Bike group set Upgrade advivce please

Paul & Mimi

Ok my Specialized Allez sport (2011) currently on 175mm cranks SORA 9 speed 12-25 cassette and up front 34-50 chain rings.

I ride six days a week as a rule
30-40 a day in winter mainly on rollers when wet
50-80 a day on the road in summer (Average speed over a 50-60 mile is in general 19.2- and up to 21.5 )
I weigh about 85 kilo bike is 9.2 with bag etc ends up just over 10 kilo

I am thinking of a upgrade 105 5800 11 speed......Ok what's best for me on Norfolk roads ?

11-28 Cassette and up front 36-52 rings
11-28 Cassette and up front 34-50 rings

I sometime need / could do with a extra gear or two when going fast down hill as I have to pedal like hell when flat out .........climbing I cant say I ever need to drop in to my small ring up front maybe just a few times last year and I tend to use the large ring up front and behind the 2nd,3rd and 4th largest and if I do drop to the small ring up front I will be 2nd or 3rd smallest on the cassette

Looking on line most of the new Tarmacs come fitted .....The Standard, the comp and the expert 11 speed all come....
11-28 Cassette
36-52 Rings

But the Tarmac Elite of course is different
11-28 Cassette
34-50 Rings

And of course the Allez expert is 11 speed
11-28 Cassette
36-52 rings

so of course looking at them tells me bugger all about what to go for

Of course I will also have to buy new wheels to take the 11 speed (and my current mavic cxp22 are real rough) and am looking at Fulcrum racing 5's
I suppose I'm happy with what I currently have but are looking for is one or two stiffer gears.

New 105 group set £349
Fulcrum 5's £169......£180
(a new Tarmac £1700 even second hand seam to make over £1000)

All help gratefully received

dstev55

You haven't mentioned you have ever needed the smallest gears so in that case I would get 53/39 chainrings with an 11-25 cassette. That way you've got the maximum gear you can realistically have on a standard Road bike and also have nice close ratios on your rear so you don't have big jumps between gears.

super_davo

You're in Norfolk, if anyone can get away with a 53/39 it's going to be you!
Both 50/34 and 52/36 have large steps between chainrings, so you'll probably find your time in the upper chainring all the time on your terrain, so you might as well be single front ring. On 53/39 you are much more likely to use the inner.
Shimano only make an 11-28 for 105 so get that (11-25 only made in Ultegra). Your lowest ratio will stay similar, your highest ratio will go up, and you'll have closer ratios in between.
You may die if you go to anywhere hilly mind

dstev55

super_davo wrote:

You're in Norfolk, if anyone can get away with a 53/39 it's going to be you!
Both 50/34 and 52/36 have large steps between chainrings, so you'll probably find your time in the upper chainring all the time on your terrain, so you might as well be single front ring. On 53/39 you are much more likely to use the inner.
Shimano only make an 11-28 for 105 so get that (11-25 only made in Ultegra). Your lowest ratio will stay similar, your highest ratio will go up, and you'll have closer ratios in between.
You may die if you go to anywhere hilly mind

Or spend the extra £15 and get the Ultegra 11-25 cassette or just get a 12-25 105 cassette and have super close ratios and a gear for every speed/cadence. If you haven't got any major descents then a 53/12 should be more than enough oomph, I think you'll find the closer ratios more beneficial.

Paul & Mimi

Are yes most my riding of coarse is Norfolk but may not be all the time and may not be as flat as you guys may think it is .......places like our coast road is up and down all the way ......If you think of east of Norwich the broads then yes its very flat But the west of Norfolk is complete different terrain to ride.

dstev55

Paul & Mimi wrote:

Are yes most my riding of coarse is Norfolk but may not be all the time and may not be as flat as you guys may think it is .......places like our coast road is up and down all the way ......If you think of east of Norwich the broads then yes its very flat But the west of Norfolk is complete different terrain to ride.

I think we're just going on the fact that you said you only use your second or third smallest rear cog on the rare occasion you use your small front ring. No offence, but they aren't what I'd call hills unless you're a super strong rider!

On that theory, a 53/39 and 11-25 or 12-25 would be perfect in my opinion. Can't see the point in a 28 on the rear, you'll never use it.

w00dster

Kind of un-important but 11-28 Ultegra is available. I ride 53/39 11-28 Ultegra. (http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... prod108686)

If I was in your shoes I'd go for the 52/36 and put on a 105 12-25. If you found that you were grinding up any of the climbs in Norfolk with that gear range then you can always put on an 11-28. That's said without knowing your riding ability, just on what I would purchase so might not help you.

The 53/39 would be excellent for most rides in Norfolk, but if you go ride anywhere else and are not too strong a rider you may be limiting yourself. I ride in North Wales (Snowdonia) and on some of the serious steep climbs I'm dreaming of an easier gear! I used to live in Norwich so pretty familiar with the routes around there.

Paul & Mimi

Ok update guys I really should have done this first as it would of helped more

Just done a 30 mile ride 20.3 average ok Average cadence was 89 and max 109 (second road ride in 5 month been rollers all winter) Now I do tend to use stronger gears I found when fitter at the end of last summer on the road

My current set up is 9 speed SORA

34-50 up front and 12-25 cassette

Now riding to day I found I dont use the small ring at all not even climbing if you take the smallest cog as 1 and the biggest as 9 on the cassette

On the flat I spend most of the time in cogs 4 and 5 doing 20-23 mph and in places sometimes in cog 3 (along the holt road for the guy who lived in Norwich)

Climbing is mainly cogs 6 and 7 and once today I nipped in to cog 8 for 3-4 metres at the very top of the climb at the end of my ride (0.1 mile long 47 foot climb 5% thats not a hill I hear you all cry lol....and your right compared to where a lot of you guys are you probably wouldn't even notice it)) I never used 9 at all

And downhill cogs 3 and 4 and steeper longer down hill used 1 and 2 a bit especially a good longer down hill where I could use 1 all the way .........but most of the ride is cogs 4-5 so right in the middle of my 9 speed cassette

Hope that extra info helps

imposter2.0

According to my calcs, you ride 6 days out of seven, average at least 300 miles per week, and you are asking us what gearing will work best for your local roads?

Paul & Mimi

Yes guys what gearing to buy for a group set upgrade ...Yes guys only been riding one year exactly love me bike but not a clue as to the gearing so just trying to give as much info as poss so some one has all the info needed for a answer....as say that info above is todays ride but is me second on the road for 4-5 month as been on the rollers all winter the first was Sunday but all summer min 250 a week

Garry H

Spend less time riding and more time on your schoolwork and you might be able to work it out for yourself.

super_davo

dstev55 wrote:

super_davo wrote:

You're in Norfolk, if anyone can get away with a 53/39 it's going to be you!
Both 50/34 and 52/36 have large steps between chainrings, so you'll probably find your time in the upper chainring all the time on your terrain, so you might as well be single front ring. On 53/39 you are much more likely to use the inner.
Shimano only make an 11-28 for 105 so get that (11-25 only made in Ultegra). Your lowest ratio will stay similar, your highest ratio will go up, and you'll have closer ratios in between.
You may die if you go to anywhere hilly mind

Or spend the extra £15 and get the Ultegra 11-25 cassette or just get a 12-25 105 cassette and have super close ratios and a gear for every speed/cadence. If you haven't got any major descents then a 53/12 should be more than enough oomph, I think you'll find the closer ratios more beneficial.

You're right, there is a 12-25 105 cassette which would be perfect for Norfolk terrain. Doubt you'll have the option of chucking in an extra £15 to get the Ultegra 11-25 if buying as a groupset from an online retailer though.

To solve the issue around limiting riding anywhere hilly in future, keep the compact chainset from your existing groupset. If Hollowtech 2 Shimano, changing over is very easy, though you may need to adjust your front mech - the fact it's 9 speed vs 11 speed doesn't matter on the chainset. So that plus a specific cassette could see you round the Fred Whitton if you so wanted.

Paul & Mimi

Well just like to say thanks for every ones help

well lots reading and what would be good is the Ultegra 11-25 as Im happy with my current cassette I would just like that 11 tooth cog.....and then the 34-50 what would be better if I can change the inner ring to a 36 ...so 11-25 Cassette and 36-50 rings (bearing in mind most my ride is big ring 50 and mid cogs 4-5 on Cassette on the flat )

dstev55

Paul & Mimi wrote:

Well just like to say thanks for every ones help

well lots reading and what would be good is the Ultegra 11-25 as Im happy with my current cassette I would just like that 11 tooth cog.....and then the 34-50 what would be better if I can change the inner ring to a 36 ...so 11-25 Cassette and 36-50 rings (bearing in mind most my ride is big ring 50 and mid cogs 4-5 on Cassette on the flat )

Just go 52/36. You can do 50/36 but it means messing around mixing non standard chainrings for no benefit whatsoever. If you want the 11 on the rear then you'll also appreciate the higher gearing that the 52 provides.

To put it into numbers, your current most powerful gear has a ratio of 4.16.

50 - 11 gives you a ratio of 4.54.

52 - 11 gives you a ratio of 4.72.

The higher the ratio the harder the gear and potentially the faster you can go.

Paul & Mimi

Thanks very much wheels to go with it Cero AR24 seam t be best bang for buck

Bobbinogs

The AR24s are incredibly narrow, about 13.5mm internal width. Given your weight I would be aiming for 25mm tyres as a minimum. ..not sure the Allez will take any more though. Anyway, I didn't like running the ARs with 25, the handling was not that good although it could be down to the time of year. Swapping to some hand built wheels with H+ Son Archetypes was pretty much a revelation.

The c17 Zondas or even Quattro LG might be a good choice. Lots of wheel threads to look through. ..