l'Étape du tour 2014

xisforxray

Hey guys,

I am cycling the Col du Tourmalet next year and want some advice on cassette size.

I was thinking compact 50/34 with a 11/28 cassette? Is that enough?

I am buying a new bike for this. Would you have mechanical or Di2?

Thanks

YIMan

I'd say it's enough. The problem is length of climb rather than steepness.

As a comparison I'm 6'4" and 92kg and climbed Alpe D'Huez on 34-28 this summer and I'm no super-athlete. So if you are smaller/lighter/fitter it's certainly do-able, but you must train to be able to keep up a decent effort for a very long time without respite.....then be able to do it again on the next climb!

eric_draven

+1 for YIMan, i am 5'10" 93 kg rode the alps on 34/28 lowest,did the joux plane and the joux vert,from samoens and back through les gets on the way back and had no problems,same again not super fit

eric_draven

eric draven wrote:

+1 for YIMan, i am 5'10" 93 kg rode the alps on 34/28 lowest,did the joux plane and the joux vert,from samoens and back through les gets on the way back and had no problems,same again not super fit

as for Di2 or mechanical,personally like the idea of cables,cheap to replace and they don't need recharging,don't see the point of Di2 if your not going to race

unixnerd

34/28 should be fine for big hills, my mate just did some of the biggest climbs in the Pyrenees on that and he was fine despite not being the best climber in the world. But he did put in a lot of training doing 100 milers on some of northern Scotland's biggest hills and he's pretty light. I think training and getting your weight down are key to enjoying it.

As for Di2 it's down to budget. I'd rather get mechanical and spend the extra on superb wheels.

t4tomo

unixnerd wrote:

As for Di2 it's down to budget. I'd rather get mechanical and spend the extra on superb wheels.

tis good advice - absolutely no performance benefit from not having to press a gear change lever quite as hard.

Plus more to go wrong and when it fails it fails and its unlikely you can fix at the road side and you are probably not skilled and moody enough to send your bike up the road to self park against a wall and have a support vehicle arriving with new bike behind you.

mr_goo

eric draven wrote:

+1 for YIMan, i am 5'10" 93 kg rode the alps on 34/28 lowest,did the joux plane and the joux vert,from samoens and back through les gets on the way back and had no problems,same again not super fit

Snap. Hired a Scott CR1 with a triple in Samoens. Didnt even take note of ratios. I found that the key to long climb is tapping out a rythm. The first 3 kms of Joux Plain I found really tough until I had found the right gearing, which turned out to be just me spinning my way up. But it did the trick.