Gear choice

birdie23

Maybe not the right forum for the question but please don't shoot!

I'm doing the Etape Pennines this Sunday. Been having all sorts of chain and cassette issues that seem to come and go so just decided I'll throw on fresh for the weekend when I change the front brake pads. However, I mapped the Etape Pennines route on Strava and it seems there elevation figures are a bit short and it is a hell of a lot more lumpy than I realised.

I normally ride a 12-28 and with the amount of climbing involved I wasn't going to put in the 12-27 I have sat here so I was going to order another 12-28 but now having seen the parcours... I'm thinking 12-30.

I'm running a compact up front and while I'd say I climb reasonably, I'm no Joaquim Rodriguez (http://app.strava.com/athletes/919387 - strava for reference) am I best going with the 12-30? Can my 5700 rear derailleur even take 30T? Or should I just tough it out and MTFU with the 12-28?

Also, as a terrible descender I'd welcome any top tips since this looks to have some serious descending too.

Thanks.

dj58

If you already have a 12/27 and 12/28, you may as well try a 12/30 for your forthcoming ride, you can always switch back to one of the other two afterwards. However check your indexing/alignment while you are at it as you don't want slipping gears on the day.

As to descending, I'm no expert, generally leave plenty of space between yourself and the rider in front, look well ahead to where you want to go and choose your line. Scrub your speed before the bends/turns and try not to drag your brakes for long periods, you could overheat the rims and blow a tube. Try and stay relaxed look out for potholes and loose grit/gravel and expect to be overtaken by faster riders. If it's wet take extra care.

Enjoy the ride.

two_flat_tyres

My thinking was that Shimano short derailleurs could handle a max 30T cassette and Srams was 28T.

navrig2

two_flat_tyres wrote:

My thinking was that Shimano short derailleurs could handle a max 30T cassette and Srams was 28T.

Possibly as long as the chain has been cut to the correct length and as long as you avoid cross chaining between largest (30T) cog and largest ring. If either of the above is wrong then you run the risk of pushing the tolerances and mangling hanger, chain and derailleur.

For those reasons I have not gone beyond 28T although a riding buddy uses a 30T.

birdie23

The 105 cage is stamped with 30T.

I've decided to trust the legs that took me up Great Dun Fell last year on 12-28 and stick with that gearing though.

drlodge

birdie23 wrote:

The 105 cage is stamped with 30T.

I've decided to trust the legs that took me up Great Dun Fell last year on 12-28 and stick with that gearing though.

If you can get up GDF on a 28, you can get up most anything.

birdie23

drlodge wrote:

birdie23 wrote:

The 105 cage is stamped with 30T.

I've decided to trust the legs that took me up Great Dun Fell last year on 12-28 and stick with that gearing though.

If you can get up GDF on a 28, you can get up most anything.

I did stop a few times unfortunately. Didn't push though, just stopped. The stops were mainly to adjust my rear brake that was rubbing though... (Thanks to the LBS that carried out the world's worst service the day before!)

drlodge

I stopped a small number of times too, of course you have to stop for the gate! But this was after 2 heavy days of cycling with a lot of climbs, and my legs were spent.

birdie23

Annoyingly I was in a great rhythm when I got to the gate. It was shortly after that I needed mechanical stop number one.

Great climb though.