options to lower gearing for climbs

Vino'sGhost

scfc151 wrote:

tell you what. ill take your advise and get the administrators to take me off the forum.

"Dont confuse him bless."

if you think comments like that isnt takin the wee-wee then i dont know what is. i know cycling is an elitist sport full of egos but all i was after was some genuine mechanical advise on the best way to adjust the gearing. anyway enjoy each others snidey comments

The point is you've just started, you're young and light and struggling with the hills. thats perfectly normal and the answer is ride a little and you'll be fine.

If not, or if you don't want to put any effort in get an e bike.

If you're so new you cant turn the cranks over, the likelihood of you understanding, appreciating and remembering not to cross your chain is pretty much zero.

Thats not being abusive or elitist but your response makes you appear angry and taking your ball home in a paddy is not an attractive trait or behaviour. Have you considered other less taxing, less sociable activities? HAM radio perhaps.

Vino'sGhost

drlodge wrote:

Singleton wrote:

You can run a 30 rear with no other adjustments or changes - I fit one to my CAAD12.
Shimano make 11/30 cassettes.

Not necessarily so. If the chain has been sized for big-big, there's no slack for additional teeth and big ringing the gears on big-big with a 30T cassette will not make for a happy ending.

Theres a good reason to use small small and let the mech deal with different sized cassettes.

singleton

drlodge wrote:

Singleton wrote:

You can run a 30 rear with no other adjustments or changes - I fit one to my CAAD12.
Shimano make 11/30 cassettes.

Not necessarily so. If the chain has been sized for big-big, there's no slack for additional teeth and big ringing the gears on big-big with a 30T cassette will not make for a happy ending.

Fair point. I should have stated that you can run a 30 rear with the standard rear mech on a CAAD12.

slowbike

scfc151 wrote:

tell you what. ill take your advise and get the administrators to take me off the forum.

"Dont confuse him bless."

if you think comments like that isnt takin the wee-wee then i dont know what is. i know cycling is an elitist sport full of egos but all i was after was some genuine mechanical advise on the best way to adjust the gearing. anyway enjoy each others snidey comments

snidey or jokey?

you're 33 - not 3 - whilst you may not appreciate the "jokes" - you can just ignore those comments and respond to those who are treating your question seriously. Throwing your teddy out the pram is one way, but it's not going to get you anywhere.

As you say you're already running and swimming & state you're fairly muscular ... but it seems (quite understandably) that your muscles are not the ones you need for cycling up steep gradients - there's a few methods of sorting this - get easier gearing, ride up hills more, lose weight. Any one of these 3 will help - a combination of the 3 will help more. It's up to you what's achievable and desirable.

If you're intending on doing a lot of steep climbs - change the crankset. If you're looking at only doing a few - then change the cassette (a30T should be possible - but check the chain length)

drlodge

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Theres a good reason to use small small and let the mech deal with different sized cassettes.

I could not agree with you more.

Bottom briquettes

drlodge wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Theres a good reason to use small small and let the mech deal with different sized cassettes.

I could not agree with you more.

Which may have been the case 20 years ago. But cross chaining isn’t the issue it once was.

Vino'sGhost

Bottom briquettes wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Theres a good reason to use small small and let the mech deal with different sized cassettes.

I could not agree with you more.

Which may have been the case 20 years ago. But cross chaining isn’t the issue it once was.

Why is that? have the laws of Physics changed?

shortfall

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Bottom briquettes wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Theres a good reason to use small small and let the mech deal with different sized cassettes.

I could not agree with you more.

Which may have been the case 20 years ago. But cross chaining isn’t the issue it once was.

Why is that? have the laws of Physics changed?

This puzzled me also. Has something changed that means cross chaining is ok now?

drlodge

Shortfall wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Bottom briquettes wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Theres a good reason to use small small and let the mech deal with different sized cassettes.

I could not agree with you more.

Which may have been the case 20 years ago. But cross chaining isn’t the issue it once was.

Why is that? have the laws of Physics changed?

This puzzled me also. Has something changed that means cross chaining is ok now?

I can think of a couple of reasons why cross chaining is a bit more problematic now than years back:
- rear axles changed from 126mm to 130mm with a wider cassette, so the chain has further to move from smallest to largest sprocket.
- cassettes have got bigger, with larger sprockets to provide a lower gear, so when in big-big there is a bit more friction.

imposter2.0

Just to be clear - you won't get a reply on this. 'Bottom Briquettes' is actually a pretty good username in this context - it very accurately describes the guy's posting style...

taon24

Cheapest option: 11-32 cassette approx 13% easier.
Next: new chainring and cassette 34-32 low gear is approx 20% easier.
Most expensive: new crankset and cassette. 46/30 with a 11-32 Will get most people up most things

Vino'sGhost

Shortfall wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Bottom briquettes wrote:

drlodge wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Theres a good reason to use small small and let the mech deal with different sized cassettes.

I could not agree with you more.

Which may have been the case 20 years ago. But cross chaining isn’t the issue it once was.

Why is that? have the laws of Physics changed?

This puzzled me also. Has something changed that means cross chaining is ok now?

Bottom Briquettes is not the sharpest tool in the box......

lettingthedaysgoby

https://road.cc/content/feature/213468- ... ly-all-bad

Shimano say don't do it, SRAM say it's fine.

Take you pick

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Does anyone happen to know the sprocket size sequence of the 105/Ultegra 11-34 cassette?

I've managed to find a few other cassette specs...
12-25 (12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-23-25)
11-28 (11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28)
11-30 (11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30)
11-32 (11-12-13-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32)*

* What I use currently in 105 5800 flavour with 34/50 chainset

poptart242

scfc151 wrote:

im 33 5'8 78kg. reasonably muscular. i swim and run regularly and go for rides generally speaking 60-90mins at present. id like to do futher distance but time doesnt allow at the moment. its the bigger climbs say 15%+ that i feel im running out of gear. generally speaking i feel more comfortable riding at a higher cadence anyway

I'm roughly your age, height, and weight, have the same bike frame, same ratios and a preference for higher cadence. Stick an 11-30 or 11-32 on it if you like but if you're new to cycling and expect the 15% climbs to feel anything other than hard, I have some news for you...

dj58

NitrousOxide wrote:

Does anyone happen to know the sprocket size sequence of the 105/Ultegra 11-34 cassette?

I've managed to find a few other cassette specs...
12-25 (12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-23-25)
11-28 (11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28)
11-30 (11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30)
11-32 (11-12-13-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32)*
11-34 (11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-27-30-34)

* What I use currently in 105 5800 flavour with 34/50 chainset

mrfpb

I'm pretty sure Chris Froome used a 34/32 gear on one stage on his way to winning the Giro this year.
If you want to enjoy the hills try and get a 50/34 set up sorted at the front and a 32 tooth gear at the back (as recommended above). There's no point "hoping " you get better in the future with your current set up. If you're not happy, change it and keep up with your mates. Hang on to your current chainrings and cassette, for when you do improve.

Vino'sGhost

mrfpb wrote:

I'm pretty sure Chris Froome used a 34/32 gear on one stage on his way to winning the Giro this year.
If you want to enjoy the hills try and get a 50/34 set up sorted at the front and a 32 tooth gear at the back (as recommended above). There's no point "hoping " you get better in the future with your current set up. If you're not happy, change it and keep up with your mates. Hang on to your current chainrings and cassette, for when you do improve.

I suspect he'll go and try something else , its too much effort for him. Robot wars is good

N0bodyOfTheGoat

DJ58 wrote:

NitrousOxide wrote:

Does anyone happen to know the sprocket size sequence of the 105/Ultegra 11-34 cassette?

I've managed to find a few other cassette specs...
12-25 (12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-23-25)
11-28 (11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28)
11-30 (11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30)
11-32 (11-12-13-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32)*
11-34 (11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-27-30-34)

* What I use currently in 105 5800 flavour with 34/50 chainset

Thanks for that, gives me something to ponder over, pretty sure I was in 34/32 towards the final bit of https://www.strava.com/activities/18463 ... /4627/4689 yesterday.

Biggest compromise is an easier gear for that 11-13 jump at the speed end, which I already have on the Voodoo, which is a pretty significant effort increase even with its 38T chainring... Plus a noticeable jump in price! :shock:

dj58

You could replace the 11T sprocket with a 12T to reduce the jump, 50-12 is still a tall gear, 8.1 ratio (109.9 inches). 50-11 8.8 ratio (119.9 inches).

N0bodyOfTheGoat

DJ58 wrote:

You could replace the 11T sprocket with a 12T to reduce the jump, 50-12 is still a tall gear, 8.1 ratio (109.9 inches). 50-11 8.8 ratio (119.9 inches).

I did wonder about that, but doesn't that also mean buying a 12T cassette lock ring?

As it happens, I found a pretty good price for 11-32 105 5800 cassettes at Evans earlier (£31.49), using my BC discount so I ordered one.

I'm not usually one for powering down big inclines that often, the 11T and 12T sprockets get very little use, 13T only gets a bit more. In terms of gearing, I'd be quite happy with 14-34 with my compact chainset (I'm pretty sure I had a 10-speed 14-28 on my old Felt, but that was only tackling short local ~10% inclines at best, long before I realised the South Downs categorised climbs were so close)... The price of those so-called "junior" cassettes in 105/Ultegra 11-speed these days are pretty eye-watering though! :shock:

Bumo_b

Doing L'Etape last year, I went with a triple crankset and a long cage at the back. Gave me a 30-34 for the last really steep part of the Izoard and whilst half of the people were walking in parts, I spun, albeit slowly all the way to the top. Managed to go along at 20mph for the first 130km, but on the climbs I leave a lot to be desired. My colleague has described my climbing skills as "climbing like a baby elephant" but I never stopped climbing! Worked for me. Picked it all up for just shy of £100 (crank, derailleur and cassette)

fenix

The OP stropped off 10 days ago. I'm not sure if he solved his problem.

Bottom briquettes

Imposter wrote:

Just to be clear - you won't get a reply on this. 'Bottom Briquettes' is actually a pretty good username in this context - it very accurately describes the guy's posting style...

Spell Irony for me.

Bottom briquettes

drlodge wrote:

I can think of a couple of reasons why cross chaining is a bit more problematic now than years back:
- rear axles changed from 126mm to 130mm with a wider cassette, so the chain has further to move from smallest to largest sprocket.
- cassettes have got bigger, with larger sprockets to provide a lower gear, so when in big-big there is a bit more friction.

The chains are a lot better now, you really can give them far more grief without risk of failures, than was the case, even only 10 or so years back. The quality assurance procedures, used in the manufacturing process pretty much ensures it.

imposter2.0

Bottom briquettes wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Just to be clear - you won't get a reply on this. 'Bottom Briquettes' is actually a pretty good username in this context - it very accurately describes the guy's posting style...

Spell Irony for me.

I'll spell 'irony' for you Nick, right after you start responding to some of the other recent threads on these forums where your bullsh1t posts are being called out...you know, the ones which you are currently determined to ignore. If you want links to them, let me know...

Ironically, you are also being called out for one of your comments earlier in this thread - but you've somehow managed to ignore that one as well... :roll:

imposter2.0

Bottom briquettes wrote:

drlodge wrote:

I can think of a couple of reasons why cross chaining is a bit more problematic now than years back:
- rear axles changed from 126mm to 130mm with a wider cassette, so the chain has further to move from smallest to largest sprocket.
- cassettes have got bigger, with larger sprockets to provide a lower gear, so when in big-big there is a bit more friction.

The chains are a lot better now, you really can give them far more grief without risk of failures, than was the case, even only 10 or so years back. The quality assurance procedures, used in the manufacturing process pretty much ensures it.

What are these 'new' QA procedures that were not in place before?

dj58

NitrousOxide wrote:

DJ58 wrote:

You could replace the 11T sprocket with a 12T to reduce the jump, 50-12 is still a tall gear, 8.1 ratio (109.9 inches). 50-11 8.8 ratio (119.9 inches).

I did wonder about that, but doesn't that also mean buying a 12T cassette lock ring?

As it happens, I found a pretty good price for 11-32 105 5800 cassettes at Evans earlier (£31.49), using my BC discount so I ordered one.

I'm not usually one for powering down big inclines that often, the 11T and 12T sprockets get very little use, 13T only gets a bit more. In terms of gearing, I'd be quite happy with 14-34 with my compact chainset (I'm pretty sure I had a 10-speed 14-28 on my old Felt, but that was only tackling short local ~10% inclines at best, long before I realised the South Downs categorised climbs were so close)... The price of those so-called "junior" cassettes in 105/Ultegra 11-speed these days are pretty eye-watering though! :shock:

Yes you would need the matching 12T cassette lock ring, may be you could scrounge one from your LBS? Agree that it would be nice to have the option to buy cassettes 13/14T - 32/34T.

cougie

I never thought cross chaining was a problem for chain quality - just the extreme angle and extra friction in the drive chain ?

That's not changed ?

darkhairedlord

I cross chain my 105 quite frequently. If I'm out of the saddle it's easier to change to the 28 on the rear than shift the front to the 34 and then the rear in the opposite direction. The universe does not implode ....