bike for the mountains.

ademort

I,m again taking part in an event in France next year that requires a tremendous amount of climbing in one day. I,ve done the event once on a hired bike but this time i want to take my own bike with me.Really i,m looking at a triple with 30T front and ideally a cassette with 32 or 34t . If anybody knows any bikes or models that fit this criteria please let me know it,s much appreciated.

Garry H

Would a touring bike suffice, if you're looking for 'off the peg'?

ademort

Garry H wrote:

Would a touring bike suffice, if you're looking for 'off the peg'?

No it needs to be as light as possible.

w00dster

very difficult to recommend a triple these days as there are so few about, apart from touring bikes that is. I personally would look at other options like a compact with an 11-34 cassette or go with a sub-compact, a 48/32 chainset.
This might be a worthwhile read....
http://road.cc/content/tech-news/215679 ... t-chainset

I'll add that I am biased, I ride off-road as well as on road and the 46/32 is much more common on off-road bikes. My first ever road bike was a triple, I have nothing against them just don't know any decent bikes that run them.

Edit - just noted the comment about going light. In that case I would be looking at an Emonda with a 50-34 and a 34 cassette. I've not done the Sheldon Brown gear calculations, but pretty sure a 34-34 would be a very low gear indeed.

ademort

w00dster wrote:

very difficult to recommend a triple these days as there are so few about, apart from touring bikes that is. I personally would look at other options like a compact with an 11-34 cassette or go with a sub-compact, a 48/32 chainset.
This might be a worthwhile read....
http://road.cc/content/tech-news/215679 ... t-chainset

I'll add that I am biased, I ride off-road as well as on road and the 46/32 is much more common on off-road bikes. My first ever road bike was a triple, I have nothing against them just don't know any decent bikes that run them.

Edit - just noted the comment about going light. In that case I would be looking at an Emonda with a 50-34 and a 34 cassette. I've not done the Sheldon Brown gear calculations, but pretty sure a 34-34 would be a very low gear indeed.

I agrre with your comments about triples. I,m just looking today on the net and there is almost nothing of any quality out there.

jgsi

Emonda with SRAM eTap

https://www.sram.com/stories/etap-facto ... 1s5froq9r4

Plenty to choose from

Wilf Roberts

Pick the bike you want then fit a 48/32 chain set and 11-32 cassette? Think they're fairly easy to get hold of these days, if it's a new bike purchase the shop should fit it for you.

EDIT: Looking online, for instance a really light bike like the Dolan Tuono can be spec' d with 50/34 and 11-34 gearing. A 1:1 ratio escape gear should get you over most paved climbs right?

pblakeney

Assuming you are not racing then don't get obsessed with weight.
Comfort is much more important on a long climb.

davidof

ademort wrote:

I,m again taking part in an event in France next year that requires a tremendous amount of climbing in one day.

how much climbing?

ademort

davidof wrote:

ademort wrote:

I,m again taking part in an event in France next year that requires a tremendous amount of climbing in one day.

how much climbing?

Six times up Alp D,huez

cougie

Pffft. Go fixed ?

Garry H

Pennyfarthing, youll be fine.

Go 1x. 40x42. That should do it

ademort

cougie wrote:

Pffft. Go fixed ?

No way cougie. I want to get down as quick as i can there is a time limit. Also i saw last time that some of the competitors are terrible at descending and i,d never get past them.

cougie

Electric bike ?

ademort

cougie wrote:

Electric bike ?

Brilliant Cougie however you are supposed to pedal yourself. Also an electric bike would never make the time limit with a minimum of 2+ hours to recharge each climb would it :?

Garry H

Just buy whatever bike you hired last time. Aren't you overthinking this a bit?

ZMC888

Are you going to be riding the Vieil Alpe route? https://www.strava.com/segments/652851
Average 9% grade that seems pretty steady. Surely a compact 34-50 with a 11-32 would be fine. However it might be nicer to have 11-36, and a Tiagra long cage will work with an 11-36 mountain bike cassette. I did an Everesting with that setup, with a max 20% gradient. Or you could try a 105 long cage with 11-36, not entirely sure if that will work as I haven't tried it. Even a short cage 105/Ultegra/Dura Ace would work with a road link https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/roadlink.

However if it were me I'd get a Carbon fibre bike like a Spec Tarmac, Fuji SL, or Cannondale SuperSix EVO on discount with all SRAM red etap or Force depending on budget with 11-32 and compact. Maybe something like this: https://www.evanscycles.com/specialized ... e-EV302416. Then I'd switch out the front chainrings and cassette if need be and change the skewers and some other stuff to titanium. Try to keep the weight down to 7kg or less, but this is only worthwhile if you can keep your BMI to under 25, or ideally 23.

Obviously it all comes down to budget. How much do you want to spend?

Moonbiker

Why noy just buy a bike then fit a triple.

(Buy new crank front mech & left sti)

ademort

Garry H wrote:

Just buy whatever bike you hired last time. Aren't you overthinking this a bit?

Bike i had last time was a Trek Domane but i don,t know which model. Can,t find a Trek Domane triple on the net anywhere?

Moonbiker

Triples aren't trendy thats why they have brought out theese stupidly over priced super compacts:

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/arti ... sts-48974/

w00dster

Have a play with this part of the Trek website, i used to have the Trek Domane 2.0 triple as a winter / commuter.

http://archive.trekbikes.com/uk/en/2014

sheffsimon

ademort wrote:

davidof wrote:

ademort wrote:

I,m again taking part in an event in France next year that requires a tremendous amount of climbing in one day.

how much climbing?

Six times up Alp D,huez

Sounds dreadful.

I wouldn't be too worried about weight, any half decent bike will be fine.

FatTed

Talk to mean red spider he has done this event before

ademort

FatTed wrote:

Talk to mean red spider he has done this event before

I,ve also done this event before. I know what i need. Triple 30 front and at least 30 rear . However i would like to fit 32 or 34 rear if possible. As i,ve said theres almost nothing out there any more with that spec.

pblakeney

Surely most mountain bike chainsets will fit on a road bike?
Add a long rear derailleur, cassette and go!

cycleclinic

Campagnolo Athena triple groupsets are still available. Buy a frame that fits you and buy the groupset. job done.

greasedscotsman

My Spesh Diverge Comp has a 32/32 bottom gear. Not sure it's going to be light enough though.

stueys

Surely a 34/32 would be low enough? I've not been up the Alp six times but I've done Ventoux 3 times (which is about the same amount of climbing) with a 34/28 and honestly didn't really want a lower range. Cut as much weight as possible (both you and bike) and crack on.

First two km of the climb are tough but after that it's a nice 7-8% all the way up.

ZMC888

Stueys wrote:

Surely a 34/32 would be low enough? I've not been up the Alp six times but I've done Ventoux 3 times (which is about the same amount of climbing) with a 34/28 and honestly didn't really want a lower range. Cut as much weight as possible (both you and bike) and crack on.

First two km of the climb are tough but after that it's a nice 7-8% all the way up.

I've done a few Everestings and my thoughts are entirely the same as yours. Honestly I think I'd be OK with a 34 and 11-28 on an average 9% gradient, well at least the first couple of trips up.

svetty

Stueys wrote:

Surely a 34/32 would be low enough? I've not been up the Alp six times but I've done Ventoux 3 times (which is about the same amount of climbing) with a 34/28 and honestly didn't really want a lower range. Cut as much weight as possible (both you and bike) and crack on.

First two km of the climb are tough but after that it's a nice 7-8% all the way up.

Assuming you climbed from Sault on the 3rd ascent it's not quite the same as the Alpe when you're knackered. Having said this a 1:1 ratio should be enough...

turbo1191

Any new bike with the new ultegra 8000 series groupset can take a 34t at the back.. i would imagine a 50/34 with a 34 at the back would be ideal.. or buy the bike that you really want and fit a different rear mech and cassette..