Running out of gears, new chain ring or cassette?

Sean1504

Hi All,

I'm finding i'm running out of gears at the top end when i'm on a flat and getting the power down or on a downhill.

My bike is a BMC Race Master with Ultegra SL and the chain rings are 50/34 and the cassette 12/27.

I think that I need to change the chain rings so that i've got one that's a bit smaller, can anyone confirm whether this is the right course of action?

Thanks,

Sean

Pokerface

Exactly the opposite. You need a bigger chainring.

Get a standard double (53-39) and you will find it harder to spin out going downhills and you'll get more speed on the flats.

You can also get a cassette that has an 11 sprocket (like an 11-23 or even an 11-27) to help with your problem.

cougie

Cheapest thing would be to learn to spin your gears properly. You wont be able to spin out a 50*12 on the flat unless you're an elite rider ?

Anonymous

The cheapest way is by getting an 11 sprocket cassette...

But 120rpm on a 50-12 is 39mph!! A 50-11 is about 42mph...

Impressed if you can spin that out for any length of time on the flat!

HamishD

NapoleonD wrote:

The cheapest way is by getting an 11 sprocket cassette...

But 120rpm on a 50-12 is 39mph!! A 50-11 is about 42mph...

Impressed if you can spin that out for any length of time on the flat!

Agree. Man up and pedal faster.

racingcondor

I'd put an 11-25 on when the cassette needs changing but until then practice spinning, like others I suspect you're grinding away on huge gears.

A computer with a cadence sensor helps a lot. Allows you to pick a cadence then get on the bike and ride it until it feels comfortable.

Sean1504

Thanks for your replies. I'm nowhere near being an elite rider, only just started. I am pretty fit though and when i'm going for it I just like to feel that i've got something to push against. I'm not saying that I cruise around flat out, it's more for short bursts when i've got a nice stretch of road and i'm going for it or on a nice downhill when I feel like no matter how quick I pedal i'm not contributing anything to my speed.

Cheapest thing would be to learn to spin your gears properly. You wont be able to spin out a 50*12 on the flat unless you're an elite rider ?

By spin out do you mean that the crank is turning faster than I can physically move my legs?

I've got the Edge 705 so shall check out my cadence later on and report back.

But 120rpm on a 50-12 is 39mph!! A 50-11 is about 42mph...

The fastest i've had it so far was 35 mph with a bit of a downhill so maybe I just need to pedal a little quicker and get used to running out of gears as I put it.

Monty Dog

IME spinning-out is 70kph plus - and that's on a 48x16 fixed gear

Pokerface

By spin out do you mean that the crank is turning faster than I can physically move my legs?

Yes - that's pretty much what it means.

Some people (like me) aren't comfortable spinning quickly. For whatever reason.

I'd rather have a larger gear to push than a smaller gear to spin. It's all good to quote gear tables and say "spinning out a 50-12 will give you xxMPH" but if you can only comfortably ride at 100RPM - you're going to need a bigger gear to go faster.

CiB

You want to practice spinning at higher tempos then. Get a computer with cadence so that you can see where you are now, and then aim for being comfortable spinning at 85-100. Higher cadence is easier on the legs and knees, and is easier to keep up over long distances, despite what your intuition tells you. It helps if you keep track of it - a bit of paper in a drawer will do. FWIW I dragged my average candence up from mid 70s to mid 80s and feel much better for it. On a 53-11 downhill I run out of legs at about 46-48mph, which is probably around 130 cadence, maybe. Stick at it, work up to it. You won't just start again at 90rpm.

unixnerd

+1 for cadence.

When I got back into cycling 10 years ago after a 10 year break (the Dark Ages!) I was only doing about 55rpm and I got back ache much more easily than I do now. I think I was doing such a low rpm as that's what I did when I was a teenager and didn't know any better.

I'm up to 75 - 80rpm these days and it's so much easier. Try and raise it 5rpm at a time and your legs will adapt. Aim to spin the pedals and be smooth. If you find yourself going below your desired cadence always drop a gear. It'll be hard at first but stick with it.

I'm running 52 x 12 on my road bike and I only run out of steam approaching 40mph down big hills.

redddraggon

Once I get to around 35 - 37mph on a downhill, I find pedalling largely because futile, as to the get the same sort of increase I only need to aero up.

rake

Monty Dog wrote:

IME spinning-out is 70kph plus - and that's on a 48x16 fixed gear

? at over 185rpm? thats a bit too much spinning for most.

Essex Man

I must get over to Stevenage as I'm finding it hard to spin out on the hills round here!

Sean1504

Pokerface wrote:

By spin out do you mean that the crank is turning faster than I can physically move my legs?

Yes - that's pretty much what it means.

Some people (like me) aren't comfortable spinning quickly. For whatever reason.

I'd rather have a larger gear to push than a smaller gear to spin. It's all good to quote gear tables and say "spinning out a 50-12 will give you xxMPH" but if you can only comfortably ride at 100RPM - you're going to need a bigger gear to go faster.

I think i'm the same as you pokerface but i'll give it a go. Just uploaded my Garmin data but the cadence hasn't recorded from some reason, i'll have to try and get it working for tomorrow's ride and report back.

keef66

Did you get tha cadence sensor with your Garmin? If not, that would explain the lack of data

Sean1504

Yes and both the green and red lights flash on the sensor. I'll try re-syncing it tonight.

oldwelshman

Pokerface wrote:

By spin out do you mean that the crank is turning faster than I can physically move my legs?

Yes - that's pretty much what it means.

Some people (like me) aren't comfortable spinning quickly. For whatever reason.

I'd rather have a larger gear to push than a smaller gear to spin. It's all good to quote gear tables and say "spinning out a 50-12 will give you xxMPH" but if you can only comfortably ride at 100RPM - you're going to need a bigger gear to go faster.

To be honest if some one is going to race it is very difficult to kepp up round corners if your not comfortable at a minimum of 85 and probaby much higher when accelerating to close gaps.
Like a few of other posters here I tend to spin out around 48mph on descents and go aerou usually around 40mph, especially in races as the effort to pedal faster is too much wasted, better to draft.
Another thing is it is quite common for begginers to ride at slower cadance and on high gear and feel they dont contribute when pedalling.
Typically most riders (racing) end up around 85 naturally, that 4th, 3rd even elite, but I bet all of them can grind and spin with the best as most can vary away from the natural cadance.