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Hello!
I admit it I'm weak! Been off from riding regularly for sometime due to injury and he 11-46T cassette and 30T chainring on my MTB had spoiled me..... I'm fatter than I was and I can't climb the hills no more...
So been looking at my options, I've ordered a few bits for the back end to give me a few extra climbing gears as 12-28 isn't working for me so gone up to 11-32, but have been thinking about the front end.
The LBS up the road stocks the lovely looking Absolute black road rings at around £120.
The LBS down the road can get the Praxis Alba M30 crank set with it's 48/32 chainrings. for around £180
SO those are my options super low gearing or fancy oval rings which the low spot is suppose to help climbing....
I've been using my road bit which is more of a steel do it all bike on the lighter off road stuff where I take the road between the trials and it's worked well, I'm also looking at doing a bit more long distance stuff and some bike packing sort of thing etc
I will be doing other strength training to build my legs back up in the mean time but out of the two what does the masses think?
Probably too much like comparing apples to oranges but thought worth the typing.
Anyways thanks in advance.
Cheers, Steve
what have you currently got at the front on the road bike?
Whereabouts in the country do you live that an 11-32 isn't enough?
Best way to make hills easier is to eat less cake / drink less beer and ride a bit more regularly..
I've put a Sugino 44/30 chainset on my latest frame - with a 12/28 that should allow to do do most things I want to - it was perfect at Paris-Roubaix the weekend before last. I looked quite heavily into the new Praxis chainset but didn't like that they used a proprietary small chainring set-up.
amedias - Member
what have you currently got at the front on the road bike?
Sram Apex - 50/34
cloudnine - Member
Whereabouts in the country do you live that an 11-32 isn't enough?
Best way to make hills easier is to eat less cake / drink less beer and ride a bit more regularly..
Perhaps I should try the 11-32 out before ordering new rings/cranks, just waiting for the kit to be delivered....
I'm down the bottom end of Cornwall. Sadly not been out as of late though starting to commute again around 22 miles a shift.
aP - Member
I've put a Sugino 44/30 chainset on my latest frame - with a 12/28 that should allow to do do most things I want to - it was perfect at Paris-Roubaix the weekend before last. I looked quite heavily into the new Praxis chainset but didn't like that they used a proprietary small chainring set-up.
Yes that and their propriety BB is putting me off at the moment, what if they decided to stop supporting it.......plus it is handy to walk into nearly any shop and pick up a SRAM GXP BB off the shelf.
Cheers, Steve
Worst case, if it's really hilly and you're really unfit, use it as low cadence strength training.
With luggage on though I can see there might be places you'd want lower gears. Have you considered an MTB triple? What shifters are you running? Could they easily take a triple? A 22/32 would be a reasonable and potentially useful bottom end for a heavily laden tourer.
2T aint gonna change the world aP has it.
Turns out I'm weaker than I thought..... order the climber kit and I was quite surprised when I took my old cassette off it's already a 11-32 😳 specs on the website for the Kaff was 12-28 back when I bought it.... a bit embarrassing waiting to hear if I'm going to be out of pocket....
So only option is to get stronger...or fit MTB kit.... though the hills I've been worrying about I got up with a bit of effort and a couple of water stops.... so perhaps I'm worrying for no reason.
So...assuming the hills you've been worrying about are road and not off-road, then with a 34:32 I'd suggest you focus on your fitness rather than gearing.
I don't mean to sound glib, elitish, arrogant etc, but those gears should be fine for the majority of UK roads and given the frequency/ nature of the minority, changing is probably not worth it for standard road riding.
If you're talking specifically for long distance, bike packing (not 'touring') loaded then perhaps look at something lower. But you've said you've been off the bike, and out of condition etc: Improve this and you might find the issue resolves itself by the time you feel confident for the longer and heavier stuff.
Are you on 10 speed or 11 speed? I chucked a 36 10 speed mtb rear on my cyclo-cross with a 33 up front (TA do a standard compact 110bcd 33 tooth) using a 9 speed mtb rear mech and a 10 speed road sti (a known work-around) for the Torino-Nice rally and it worked for me.
If you do need smaller a road triple with the outer ring ditched works well.
I've got 42/30 on an old ultegra triple. Need SS bolts for the outer ring. Works really well.
Perhaps I should try the 11-32 out before ordering new rings/cranks, just waiting for the kit to be delivered....
I would suggest this first, I was surprised by the difference when I went from an 11-28 to a 12-30 it just tweaked the gear range down a step really, I only gained about an extra 1.5 gear inches at the tall end but it has helped me immensely.
I'm down the bottom end of Cornwall. Sadly not been out as of late though starting to commute again around 22 miles a shift.
TBF it is a bit climby round that way, I just had a quiet weekend with the family near Looe, took my cross bike so I could have a poodle (1x9: 38t/11-32) without reading any contours, beautiful countryside but not the elevation changes I am used to TBH, in a quick 6.5 mile ride I racked up ~1100ft of climbing, if you're doing 22 miles most days in that area you're going to be notching up plenty of elevation so I reckon you are allowed some more suitable gearing...
Forget about the 50T chainring for now and stick to the 34T.
Avoid using the 11T sprocket to reduce cross chaining and use the 12/13-32 gears to get around.
Providing you don't try to hammer it up every hill, you should be fine, learn to judge your body's fitness (perhaps using a hrm like I'm doing, I've had a Polar H7 for a few months, there's some great deals out there for the H7 with M400 GPS computer for £120 from Wiggle).
Thanks for the input all!
Climbing works out about 1800ft in a return, most of the climbing on two hills near the start and end of each the journey, I rode to my physio appointment on the other coast yesterday and while just as hilly most the hills had a good run up so could get a nice run up in the big ring.
The 1st one on the way to work I can take the costal path and it's a bit easier though the gravel uphill is a bit of work, adds just over a mile as well.
Been using a Garmin Forerunner 230 for a while now never really know what to do with the numbers and my HR shoots up pretty high quickly but drops back down just as fast after exercise.
I'm running 10 speed, I did look at putting a 36 in with a SRAM MTB rear mech as AFAIK the shifters have the same pull.
Ridden regularly in Cornwall and it isn't like normal UK roads- if you know where to look you can easily find 25%+ of gravelly, mossy track where traction is tricky - I found a CX bike with MTB double chainset was ideal. A gear as low is 1:1 certainly needed for laden climbing up gravel tracks. Being slightly under-geared also works your cardio system harder than trying to gurn your way up on road gears.
If you spend ay time on the Devon and Cornwall coastal roads, or regularly explore over the moors then I throughly recommend a triple.
It's not always needed but if you're coming back from time off the bike, or at the end of a long ride then the tiny weight penality of carrying round a ~24-28t granny ring is well worth it. I can go weeks without using the granny ring on normal rides, but exploring or at the wrong end of a long audax and I'm glad it's there, and I'd much rather do it that way round than have a whopping great cassette with big jumps in it.
As a couple of people have suggested above though if you're only got double shifters then use a triple without the outer ring, opens up all sorts of possibilities but try to stick with a maximum 16t jump between rings for reliable shifting, 24/40, 26/42, 28/44, 30/46 etc.
Whatever you choose, if you keep at it it'll get easier 😀
Spa will sell you a super compact and can go mega low if you want to spin like a mad man
[url= http://spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s109p3383/SPA-CYCLES-TD-2-Super-Compact-Chainset-with-Zicral-Rings ]Spa Super compact[/url]
I'd ignore other people's recommendations for gearing and.go for what feels right for you..
I got my first road bike last year..
Im utterly rubbish at going uphill.. So it's now got an 11-34 10 speed cassette on (with shimano 9 speed mech) and 34/50 absolute black ovals..
I use all of the gears pretty much every ride.. 50-11 gets used the least.. And it's not mega hilly around here but it works for me.. Wouldn't mind a 36 rear sprocket sometimes too..
i use, on one of my bikes a compact with a 11 speed shimano xt 11-40 cassette, using a long cage ultegra mech and a lindarets road link
works in every gear flawless
So it's been a week or so I've made a few journeys to work and slowly getting there.... I made it up most of the 1st hill in 50-32 before dropping down to 34-32 for the last 2-300 yards, was in rag order at the tip..... but felt good getting up there.
I think I maybe panicked a bit after being off so a while but looks like it is slowing getting back to it.... still tempted by the oval rings though....
Thanks for the comments etc.
I made it up most of the 1st hill in 50-32 before dropping down to 34-32 for the last 2-300 yards
😯
Drop to the 34 a lot sooner - you're giving up about 3 gears dropping straight from 50:32 to 34:32, as well as giving your drivetrain and knees a hard time
[url= http://gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=34,50&RZ=11,12,14,16,18,20,22,25,28,32&UF=2135&TF=85&SL=2.6&UN=KMH ]See here[/url]
It makes sense to (for example) drop to 34:18 when you need another gear after 50:22 (front shift & double back shift and you're there).
Ok thanks, not really used to front derailleur after SS, Alfine and 1x11.... maybe I should start attacking hills in 34 to something.