Gearing...

philpattenden

I've had a look to see if I could find the answer (it's probably been asked a few times), but I couldn't find it...
I have this bike:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/can ... e-ec042919
And I'm finding that the gearing is a little low, as in I'm regularly riding in the highest gear even on flat sections. As this is my first road bike I'm not sure if this is a silly question - but is that right? I'm finding on downhills that I can't actually pedal fast enough to keep up with the bike.
Now, to the main point in my question! How can I make the gearing harder?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-ultegra ... -cassette/
Currently the cassette is 12-26, that one has the option of 11-25. Will that make much of a difference? Will it fit my bike? Do I even need it?
Any advice would be good!
Thanks
Phil

imposter2.0

You are using the outer ring on the front, yes?

philpattenden

Haha. Yes...

imposter2.0

In which case, you are either extremely quick, or your cadence is extremely low. Riding in the highest gear is not the same as needing more gears. Do you know what your cadence actually is in that gear?

Spinning out on downhills is inevitable - and fitting bigger gears is almost certainly not the answer. There comes a point where you are better off just tucking in and freewheeling.

philpattenden

I don't think I'm extremely quick (in fact I know it - http://www.strava.com/activities/133063450). I don't have a cadence meter fitted. Can you recommend a reasonably priced one?

me-109

30 miles in 2 hours is nothing special, tbh. You don't need a cadence meter, just count how many pedal revolutions over 15 seconds, then multiply by 4 to get your rpm.

philpattenden

That's what I meant... Nothing special there. I was just wondering why I felt that I was in the highest gear for so much of it. What should my cadence be, roughly?

sloppyschleckonds

philpattenden wrote:

That's what I meant... Nothing special there. I was just wondering why I felt that I was in the highest gear for so much of it. What should my cadence be, roughly?

73.6

imposter2.0

philpattenden wrote:

That's what I meant... Nothing special there. I was just wondering why I felt that I was in the highest gear for so much of it. What should my cadence be, roughly?

85-90rpm would be a good place to start, but everyone is different. Grinding away in 50/12 all day will not be doing your knees much good...

dj58

There isn't anything wrong with the gearing on your bike, but if you wanted to fit a higher top gear your can get the Tiagra 4600 11-25T for £10.99
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-tiagra- ... -cassette/

philpattenden

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

philpattenden wrote:

That's what I meant... Nothing special there. I was just wondering why I felt that I was in the highest gear for so much of it. What should my cadence be, roughly?

73.6

I've just been out, and got 73.5. Should I worry???

(I'll try for 85-90ish then next time, thanks everyone...)

wotnoshoeseh

DJ58 wrote:

There isn't anything wrong with the gearing on your bike, but if you wanted to fit a higher top gear your can get the Tiagra 4600 11-25T for £10.99
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-tiagra- ... -cassette/

Sorry but that's a 10 speed cassette but the OP linked to a 9 speed Sora set up???

dj58

postby wotnoshoeseh » Wed May 28, 2014 8:22 pm

DJ58 wrote:
There isn't anything wrong with the gearing on your bike, but if you wanted to fit a higher top gear your can get the Tiagra 4600 11-25T for £10.99
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-tiagra- ... -cassette/

Sorry but that's a 10 speed cassette but the OP linked to a 9 speed Sora set up???

Yes well spotted, you are correct, the OP confused me there by posting a link to the 10Sp Ultegra 11-25T cassette?

ai_1

From what you've said it would seem you're just in the habit of pedalling at a VERY low cadence. Many beginners use a low cadence feeling that more force on the pedal will be best and spinning the pedals faster seems unnatural. I'm guessing you're an extreme case. However if you make an effort to use "easier"gears and simply pedal faster you'll soon become accustomed to it and probably wonder how and why you did what you're doing now.
Until recently I rode a bike with a 50/39/30 triple chainring and 12-27 cassette which is very similar to your setup and has the same biggest gear (50&12). That's sufficient to get me to over 80km/h on descents albeit at a rather high cadence.
Even pros routinely have 53&11 as their biggest gear. That's bigger than 50&12 but not as much as they are faster than you, I suspect!

philpattenden

Ha yes, I think the pro's might be ever so slightly faster than me.
I'll try to use the lower gears and see where that gets me.
And yes - I didn't think about the 9/10 speed difference on the cassette when I linked it, I was looking at the gearing.
Time to ride to work now, and see if I can make any changes.
Thanks

ic.

Are you using the biggest ring at the front and the smallest ring at the back?

If so, you're saying you regularly do this on flat sections?

Given that Strava ride and it's average speed, I'd say there are 2 options.
1. Really REALLY low cadence. As in, in the 40s on the flat. If this is the case, give your knees a break and change down the gears a bit.
2. You're getting confused by gears and are thinking that biggest ring up front and biggest ring at the back is your "fastest gear". If this is the case, don't worry, you're not the first!

As an example, I ride the smallest ring at the front (39 teeth) roughly 90% of the time and my average cadence is about 95rpm. The average speed on my ride is usually between 17.5mph and 20mph depending on terrain and wind speed/direction

Hope it helps.