Gearing. Please help!

speedy gonzales

I'm a cycling enthusiast. I commute 35 miles mon-fri on my trek 2.3. I haven't done any races yet but I climbed my first mountain, 3300 ft, last week on a compact with 25 teeth on the cassette, so 34x25 being the smallest gearing, (is that right?) I was just thinking should i buy a triple chainset, or change the cassette to a 12-27t to help(would that make a difference, going to 27t?). Don't think I can get the 11-28 sram cassette. Appreciate the advice.

Mettan

Hi, and welcome to the forum -

You won't need a 27 for Racing - an 11/23 , 12/25 or even 13/26 would be fine for that - however, if you're thinking more of Sportives this summer, then a 34/27 bottom gear might be a good choice - you can go lower with an 11/32 or 11/34 and a MTB rear mech (if on 8/9 speed), or alternately a use Triple - depends on what events you're thinking of really ??? Good sticky below:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12583566

In general, if you're a newer rider, and not particularly well-conditioned, then yes, I'd go for a 12/27 over a 12/25 every time.

speedy gonzales

Hi , Mettan. Thanks for the advice. Glad some people acknowledge newbies on these forums.

markos1963

Using a triple is going to cost a lot more(shifters, mech and crankset) far better to try a different cassette. A 12/27 is usually enough with a compact and if I'm right the difference between a 34/27 isn't much compared to a 30/25 that you would get with a triple. You mention the Sram cassette, it can be used with a compact as Speciallised use it on their Roubaix range, you will just have to be carefull setting it up and getting the right chain length. Have you thought about your training regeime? I found that spinning my way up hills all the time did nothing for my hill climbing, I now do a lot of climbing on shorter hills using bigger gears to strengthen up my climbing.