How does a novice train for the Pyrenees - Help!

SteveBuckell

Hi All,

Apologies if this sort of thing has been answered before - happy to be re-pointed to the right thread as appropriate. I'm looking for some training advice and was hoping that someone would be willing to help. Many thanks in advance if you can...

The Challenge:-
In May 2014 I've accepted a challenge to ride the Pyrenees. Essentially coast-to-coast across France (starting in the West just outside Biarritz and ending in the East near Perpignan). To give you some statistics, the route will cover just over 650km in 6 days whilst climbing 10km and spending approximately 40 hours in the saddle. All of the Cols we will climb have featured in the Tour de France including Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Aubisque and Col d’ Aspin - probably 10 Cols in total. This is a charity ride for a cause that's very close to my heart - a small group of friends will be riding with a support car - don't think a large MacMillan Cancer event or similar.

My Current Fitness:-
Always difficult to communicate this. I'd say I have a reasonable level of base fitness. I'm a shortArse at 5 ft 5, weighing around 67 kilos (10 and a half stone) - I'm average build. I commute to work on my racer once or twice a week max (journey of 11 miles each way) and this is the main source of my bike fitness. I wouldn't say I'm particularly fast on hills. I recently completed a separate charity ride from Guildford to Brussels (258 miles over three days) and didn't find this particularly hard, although the majority of the miles in France / Belgium were pan flat. I'm not a club rider - I've ridden London to Brighton and other such rides in the past with minimal training and found them fine.

What to Do!
So, what sort of training is appropriate to prep for the challenge? To be clear, I will not be looking for a 'fast time' or to beat any records. I want to be able to complete the challenge without destroying myself - that's about it!
I'm sure people will react to this, but my commute needs to factor heavily as a component of the training plan. Appreciate it's not a comparable ride to the Pyrenees(!), but it's essentially 'free time' that I would be sitting in the car for otherwise, and as such doesn't impact too heavily on my free time (I work 40 hours a week, have two young children etc and as such have a lot of pressure on my time). So I could up this commute to 3-4 times a week without too much of a problem. Otherwise, I should be able to get out for a few longer rides once a month or so, but I'm keen to understand how long any conditioning / fitness 'lasts' - i.e. if I did a 100 mile slog tomorrow, how do I ensure that effort continues to be of value 7 months later? Do I save the long rides for nearer the time? Is it important to ride lots of hills (I Live in Surrey so Box Hill and Leigh Hill are accessible)? Would it make sense to use my heavier Mountain Bike on the commute to make things harder? I don't have a turbo trainer but would be happy to grab one if that's a good idea.
As you can tell, I'm a bit clueless on this topic - any help appreciated!
Thanks
Steve

markwb79

You will get loads and loads of replies on this.

Sounds an amazing challenge to me, very jealous.

For fitness, its just riding a bike for 6 (that will vary) hours a day. You will have to find a plan to suit yourself really.

The hardest part I would think is getting used to riding that long, that many days in a row. The more you practice the time (not distance) the better.

To suggest a plan, I would say...

Commute 3 or 4 times a week. Then do a longer ride on the weekend. start at 4 hours and build from there on. Maybe 30mins extra every couple of weeks. 5.5hours is easily enough I would think.

Do this as much as you can until March, read lots of opinions and advice. Then from March you could do some more focused sessions for the long mountain climbs.

marcusjb

It'll be an amazing experience for sure - so making sure you're comfy on the bike should be a high priority - nothing takes away from enjoyment more than being in discomfort. So ironing out any niggles should be upmost in your mind.

This year was my first visit to the Pyrenees in 20 years. It was also the first time I was riding reasonably quickly in big mountains (rather than touring) as I covered 600km in around 2.5 days.

I've had a great season this year - ridden some very hilly events and feel in generally better shape than I ever have done before. I'd done around 11000km in the year leading up to the Pyrenean trip, of which around 8000km was Audax riding and around 3000km of utility cycling.

Boy did the Pyrenees bite back on my over confidence.

I am also pretty small (5 foot 8 and 59 kg) and a reasonable climber here in the UK - I can punch up pretty much anything here reasonably quickly.

Nothing I had done this season really prepared me for the Pyrenees. As I said, I have toured in big mountains often enough - but suddenly being against the clock and really having to push myself - well it was a surprise. My ride started with Tourmalet - that was fine, my legs were fresh, "I can do this" I thought.

By the 5th or 6th Col of the day, it just gets so hard to maintain the power needed to get up an 8 or 9% climb for the best part of an hour at a time.

I made it - 600km, 15000m of climbing in 59 hours (couple of decent hotel stops along the way). But, I wasn't quite prepared for the constant power output you need for these sorts of climbs.

So - how to get ready for such a trip? Well, clearly, I am not the person to ask! I rode loads, lots of hills, bit of speed work and I still nearly destroyed myself, particularly on the 1st day (first 190km had 6700m of ascent!).

What would I do different? More sustained effort work - an hour or so at higher intensity. I'd use hills like Box Hill which have gentler gradients to most UK climbs and are more like what you're going to experience in the Pyrenees - but you'd have to do it many, many times just to get close to something like Tourmalet!

But, as for building up, keep up the commuting, ride a longer ride at the weekends and get some decent base miles in before spring.

I don't want this post to read like some kind of horror story "I did 1000s of km in the build up and I still wasn't strong enough". I made it - I just went in slightly over-confident and really had to dig deep to succeed. I will do things slightly differently next time!

Enjoy it though - it will be an amazing trip.

SteveBuckell

Thanks both - appreciated.

ut_och_cykla

My take would be - ride as much as you can now -increase distance/time gradually, but do back to back weekend rides (a hard long saturday followed by a shorter harder sunday) a few times nearer the event. Iron out comfort issues & work out what 'real' food & drink works for you on the bike - coke & bananas, fruit juice and baguettes etc. As time gets closer (3-4 months away) start doing 2 x 20 intervals on long drags/into the wind. Get your head around long climbs being an hour or more and make sure you have gears low enough to keep you cycling when you are tired. For me this is key - one day stuff is easy in comparison to the uphill battles on day three afternoon when nothing but nothing feels okay anymore...good luck & enjoy!

VaVaVeteran

I HAVE A GOOD IDEA of what faces you in May, having myself ridden the inaugural Cent Cols Challenge (10 cols and 200km every day for ten consecutive days. I wrote a short blog entry about it here at http://bit.ly/TrbPf7).

The good news is that you don't have to begin training yet - January 2nd will be fine as if you did that 100 mile slog tomorrow it will be of little physiological value 7 months later. Spend October to February getting ready to get training (get into good nutrition, sleep and gym/strength conditioning habits); it's March and April that will be key months for you and what you do between now and March is mostly about be able to make the most of that period.

My 7 tips are:
1. do write a day by day plan from January to the event. At least 2 very easy or off-bike days for every 1 'hard' day
2. don't stress about your training - keep the event in perspective, swap workouts as life and weather demand
3. most of your on-bike workouts need be no longer than 2 to 3hrs if you focus on correct (event-specific, or slightly above) intensity. Design yourself an extended route option for your return commutes, and use it once, later twice a week. 90mins minimum; 120+ mins if you can
4. consume water in preference to lots of 'energy' drink; and keep those you do have weaker than instructed, so that your body learns to burn its own internal fuel. Refuel yourself nutritiously but modestly after each key workout.
5. do a 100km non-stop ride at least once a month (building, with short stops, to 120, 150, 180 and 200km twice a month). Audaxes are motivating ways of doing this. If you can sometimes ride the day prior or following, for 2 or 3hrs, so much the better. Hills will just present themselves along the way, but if you discover climbs that take more than 15mins then return to them frequently. Repetitions of Leith or Box you can leave until March if you do them at all; begin too early and you'll lose motivation just when you most need it. The A287 and 'old A3' climbs to Hindhead are worthwhile.
6. A heavier bike, and/or a higher gear, will be useful for some workouts, yes, but mix in lots of easy riding
7. An indoor trainer will give you more options for both recovery and aerobic development; useful for up to an hour and when the weather is discouraging or your time is short

kajjal

Some very good advice above and you will have a great experience.

ugo.santalucia

I think you are making it bigger than it really is. The Raid Pyrenees is 720 Km in 4 and 1/2 days and pretty much everyone who enters it with a bit of training and decent support (someone carrying the luggage) makes it through the journey bar accidents or injuries.
To give you an idea I did it in a group of 18 3 years ago and we all finished it... including a couple of rather heavy guys

600 Km in 6 days seems very doable

robbo2011

Yes, I'm with Ugo on this, 100km per day with 10km of climbing is actually not that bad as long as you have reasonable fitness and have practiced climbing. I did 5.3km of climbing in one day during the Alpen Brevet and could have ridden the next day if needed and I'm hardly the worlds fittest/fastest rider.

It will be a great experience, I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time.

bahzob

As above, I've done the Raid and while it deserves respect don't let it scare you. You have the ideal build for it and should be able to tackle it fine.

The hardest part is the climbs and the secret to these is pacing. The climbs in the UK don't really prepare you for this, they are too short and sharp. The best training is long efforts of 30 minutes plus at an effort that forces you to breathe in a controlled hard manner through the mouth. Paradoxically this is best done on a flat route with no stops rather than hills. Turbos are also good for this.

All this being said May is a long way off. Right now I would just focus on doing whatever sort of riding you enjoy most and get a sense of what works and what doesn't in terms of getting fitter. Riding an MTB on your commute is a good idea, it will make the most of your time. Maybe set some sort of interim goals like setting a best time for a few distances (say 10 and 25 miles) and/or a PB in terms of miles done on a ride. Come 2014 you can get a bit more focussed.

Enjoy your Raid. It's amongst the favourite things I've ever done on a bike, every day is different with new challenges and different scenery. Be prepared for all weather conditions though. It's quite normal for the higher peaks to have snow in May.

dw300

I would think that finding climbs of a similar grade locally (obviously you wont find ones of a similar distance AND grade), and so finding your pace in the hills that wont burn your legs out day after day would be important.

It might also help you get appropriate gearing. A 28 on the rear might come in handy.

SteveBuckell

Thanks again all - This is all really useful. keep the great advice coming!

bahzob

dw300 wrote:

...
It might also help you get appropriate gearing. A 28 on the rear might come in handy.

Seconded, along with a compact chain-ring. There aren't many parts where you will benefit from have a 52x12, you will mainly be going uphill on the lower ring or downhill too fast to turn over even the biggest gear.

milese

You'll love it, and if it was going to be easy it wouldnt be the same achievement.

Its hard to compare this sort of thing to the riding you do at home because its so different, not only in the terrain but in that its all you've got to do that day.

This means the pace can be kept low and the stops kept regular. If you're out for 10 hours a day then thats fine.

It will be impossible for you to train at the volume you need, so dont beat yourself up about that, but try and ride Sat and Sun as much as you can in the build up. Replace long rides with hard rides, but you still need to condition yourself as much as you can for the time in the saddle.

I did Raid Alpine this summer, which was 800km over 7 days. The longest day was 185km, and my longest training ride more like 110km, but the pace was much easier with several cafe stops. I think my typical average speed was around 20kph, and I seemed to spend hours plodding away at 8 or 9 kph. Speeds I'd be embarressed to mention over here!

On a very basic level I'd recommend that you ride as hard as you can with the time you've got. Use a HR monitor and get to know your zones and what they mean for you. Then in May use the HR monitor and make sure that you dont go too deep. Let people drop you on the climbs, what they'll lose by waiting 10 minutes at the top will be made back later in day / week.

Take the right clothes, at some point in the week its very likely to be very cold and wet.

You sound far from heavy, but remember that weight lost from yourself and your bike will only make things easier. Fit new tyres, chain, cables and brake blocks before you go.

I'd say the sooner you start getting your body used to riding more the better, but dont do it if you dont want to / it causes issues in other parts of your life.

il_principe

Did the Raid Pyreneen in September this year. It's not as tough as you'd think, but the weather will make a huge difference. Expect at least one wet day, but plan for all of them to be and pack accordingly. Make sure you invest in decent kit. A poor chamois etc will soon make itself known, and the last thing you want is a sore ar*e! Also make sure your bike fit is dialed in just so.

Training wise. I've been out to the Pyrenees twice in the last 2 years. My training regime is simple (and worked well for me).

1: Get plenty of non-commuting rides in. I went for pre-work commute rides of around 1/1.5 hours twice a week. These would be done at a high intensity. In my case this meant either 1 or 2 laps of Richmond park. One lap done balls out, one less so.

2: Get plenty of long, long rides in. These should be done at a decent pace without too many stops. Start of with 40/50 miles and increase from there. As you get closer to the event try and do consecutive long rides. Ensure you have several 100 mile rides under your belt before you go.

3: Don't bother trying to replicate Pyrenean climbs in the UK. It's pointless. Doing reps up shorter hills is also (IMHO) pointless. Why, because the shorter, steeper English hills give your lungs/legs a break too quickly. The Tourmalet takes well over 1 hour to climb. So prepare for this by planning routes with long flat sections, preferably with as few junctions/lights as possible. When you hit these sections (which should ideally be around 20 miles long), get your head down and go hard, don't let up. These hour long intense sessions thrown in as part of a long ride are a good simulator of a climb.

4: You will manage it even if you don't train really hard. However it will hurt more, and trust me, the rest of the group won't enjoy hanging around for those who didn't bother to train properly.

5: I wouldn't bother with gym work. There is no substitute for time on the bike. Also, whilst Turbos have their place, you should get winter road miles in if you can. You may have to ride 100 miles in the rain/cold whilst in the Pyrenees, so best get your body used to it over the winter. Turbos are easy to climb off, and riding in the mountains requires some mental toughness.

Above all, enjoy! The better prepared you are, the more fun you will have.

bahzob

Il Principe wrote:

Did the Raid Pyreneen in September this year. It's not as tough as you'd think, but the weather will make a huge difference. Expect at least one wet day, but plan for all of them to be and pack accordingly. Make sure you invest in decent kit. A poor chamois etc will soon make itself known, and the last thing you want is a sore ar*e! Also make sure your bike fit is dialed in just so.

Training wise. I've been out to the Pyrenees twice in the last 2 years. My training regime is simple (and worked well for me).
....
1: Get plenty of non-commuting rides in. I went for pre-work commute rides of around 1/1.5 hours twice a week. These would be done at a high intensity. In my case this meant either 1 or 2 laps of Richmond park. One lap done balls out, one less so.

2: Get plenty of long, long rides in. These should be done at a decent pace without too many stops. Start of with 40/50 miles and increase from there. As you get closer to the event try and do consecutive long rides. Ensure you have several 100 mile rides under your belt before you go.

3: Don't bother trying to replicate Pyrenean climbs in the UK. It's pointless. Doing reps up shorter hills is also (IMHO) pointless. Why, because the shorter, steeper English hills give your lungs/legs a break too quickly. The Tourmalet takes well over 1 hour to climb. So prepare for this by planning routes with long flat sections, preferably with as few junctions/lights as possible. When you hit these sections (which should ideally be around 20 miles long), get your head down and go hard, don't let up. These hour long intense sessions thrown in as part of a long ride are a good simulator of a climb.

4: You will manage it even if you don't train really hard. However it will hurt more, and trust me, the rest of the group won't enjoy hanging around for those who didn't bother to train properly.

5: I wouldn't bother with gym work. There is no substitute for time on the bike. Also, whilst Turbos have their place, you should get winter road miles in if you can. You may have to ride 100 miles in the rain/cold whilst in the Pyrenees, so best get your body used to it over the winter. Turbos are easy to climb off, and riding in the mountains requires some mental toughness.

Above all, enjoy! The better prepared you are, the more fun you will have.

All great advice apart from the last bit about turbos. As you say the hard thing about climbing mountains is the unrelenting pressure of having to put out substantial non-stop effort for an hour or more.

It's extremely difficult to replicate this on UK roads, there will usually be something to force you to stop or allow you to ease off a bit.

So the best single way to replicate a mountain climb here is a tough steady power turbo session of 30-90minutes at a pace that forces you to breathe hard through the mouth from start to finish.

Yes turbos are easy to get off. But so is your bike on a mountain climb. Mental toughness in this context is all about not taking the easy option. So doing this sort of turbo session is not only great for physical preparation it's good for hardening up your attitude too.

Also, hopefully, the weather won't be crap. Doing a session like this on a turbo will simulate the conditions of doing this sort of effort in hot sweaty conditions (again something that is pretty damn hard to replicate in the UK til well after May next year). Chances are if you crack doing a session like this on a turbo it will be through overheating/not drinking enough. Far better to prepare for and learn to correct this in advane than do it on the real thing.

il_principe

It's the Pyrenees. Chances are there will be at least one wet day.

r.gilling121

I did the haute route Pyrenees this year. It went east to west but I would say get a compact and a 29 if you can. It makes such a difference having the choice of slipping it down a gear and spinning a bit. Definitely get on the turbo most of the climbs and 40 mins+ so you need to be able to churn a gear around with no rest for at least this amount of time. Lose as much weight as you can, from yourself and your bike. For training I would say build up your riding. Could you commute everyday? can you make your commute route longer? Box Hill is nothing like the Pyrenees the gradient is the same the whole way up so find other hills that have gradient changes as being able to cope with the gradient changes is something you should train for.

il_principe

The OP is 67KG so I think a 34/29 would be overkill! I weighed 70kg and took a 34/25. Derailleur issues meant I spent 4 days with 34/21 and actually that was just about ok. 25 should be fine. 27 at a push, but at your weight prob not gonna be an issue.

cougie

I would start banking miles now. Don't wait until January - what happens I we get weeks of snow again ? Get miles in your legs and ride climbs. If its just 40 hours you work and 2 young kids I suspect you might have more free time than a lot of people.

If the weather in the Pyrenees is as bad as it was in the alps last may - you need to be able to cope with it.

Great challenge for you.

marcusjb

cougie wrote:

If the weather in the Pyrenees is as bad as it was in the alps last may - you need to be able to cope with it.

Great challenge for you.

There's a fair chance you'll deal with some nasty stuff in May, so there is merit in having a good dose of MTFU and heading out into wild weather early in spring. If you can handle a day of howling wind and rain in the uk in February/March, then you should be fine in the mountains in May. Gives you a chance to test your clothing as well.

I followed this strategy this season (read about it here - http://marcusjb.wordpress.com/2013/03/17/lincolnshire-you-really-broke-me-diy-400-from-hell/ ) and rode the most miserable difficult ride of my life in march. I dealt with some awful weather this season (in one of the hottest summers in years, why did I spend so many days and nights riding in rain storms?). But not once did anything feel as bad as that ride.

I saw some photos from tourmalet this week - the resurfacing is going really well (after the horrendous floods this year), so it'll be easier than riding on the gravel that I rode on.

bahzob

Il Principe wrote:

The OP is 67KG so I think a 34/29 would be overkill! I weighed 70kg and took a 34/25. Derailleur issues meant I spent 4 days with 34/21 and actually that was just about ok. 25 should be fine. 27 at a push, but at your weight prob not gonna be an issue.

According to the OP this will be the first experience the rider has of climbing real mountains.

If he ever intends to do it again best advice would be to get into good habits which means climbing smoothly in a low gear with a high cadence like every single pro does ("high" simply means 80rpm or so which is still near double what many amateurs struggle to maintain).

At 80 rpm 34x25 = 13.7kph which is one hour Alpe D'Huez pace. I'm guessing the OP won't be able to do this and unless you can you need more gears.

So you should have at least a 34x27. At 80rpm this gives a speed of 12.7kph which is climbing Alpe D'Huez in 65 minutes. I'm guessing this will be a stretch for the OP, even if completely fresh.

Even if it isn't it is just a bad idea to have the lowest gear on your bike as your "go to" climbing choice.
- It gives you no bail out options if conditions are really bad or you are feeling rough.
- It's bad for your mental approach. Changing down to your lowest gear at the bottom of a climb that will last well over an hour starts you off in a negative state of mind which is exactly what you don't want.

34x29 at 80rpm = 11.8kph which is 70 minute Alpe D'Huez pace so even this may be a bit tough to hold for several climbs in a day. But if you can't it means you will slow to around 70rpm which is OK. If you don't have this choice you will fall to below 50rpm which is just fail.

Bottom line is judge the gearing you need by the rate you are capable of turning the pedals. This may be slightly lower than your comfortable rate while riding hard on the flat but not hugely so. If it is something is wrong and it's not a surprise that you will suffer as you are riding a bike in a way you simply have not trained for.

This isn't just theory or for the pros. I practice what I preach and use a triple on tours. Over the years I reckon I have passed thousands of others while climbing and 90%+ of these have been trying to turn too big a gear at too low a rate. Of the few riders that have passed me 100% have been turning the pedals over quicker than I was.

marcusjb

Let's just hope that the OP doesn't end up doing a 65 minute ascent of Alpe D'Huez - they'd be terribly lost!

I fully agree with that though. You never regret having lower gears, only not having them. My recent Pyrenean adventures, I used the granny ring more than I ever have before. The first Col of the trip was Tourmalet, and that was easy, used my middle ring for a 36-28 gear and that was fine. By the 3rd Col of the day, the inner ring was required! (I'm slightly unusual in that I had a Carradice saddlebag with a couple of changes of shorts etc. as I was self-supported)

As I said in my first post, I maybe under-estimated the whole venture - I'd got masses of miles, masses of climbing in my legs before I went, I was having a great season - but nothing prepares you for the battering you take climbing multiple Cols a day (in my case 6-7 each day).

Everyone is different, but the voices of "I ride with a 42-21 in the Pyrenees, so no-one needs anything lower" just lead to people potentially making choices that aren't right for them. I used to climb anything and everything with a standard - a lung operation means I can't do that these days, so have to spin seated and so require lower gears.

The OP is riding around 100km a day and 3-4 Cols each day - a compact will be fine for most people, with a large cassette - but don't rule out triples. Many of the hire bikes I saw out there had triples.

cougie

Has the OP said what gears he's got on his bike already ?

I'd much rather have lower gears than higher. Its rare to spin out your top gear - and if you are - you might as well just freewheel. Go lower than you think you'll need - fatigue and headwinds will take it out of you.

I don't think you'll be doing 40 hours of cycling - that would be about 10mph - I'm sure you'll be doing better than that.
Decent tyres and decent blocks (and take a spare set) will be useful.

robbo2011

+1 for bahzob.

There is an awful lot of garbage posted about gear ratios on this forum from the MTFU brigade who know little about real climbing, but bahzobs post is spot on. Anyone who is planning to ride in the mountains would do well to read his last post.

milese

I did Raid Alpine with 39 / 28 this year (as did my 61 year old Dad!), and we both survived and enjoyed it, but agreed it would have been better with more gears, and both would probably fit a compact if we did it again. We knew it might be an issue before we left, but didn't have a compact to switch out and thought we'd be ok (which ultimately we were).

It did mean that my lowest available pace was quite high, so I didn't have the 'take it very easy' option most of the time, and I spent more time out of the saddle than most. It also meant that the difference in difficulty really ramped up as the road got steeper, we really noticed a big difference between 7 and 8%.

Maybe we got lucky, we used the equipment we already had and it was just about ok, but we are realitively strong riders, if you have a choice then choose more gears. Its not a race and having bigger gears is no advantage, but of course buying smaller gears to use once is still an extra expense.

SteveBuckell

All,

Thanks again for so many responses - appreciate the support!

With regards to gearing, I have a compact chainset on a Giant Composite TCR 3. Exact spec as follows:-

Shifters Shimano 105, 20 speed
Front Derailleur Shimano Tiagra
Rear Derailleur Shimano 105
Cassette Shimano Tiagra 12x28
Chain Shimano Tiagra
Crankset FSA Omega Exo, 34/50

I don't have a triple on the front (although I'm tempted) but suspect it would be fairly expensive to fit one?

Thanks Again
Steve

bahzob

Since you are doing a supported ride if you maintain your current weight and do the training as suggested above I think you will be OK with a compact.

I'd only recommend going to a triple if you ever plan to do a similar carrying your own stuff.

What I would suggest is getting a 12-30 rear cassette, they are pretty cheap. This should give you a choice of 3 low gears to use.
- 24 for slopes up to and around 5%
- 27 climbing gear of choice when slopes get into the 7-9% range (so much of the time)
- 30 emergency gear if things get rough physically/mentally or you hit especially steep/tough section (there are a few of these, e.g. the last km of the Tourmalet, mid way up the Aubisque, Col de Mente (especially last bit) and last 4km of the Marie Blanque (optional, its the hardest of the whole route but strongly recommended for the climb and the stunning beauty of the plateau you ride through at the top)

SteveBuckell

Thanks Bahzob,

If I grab a 12-30 rear cassette would I need to alter anything else on the setup? i.e. rear derailleur?

Really appreciate the help, info and support!

Steve

bahzob

SteveBuckell wrote:

Thanks Bahzob,

If I grab a 12-30 rear cassette would I need to alter anything else on the setup? i.e. rear derailleur?

Really appreciate the help, info and support!

Steve

No you should not need to change anything. (There is a slight chance the derailleur may rub on the 30 but if it does its a 30s adjustment and your LBS should be do it for free)

Good luck

SteveBuckell

Excellent - thanks