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I'm potentially looking at doing something like the Torino Nice Rally in the near(ish) future.
I need to buy a new cassette for my full sus, which is slightly overgeared and I'm figuring that cassette could be repurposed onto my gravel bike for the above, but I'm not sure how low I need to go to survive loaded (but not excessively) multiday rides in proper mountains.
Currently I have a 38T oval ring (smallest I can fit to my cranks) and a 10-42 cassette on 700c wheels. This is fine for my local Peaks riding which tends more towards the shit 90's MTB end of gravel - steep, but not long. I could go 10-46 or 10-50, although the latter would involve buying a new mech cage to accommodate the extra range.
(I did Badger Divide on 650x47 with 40F 42R as my lowest gear, and bar Corrieyairack, that was pretty comfortable, but I was less heavily loaded)
Thoughts?
Thanks...!
<p style="text-align: left;">I would have recommended 38*42 as a good loaded gear but it looks like you want to go a bit lower.</p>
I'm not clear if you are intending to move the old cassette from your full suss, or share the replacement cassette between two bikes...but I wouldn't recommend swapping the cassette between bikes as once it's worn in a bit you may find one of the bikes gets unhappy if the drivetrain wears quicker
I did Torino-Nice back in 2018 and it is a fantastic ride, personally i would gear as low as you can get it, many of the climbs are a few hours long, and often hot, with a loaded bike, so you won't regret it.
I rode a Reilly Gradient, it was before Shimano GRX came out i think, so cobbled together a half road/ half MTB gearing, with 11 speed Ultergra shifters, rear mech and 11-36 rear cassette and am XT front double with 34/22 chainrings, I also 98kg and had quite a bit of stuff on the bike as we planned to bivvy every night.
But there were buys riding it on "normal" gravel gearing with 40 front and 11-40 rear etc, and others who planned to stay in hotels / refuges every night, who carried less gear, so a lot depends what you want out of the ride, but whatever you'll love the route and Jameso can no doubt assist further.
I'd be sharing the cassette between the 2 bikes. I've always found the 11S cassettes to last forever so long as I stay on top of swapping chains at 0.75% wear, so I'm not too worried about chain mismatch issues. (the cassette I need to replace is 5 years old now and has seen a LOT of all weather miles, and its only the ally 42T that's worn)
I run 38 x 11-46 on my gravel bike (GRX).
I think it's perfect for unloaded/light loads.
I did the Dirty Reiver and Frontier 300 this year on this setup and was thankful to be able to spin on longer climbs when fatigue set in.
If you're going to be carrying a lot of additional gear, you might want the 50. Depends how strong you think your legs will be on the alpine climbs with a bikepacking setup.
having done enough multi day rides in the mountains with bags on you can't have a low enough gear, sure you can mash on with the ride-what-you-brung gearing you have but it gets boring quickly, easier gearing just makes the whole experience more comfortable
the climbs in the TNR won't necessarily be steep but they will go on for hours which can become weary if you're overgeared
going from 10-42 to 10-46 would be an appreciable difference, would you be able to make the 50 if you bought a WolfTooth RoadLink hanger extension or similar?
When it’s steep and loose you often can’t get grip when you’re mashing a gear - better to be seated in a smaller gear and spin your way through
It's the altitude that'll make the difference there, the first couple of days going over 2000m will feel harder.
38 x 42 is a fairly high gear for loaded dirt road touring imo, even on 650Bs with a fairly light load. I have 2 x 10 on my 650B gravel bike which has a bottom gear equal to your 38 x 46 option. That's still a higher gear than most use on that route but it's such a personal thing.
(and cheers for the +ve words on the route Scud)
I run 38 x 11-46 on my gravel bike (GRX).
I think it’s perfect for unloaded/light loads.
I did the Dirty Reiver and Frontier 300 this year on this setup and was thankful to be able to spin on longer climbs when fatigue set in.
I did the F300 last year on 40/42 bottom and other than the top of the climb from Newcastleton over to Kielder which was a bit of a grunt, was pretty comfortable. Part of the question is that I've never ridden alpine road/gravel stuff, so don't have too much of a feel for how long it takes or actually how steep they are.
having done enough multi day rides in the mountains with bags on
True, dat^^
would you be able to make the 50 if you bought a WolfTooth RoadLink hanger extension or similar?
Possibly. I've got a knockoff version in the cellar that I tried on my SO's bike when she wanted to stick 11-40 on her 2x setup. It didn't add much to proceedings and it worked better without, but I'm not sure if that was an issue with the basic concept, or just rubbish copying. (We'd have bought a real WT one if the experiment had been worthwhile)
When it’s steep and loose you often can’t get grip when you’re mashing a gear – better to be seated in a smaller gear and spin your way through
Equally I've found that using a lower gear gives too much torque in such situations and a higher gear pedalled slowly can generate more success in marginal traction - but, yes, it is more tiring.
You have to remember that on events like Dirty Reiver or similar, the climbs don't last more than 10 minutes, some in Scotland may take 30-45 minutes, many of the Alpine climbs will last hours, start on tarmac, then switch to gravel and keep going, with altitude and heat sometimes, you won't regret lower gearing.
Even if you don't carry a great deal of gear, ideally i found i need a couple of 1 litre water bottles on bike etc, which all adds to weight.
Agree with what has been written. I did the 1st TNR on what at the time might have been considered quite progressive: a road compact up front with a 33 small ring and a 10 speed xt cassette at the rear. Presumably 36. It is obviously very subjective but I don't recall having to grunt up anywhere apart from what I remember feeling as very steep tarmac to the col de preit. The other part I remember as giving me a good kicking was the long straight tarmac drag up Col Agnel before the switchbacks: not steep just energy sapping and a mental game in the heat. From that it's interesting to note that the 2 hard bits that stick out in my memory were on tarmac and not directly solely related to gearing choices. For TNR: the game you have chosen to play has nothing to do with not managing to clear a few 100m/ or even km's of gravel
Sure stick something on that's sensible, but don't fret about it too much.
The other part I remember as giving me a good kicking was the long straight tarmac drag up Col Agnel before the switchbacks
Funnily enough, drove that road last week, whilst working on Stone King Rally. I know exactly the bit you mean.