Not sure what you mean by "loads the transmission a bit more" - explain please. My 4s had a 14t sprocket on it from when I got it and I did the same before I went with 15 41 and a standard chain. I use a dual output Scott Oiler and have not had any problems. A
I asked Carl Harrison about this very subject, and he reckoned that going to 14 on the front wouldn't harm the gearbox, and going up 2teeth at the rear to achieve the same would need a longer chain.
Changing the gearing - either by changing the front sprocket or the rear one - will change the load on the gearbox : but only very slightly. Makes no difference to the loading whether you change the front one or the rear one - if the front/rear ratio is the same, then the load on the gearbox is the same... Pure mechanics...
I think my ST3S is so beautiful I could take her to bed with me (but the ol' trout won't even let me keep her in the lounge...I mean !!)....I am very tempted by a multistroodle Gran Turismo though (just don't want to trade in the ST to get one)....
