You are encoutering a problem that a lot of people have, that you want to stay with a compact but you want/need the lower gears. Depending on the component set up that you have now, you may be able to put a mountain bike rear deraileur and cassette on the back and put up to a 32 tooth on it. This wouldn’t get you quite to 1:1 but it would be a lot better than what you have. And unfortunately, there isn’t really any way to get a smaller ring on the front. It has been tried and its just too big of a jump for the chain to make without falling off.

As for the designs of the bikes themselves, I think that Trek has done a phenomenal job this year. If you haven’t looked at the new Madone 2.1s, check them out. They have taken all of the technology used in their high end carbon bikes and brought them down to the aluminum version. You now have internal cable routing and a 90mm wide bottom bracket (great for climbing) with the addition of new airfoil technology in frame to make it more aerodynamic. The Madone 2.1 starts at $1299.99 and comes in the option of the triple or compact (which we can put the wider range rear cassette on for you).

I hope that answers your questions!

–Becky

Some Trek bikes are pretty, but the 2013 models in aluminum alloy are not as nice as the older ones. Why can’t more manufactures hire decent paint artists like Bianchi?

Anyhow, is it possible to get a compact crankset with 32 or lower as the small chainring? My preference is to get close to a 1:1 ratio between crankset chainring and cassette ring size. For the cassette, I am guessing that Shimano 105 cs-5700 11-28T is the best I can do in the back?

How do you recommend I o about finding a bike that suits my needs? I want to stay under $1000, or possibly more, if justified.

Thanks!

Just so you know, I’ve worked at a couple of local research institutes that love anthropologists! In education research we need people who can watch what’s going on in a classroom and see the dynamics through multiple lenses. I’ve also known anthropologists who do their work inside corporations – one doesn’t need to travel to the other side of the world to try to understand cultures! UC Santa Cruz’s education school, in fact, is heavily tilted toward cultural/anthropological approaches to studying education – you might want to check them out.

- A loyal customer grateful for your service