Long cage mech and larger cassette

willbevan

Hi all,

Just got into riding in the last few months and could do with a little bit of advice ....

Doing a lot of riding, but find on hills I will be in my lowest gear, and only just spinning over 80 on shallow hills...

On a ride last night, did a 600ft climb in about a mile, now i know this is not typical case, but my cadence was awful, i couldnt keep riding up it all as was maxing out I(recorded max hr was 202 looking back on it now)

Anyway i have a company (50/34) and a large rear cassette, 12-28...

Now my thinking is, should i just put up with it, and get stronger in time, or sort out some extra gearing, either a triple, or a larger MTB cassette, say a 11-32 or a 11-34 (think its 11-26 and last one is 34 as a bail out|) now i realise i will need a new BB, new rear mech, chainset and shifer depending on what i get..

Really after peopls opinions on how its best to procede, feel as if i had my mountain bike i would of been able to get up there without stopping (has a 22 small chain ring, 34 back) but would that help at all, as expect i would of been spinning?

Thanks

Will

JWSurrey

Use whatever it takes to keep you moving - It's better to spin than to push!
Check out www.sheldonbrown.com/gears for a gear-inch calculator.

I'm guessing that "Company" is a spellchecker version of Campag?

You'll see that with your compact and a 29t rear cassette, you're actually better off than a lot of people use with a triple and a 26t rear cassette. Therefore, your current bail-out gear is pretty much what a lot of people use with a triple.

I read that you are better to spin up hills with a good high cadence. If memory serves me correctly, Lance favoured that approach too.

Personally, I don't bother going beyond compact with a 29, as I'll always migrate to the bail-out gear, and by the time i'm using it, extra gears won't help much.

One of the issues with needing a new dereilleur - which you've perhaps already figured - is that the largest sprocket is too big for the guide wheels on a road long cage.
If you stick with 29t as your largest sprocket, then Campag's long cage with a triple is fine.
If you stick with 26t as your largest, the med. cage will do the job with a triple.

willbevan

ah company, is compact, not sure what was with my bad typing then :S

really im wondering if i will progress faster in cycling by forcing myself to have a lower cadence up the hills thus developing leg strengh, or keping my cadence higher (which i belive would help build my arobic system more)

i am moving towards the higher cadence option, mind sound a bit of a wimpy way out, but i find gear mashing really hard, where i find maintaining the same speed spinning easier, say 50rpm compared to 85rpm

Thanks

Will

synchronicity

I definitely wouldn't wait until you are ready. You might do yourself an injury.
I'd either upgrade the drivetrain or ride the MTB until you are fit enough to ride the road bike! :P

Gary D

Will,
I am also a relative beginner and therefore not an expert by any means.
However, I would say the hill you describe - which works out at nearly 1:9 or 11% for a mile - would be very daunting for me and I guess a lot of other beginners. So if you got up it eventually - well done

When I started about 12 months ago, the bike I bought had a 48/34 chainset with a 12/25 block (Shimano 8-speed) and I found that I just didn't have low enough gears for the hills because of lack of fitness and being overweight. Therefore, I converted it to a 48/36/26 triple with an 11/28 block. This set up gives very low gears similar to that used on a lot of touring bikes.
That did me for a while, but as I got fitter and better at going up hills, I found that I rarely ever use the small ring. I am now contemplating changing the chainset again to a "proper" triple 52/40/30 and maybe going back to the 12/25 block.

I think what I am trying to say is that personally I am glad I went down that route as it would have put me off and demoralised me in the early days struggling up the hills if I hadn't.

I would also say that it could work out quite expensive to do the conversion - although I managed to pick up a lot of the bits I needed off Ebay. One of the biggest costs can be the shifter but again I managed to get a new left hand triple Sora shifter for a about £28!

What set up are you running Will? Shimano or Campag and what groupset/ no. of speeds?

In summary, I am a lot fitter now and marginally better at getting up hills. I am contemplating a new bike later this year. All I will say is that it will definitely be a triple!

Hope this helps.

Gary.

willbevan

Gary D wrote:

What set up are you running Will? Shimano or Campag and what groupset/ no. of speeds?
Gary.

Running a mix lol, but mainly shimano.

Shimano rear mech, sora, 12-28 cassette (its not a long cage mech, medium at most as this is a struggle)

Front mech is sora (but do a veloce i think compag front mech kicking around|), with a compag mirage compact chainset 50/34

Thanks for the info Garry, thinking i might go the same way putting it to a tripple, wish i had bought a bike with one lol...

Anoying thing is i can do the distance on the flat, did 30mi yesterday in all the rain traveling to cheltnam, going to hay on wye, up hay bluff and back (70mile on a club run so drafing a lot, and stoped for lunch), just add hills and i slow right down and when i get to the top i cant hold a pace for anytime soon :S

thing thats putting me off at the moment, i'm already thinking of buying a summer bike and saving lol

Gary D

Will,
Believe me - it will get easier

30-40 miles is quite normal for me now, and I did do 70 miles towards the end of last year.

In saying that, I have been out this afternoon for the first time since the end of November, also I had man flu over Christmas, and I managed the princely distance of 20 miles and was hammered! Hills that I could normally fly up suddenly became mountains :oops: :oops:

Anyway, back to the subject. To do this conversion, you will need:
Front left Sora triple shifter - £30 if you are very lucky.
Triple chainset - £40
Front derailleur - £15
Bottom bracket - £15
Cables - £10

Total - £ 110 approx.

I am assuming from you sig line that your bike is the Decathlon?
I don't wish to be rude, but given the original cost of this bike, I would be more inclined to use that as deposit for a nice new shiny summer bike and keep your existing one for the winter - by which time you will be fitter anyway!

Problem solved - just get another bike - you know you want to

Gary.

willbevan

HI Gary,

No offense taken about the bike, i was good for once, starting a new hobbie/sport and didn't go out and buy something more than i needed, in this case i now regret it.

Wish i had bought the next bike up, that was a 30speed, compag, 100 more, but what put me off was that it still had the anoying little inner buttons on the controls to go up a gear, what i didn't know was the compag one is in a better position and i can get to on the drops but ah well.

What i have considered doing is buying the groupset for my next bike and putting some of it on the temporarly on this bike...

i am considering canabilisng the Trek thats also in my signature as that has a Deore XT long cage mech, 9speed 11-34 etc using the shifter thats on there... but then i bet as soon as i do that i will want to use it (picked it up off a friend for 200 and havn't even done 20 miles on it)

Will see if anything is being sold off by people at my local club that makes it a worth while exercise, otherwise like you said i will be keeping the money aside for a new bike come summer... makes more sense to me being honest , i could just use my mountain bike, put some slicks on it for a while, just anoyingly it is full sus, can you get replacement sus units that are actually fixed to stop it moving (the rear that is)

thanks

Will