I have the standard setup, 46T and 11-42 cassette. The Deore derailleur can handle up to 46 and thinking of switching to a Garbaruk 11-46 cassette. Alternatively, I have thought of switching the chainring to 42T and changing the rear cassette to 10-42 to maintain the high end.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
(It is unbelievable how popular Garbaruk has become these days...)
The 2020 S-Works Creo came with Shimano XTR M9050 Di2 rear derailleur, which can handle 11-46 in 1x11 mode, per factory specs. The GRX RX812 is only spec'd from the factory to handle 11-42.
Shimano is often conservative with their specs, for instance I run an 11-32 cassette on my DuraAce Di2 rear that is only spec'd up to 11-30. So the GRX may be able to handle more than 42 teeth? I don't know. If I could buy an 11-44, I'd be confident enough to try it. But the 11-46, I would make a modification. If you don't want to change derailleurs, then either try a road link or an extended cage, and you could go up to 11-46 or 11-50.
Edit: Here's a video showing the stock RX812 derailleur working with an 11-46, by using the Wolftooth Goat Link. He says it didn't work for him without the Goat Link, and also didn't work with the Road Link, but is fine with the Goat Link.
Another edit: I missed a post in this very thread where member Alaskan showed he's running 11-46 with just the stock RX812 rear derailleur, no modfications. So it can work on at least some bikes. But it might not work for everyone, as the guy in the linked video showed.
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Dazmanturbo
Well-Known Member
The main goal of changing my gearing was to save weight. The standard Sunrace cassette on the Carbon Comp is 587g vs E13 9/34 at 279g. Taking off the Praxis 46t front ring and swapping to Absolute Black 38T saved another 100g. I also swapped GRX long cage for Ultegra GS, which again saved some weight. Just these swaps saved nearly half a kilo, makes a difference on the hills. I have slightly improved gear ratios at a big weight reduction. If i want lower, could swap to E13 9/39, but don't need it yet
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
yep, the stock cassette and driver are very heavy!
Yes, the Sunrace cassette is a joke on an expenisve bike like the comp carbon... Also at least 10 teeth instead of 11 in the rear should have been standard from the first Creo and cheapest on, XD is no rocket science from 2022...
pbd87, I can only give one like to your post, so here again: Thank you very much!
Tryiung 44t was also my first thought, but there are no 11x cassettes with 44t :-(
Goatlink is not that cheap anymore. Maybe I prefer less teeth in the front and 9/10-42 to have the weight reduction as well...
pbd87, I can only give one like to your post, so here again: Thank you very much!
Tryiung 44t was also my first thought, but there are no 11x cassettes with 44t :-(
Goatlink is not that cheap anymore. Maybe I prefer less teeth in the front and 9/10-42 to have the weight reduction as well...
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mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
that’s more or less why i went 42t front 10-42t rear, cassette choice and mixed reports of 11-46 working on the GRX 812.
achieves same result as 46t front and 11-46 rear, but lighter and less strain on the RD.
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