Would higher gears help me HTFU?

chrisaonabike

Pedal harder up the hills in whatever gear you're in. I think you're overthinking this, tbh.

ai_1

I notice your logic for changing to a more restricted cassette range is that riders who were faster than you had them.

I think you're confusing the cause of their faster climbing with one of it's results and ending up with a confused conclusion.
These guys are climbing faster because they are better climbers due either to low weight, high fitness, ability to suffer or most likely a combination of these. They are using narrower range cassettes than you because they're faster. Not faster because they have the cassettes.

If you want to drop a gear and get out of the saddle some of the time on climbs then do. If you can't keep it up, sit back down in a smaller gear and recover, then go again. Or stick with spinning and as you get fitter and/or lighter you'll still get faster up those hills. If you are currently puffing hard as you spin up the hills then a more limited gear range isn't going to help you climb faster it's just going to help you suffer.

chrisaonabike

^^ What he said.

As the Captain of all Captain Slows, I'm still grinding away up the Surrey Hills on my 34/30, but I guess I'm pedalling harder than I was last year, since I got PRs on Newlands Corner and Leith Hill yesterday. And my moving time on the same 68 mile route was 20 minutes faster than about this time last year, despite almost no training in May this year due to injury. I was quite chuffed

paul2718

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Of course the way to replicate that with my setup is to fit a 12-25, but I'd still want some "get out of trouble" climbing gears, so maybe have the discipline to stick in 34/24 instead?!

Forget the 'get out of trouble' gears and take a chance.

IMO a bit of standing, a bit of riding at a lower cadence, all good for you in general. Forcing yourself to run a higher gear than you're accustomed to is one way of ensuring you push yourself hard in new circumstances.

Paul

d_o_g

Just stop using the bottom two sprockets when out on ride. If you can't find the discipline to do that, you're unlikely to find the mental strength to push against the 'pain' of higher efforts, which are ultimately what is required to make you faster up the hills.

In short, higher gears won't help you MTFU, you still need to do that all by yourself.

DavidJB

I run 53/39 12-27 on my winter/training hack. I used to run 53/39 11-25 but I found that a) I don't really need an 11 on a training ride b) While I could get round on a 39/25 even on the steepest hills round here after a 100 mile base session I wanted a lower gear.

I hardly use the 27 but it's nice to have, of course I'm not running compact and my winter bike weighs like 4 million tonnes.

philbar72

bernithebiker wrote:

dilemna wrote:

If you wear Rapha you will climb quicker and for longer.

In my experience, the opposite is true.....!

quoted for truth!

debeli

The OP is not alone in looking to gearing for a solution to a problem.

Up to a point, the perception that a problem even exists here is a function of the extraordinary and wonderful advances in bicycle technology over the past two or three decades.

Triple chainrings; seven, eight, nine, ten and now eleven sprockets... Extraordinary ranges in one cluster.

These are all wonderful things (in their place) but they have bred into us the "because I can" mentality.

The OP will have to replace his or her cassette and (ultimately) rings in due course anyway. Right now the grass may look jolly green on the other side of the valley, but with the huge ranges available today on even modestly-priced bicycles, limited (or too low) gearing is unlikely to be the main cause of a climbing issue.

Up to a point, I want to advise the OP to borrow or build a fixed-gear bike (or a singlespeed) and learn the beauty of not having to think about gearing. If you want to climb quickly, a fixed-gear bike will teach you. It may hurt, but you will learn. It will also allow you to pedal effectively at higher and lower cadences.

Improvements are rarely the result of spending money on different gearing. Love the gears you have. I am right. Dissent is pointless.

markhewitt1978

I'm not suggesting spending any money really, more wondering about the theory of forcing yourself to use higher gears over the course of a year would mean you're better at climbing in the end.

DavidJB

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I'm not suggesting spending any money really, more wondering about the theory of forcing yourself to use higher gears over the course of a year would mean you're better at climbing in the end.

Training more would help you climb better.

jibberjim

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I'm not suggesting spending any money really, more wondering about the theory of forcing yourself to use higher gears over the course of a year would mean you're better at climbing in the end.

I would almost certainly be worse. If I force myself to use an inappropriate gear for me, all that happens is that I produce much less power, go slower and get less training benefit. I'm not particularly slow up hills, but ride with a lowest gear of either 36x28 or 34x28 and still avoid steep hills unless I am feeling really strong (so will be riding it fast so the low gearing isn't a problem)

I think the main reason people think it's a better work out, is because the muscular effort of low cadences feels much more like a "workout" rather than the aerobic effort that feels less like a work out.

The best training up hills, will get you up the hill the fastest.

drlodge

I recently changed from a 12-27 cassette to a 12-29, and I am now faster up the hills because of it (using compact chainring).

I find with a gear that is too high, your legs will suffer first, but on a lower gear its more likely to be your heart/lungs to reach their limits. My suggest would be to keep the gears you have, but try and put more effort in at the beginning on the hill then you'll find yourself struggling towards the top and hence improving fitness by stretching your abilities.

I certainly find I am no longer getting to my maximum HR with lower gears so in a sense, limiting your gear options will push you to the extreme. As some others have suggested, if you have the discipline to not use the lower gears just try standing up the hill which will wear you out more.

markhewitt1978

Yeah I generally find that my legs are ok it's just I can't summon up enough breath to carry on, or at least not to go any faster.

jibberjim

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Yeah I generally find that my legs are ok it's just I can't summon up enough breath to carry on, or at least not to go any faster.

good, then that's the training you want, in cycling the supply of oxygen is the ultimate limiter for everyone - it's why EPO works - so you want to work on that, it sounds like you are. You will improve.

ai_1

I'm also faster when I have small gears available that allow me to sit and spin but I tend to mix in some standing time in lower gears too.
I also find that having kept the cadence up helps when it comes to a sprint for the top too. If I've spent some time spinning in the saddle, even if I was working very hard, I can usually drop a few gears, get out of the saddle and get a decent burst of speed at the top. If I've been struggling out of the saddle in an excessively low gear, even if my HR was similar, I'm much poorer in a final sprint for the top.

jibberjim wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I'm not suggesting spending any money really, more wondering about the theory of forcing yourself to use higher gears over the course of a year would mean you're better at climbing in the end.

I would almost certainly be worse. If I force myself to use an inappropriate gear for me, all that happens is that I produce much less power, go slower and get less training benefit. I'm not particularly slow up hills, but ride with a lowest gear of either 36x28 or 34x28 and still avoid steep hills unless I am feeling really strong (so will be riding it fast so the low gearing isn't a problem)

I think the main reason people think it's a better work out, is because the muscular effort of low cadences feels much more like a "workout" rather than the aerobic effort that feels less like a work out.

The best training up hills, will get you up the hill the fastest.

I'd agree with this.
I realised on Sunday that there's one other thing that really doesn't help get you up hills and that's tight hamstrings. Just got back to running last week after a bit of a break and I was lazy with stretching. Went for a cycle with some tough climbs on Sunday (7km x 6.5%avg, 3km x 10%avg, 3km x 9%avg) and my back was in bits. My legs were in decent shape and I wasn't really breathing very hard, it was just my lower back that was the limiting factor. I had 34x28 but an even smaller gear would have been nice!
My back doesn't usually bother me and it wasn't until half way through the ride I noticed how tight my hamstrings were and realised where I'd gone wrong. Oh well, relatively easily fixed.

Steve236

I recently changed from 50/34 and 11-32 to 53/39 and 12-27. Not to be hard or fast but to get nicer gear shifts around the speeds i use most, and its working a treat. The flip side is that where as with the old setup i didn't worry about size or steepness of hills or where they came in a ride, now they're not quite as much fun. But, having said that, there's a lot to be said for making a pact with yourself that you arent going to get off and walk come what may and grinding away up a big climb. Sure, you suffer a bit and might be spitting bits of lung by the top but theres are great sense of acheivement with it too. When i wanted to get better at hills I got a fixed with 48x19 and went up and down the hills in north london like west heath and swains lane.
So in answer to the original question, i think harder gears will make you stronger.