Gearing for Ventoux?

rowman

I recommend having a few gears in your back pocket as the Mistral can really slow you up and make you feel like you're climbing a mountain that's twice as steep...

Also make sure you have some warm clothing. Last year it was 29C at the bottom and 3C at the top. Which made for a 'teeth chattering' decent.

Rowman

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dennisn

KingstonWheeler wrote:

rowman wrote:

I recommend having a few gears in your back pocket as the Mistral can really slow you up and make you feel like you're climbing a mountain that's twice as steep...

Remember, the first section of the road from St Esteve to Chalet Reynard is 9-10% most of the way, that's like the steepest part of Alpe d'Huez but for six times as long and with no moment of recovery on the Alpe's gentle, engineered hairpin bends.

Now I will admit to not being much of a climber but I do know that a 9 to 10% grade,
for even a fairly short distance, will slow most mortals right down. You won't be "dancing on the pedals" like the pros, you'll be praying to the Lord "Jesus Christ
when will this end?" or something along those lines. Tough stuff when you start talking in
MILES to go.

Dennis Noward

popette

do you reckon it's worth changing from a 12-27 to a 12-28? would I notice that difference?
Reading some of the comments makes me wonder if my 34-27 lowest gear is going to be low enough?

APIII

popette wrote:

do you reckon it's worth changing from a 12-27 to a 12-28? would I notice that difference?
Reading some of the comments makes me wonder if my 34-27 lowest gear is going to be low enough?[/quote

If it's any help I did the Tourmalet/Hautacam route last year, similar to the Etape route on 34-26, but never used the 26, only the 24. I've also done Ventoux on 34-25 and tbh I wished I'd had some extra gears. I'm taking my 13-29 in July

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dennisn

popette wrote:

do you reckon it's worth changing from a 12-27 to a 12-28? would I notice that difference?
Reading some of the comments makes me wonder if my 34-27 lowest gear is going to be low enough?

TA Specialties and a few others make a 33 tooth front ring that I have used, along with a 12-27, in the big mountains. No problems. It just hangs on my wall most of the time but when Colorado beckons it gets bolted on.

Dennis Noward

crown_jewel

popette wrote:

do you reckon it's worth changing from a 12-27 to a 12-28? would I notice that difference?
Reading some of the comments makes me wonder if my 34-27 lowest gear is going to be low enough?

I used a 13-29 last year and was glad of it. The truth is you won't know what is enough until you are there climbing. So why not give yourself more options in the event you need them?

geoff_ss

I know you're all going to laugh at my gearing but we (my wife and I) have ridden the Ventoux a couple of times so I know what it's like.

The first time was from Sault (ie the east) and 1997ish. We were cycle camping but rode up light. I didn't find it too much of a problem and had gears to spare but my wife got blown off near the top and walked the last few 100 metres. My bottom gear was probably something like 30x28 but was unused. We descended towards Marceline for a while but then took a track which brought us out in Bedouin. Very easy to ride if you don't mind a little gentle rough stuff and it saved a long ride back to the camp-site.

We both rode it last June and were lucky to get a reasonable weather window. The mountain had been hidden in cloud the day before and the top was in cloud the day after. This time we climbed from Marceline (the west) and it's a lot steeper. My gearing is 44-32-22 x 13/25 cassette and the bike is a Kinesis Racelight with mudguards and rack..

As others have said, the main challenge is not the gradient (we have steeper hills in our Derbyshire village) it's the relentless nature of the climb. I confess to using my bottom gear near the top simply because of muscle fatigue - I rarely use it at home except on the very narrowest and steepest Peak District lanes. We did carry saddlebags and stopped for a picnic part way up and enjoyed the view.

We're 68 and 69 years old and,sadly, not quite as strong/fit as we were once. But we made it and it was a super day out.

Incidentally we met a Belgian driving a support car for his son. He was about 50 I guess and claimed to hold the record for the number of climbs in 24 hours. I think it was something like 7 from all directions. I don't think he was BS - he looked very fit.

Geoff

LuckyPierre2007

I did it from Bedouin a few weeks ago in c. 1hr30 using a 34x25. That was about 70rpm through the steepest parts of the forest which was fine, but when faced with the raging headwind near the top I'd have definitely preferred something easier. I almost got blown to a standstill whilst in full aero position and had to grind that gear into the wind for a few hundred metres at just a few mph - the smaller the gear the better! The climb from Sault is much easier as far as Chateaux Reynard.

MegaCycle

I did the Tourmalet last year (similat to Ventoux, I guess) and it was bad enough on a 34/27. Wouldn't want to do it on anything butcher than that!

Of course, Alistair insisted on using a standard double. Alistair, if you're out there mate - respect!

itisaboutthebike

I'm attempting three climb of Ventoux in a day, my lowest gear is 26/39 - don't really want to change to a compact at the front, but I have a feeling this is too big a gear and I may need to spin a little more than grind.

Suggestions and advice welcome?

Depends on how fit you are.............if you ride Premier Calender events then 39/26 will probably ok, but for the rest of us there's always 34/50 and 12/27 (or a triple).

alanmcn1

I did it from Malaucene 2 years ago and needed every one of the gears on the triple of my hired bike!!! Not ashamed to say it, by time I got to top i was too tired to turn anything other than the granny ring (3rd week in July and perfect weather played a part)