What's all your thoughts on gearing?

holmeboy

What's all your thoughts on gearing? I want to put a triple on my bike (I'm 13 stone and want the wee ring for really steep hills), but want to keep the 53t ring and have a 11t to whatever on the back cassette (as I like "powering"? along on the flat on a windless day). Had a 11t to 32t cassette fitted at one time and could push it along all right for short periods. The dillema I face is wether to change my Trek 1200, or to fit it all to my other bike which has a Ron Cooper frame (hand built steel frame). I don't know if modern gearing will fit on the old frame. Or should i just buy a second-hand bike with the spec I want? Advice thoughts must apprieciated. :roll: :oops: :P :shock: :twisted:

aracer

If you can power a 53/11 on the flat, then either you shouldn't need a 30 for the hills with only 13 stones, or you need to learn to spin a little faster. Using calculators at http://www.analyticcycling.com at only 80rpm in 53/11 you're generating 420W, which will get you up a 10% slope at 10.8mph or 81rpm in 39/23. You'd manage a 15% grade at 7.5mph or 56rpm in that same gear.

You need to seriously ask yourself whether it's that 53/11 or lower gears you need - if you're really an ordinary mortal who only needs 50/12 (that would still require 386W to spin at 90rpm on the flat) then you could have a 50-34 and a 12-27 which would give you a 34/27 for those hills (only 223W for 60rpm on a 10% or 330W for the same speed on a 15%).

maddog 2

if you want to put a triple on your bike then put a triple on your bike.

It doesn't matter which bike you put it on.

Not for me personally but some people like them.

redddraggon

Slightly OT:

53/11 at 80RPM with 23c tyres is over 30mph - can't imagine you can mantain that for long.

I suspect you're mashing the gears at less than 60rpm - not necessarily good. I only use my 50/11 when descending - rarely on the flat and I'm a pretty powerful gear masher.

To be fair I used to use 50/12 all the while on the flat back when I started - I got a computer with cadence and I've suddenly found I've got loads more gears as I spin more now.

blorg

I cycle almost exclusively hills and like to spin up them (80-120 RPM.) I'm not a pro cyclist so I have triple, lowest 30-27. I could live with a compact and my next bike will probably have this. I wouldn't need to use my lowest gears on short events but for the final climbs on a 200km I appreciate them.

Ignore all the snobbery around a triple, I regularly outclimb people with standard doubles and they look in a lot of pain.

You won't generally get a 53 on a triple although they do exist- 52 is more normal. Bear in mind that even 50-11 is a faster gear than 53-12, the 11t on the cassette is a lot more important than the chainring.

If you currently have a double conversion to a triple is pretty expensive- I'd consider a compact instead.

holmeboy

Thanks for that guy's, I don't need the 30t for my usual cycles, can get up those hills with the present gearing. Although the guys I cycle with are mostly about 10 to 11 stones so genarally are up before me, No the 30t will be an "emergency" gear for really steep climbs, like the Fred Whitton I did earlier this year and want to repeat this time cycling the steeper ones.The 53t-11t (I've got a 11t-25t ready to fit on the Trek) ratio will also be for short bursts as for cadence i must admit to not giving it must thought. I always thought 60 rpm was the optimum whatever and I seem to naturally always to be about this. Must admit am happier going below 60 , steep climbs, fast down hill etc than spinning faster, maybe this is were I'm going wrong? :roll: :twisted: :evil: :oops: :shock:

Not Another Hill

There are others out there that know more about this than me but....my understanding is that spinning lower gears at a higher cadence reduces the effort your muscles need to turn the crank therefore you can pedal for longer. However, spinning at a higher cadence requires better aerobic fitness. Someone on this site compared to trying to bench press 200lb in one go to breaking that down to 20lb 'segments' (or something like that): it's easier to do 10 reps of 20Ilbs than 1 at 200 Ilbs.

blorg

60 RPM is quite a low cadence and would explain why you can spin out- I'd try practicing increasing your cadence. I used to naturally go around 80 RPM but I have been upping this and now tend to go faster, around 90 RPM, especially when in a group. When we hit a hill I gear down and up the cadence further, generally around the 100 RPM mark but up to 120 RPM for brief sections.

Cajun

Once our weekly rides started having more steep hills than desirable, and once my legs started turning into toast after the 7th or 8th hill, (and more hills coming up), I decided that I would change to the Record10 triple (30/40/50) with my 12x25..... been happy ever since. Just because you have a small ring, doesn't mean you use it often, just when you neeeeeeeeed it :shock: Cycling, for me, is for many reasons and enjoyment is right up there with #1... finishing a hilly ride without being dropped, is also right up there too