Ooooh kay,

Recently bought a lovely second hand Trek 1400 road bike – 13 years old, but really good condition and built up with some cracking bits on it.

Sadly, in my haste to hand over the cash I failed to notice the gearing, which is 53/39 tooth chain rings at the front, and a 23 tooth large rear sprocket.

Not had a road bike for 20 years, so technique is a bit lacking(!?!), but Jesus H Corbett, the local hills around Calderdale are killing me!

Just been for a circular ride around Bolton via Rivington, and my legs do seem to be getting better at turning the bigger gears over, but I'm finding that I really need to climb standing to get anywhere, and these were really only very moderate inclines today.
I rarely climb standing on the mountain bike, so the muscles required are getting a bit of a shock.

What to do? Admit defeat and buy some expensive lower gears?
Big dose of MTFU and stop acting like a big girls blouse, or avoid the really steep stuff 'till my technique and fitness improve?

I'm fat and 40ish, can usually manage 25/30 mile off road days at a steady pace if this helps!

All advice & abuse, civil or otherwise more than welcome 😀

39/23 on a decent hill is a workout if you're not 11 stone…

I'd stick a 25 or 27 on the back and there'll be nothing you can't get up…

Big dose of MTFU and stop acting like a big girls blouse

Tick

Don't get all bogged down in the gearing of road bikes, as long as it's not stupid, which 39×23 is not; then you will be fine.

For the record I'm 15st and have ridden some major climbs on a set up very similar to yours. Just ride a lot, don't think about it to much and fitness will come with time.

I'm sure there will be plenty along soon with the perfect set up. How spending £200+ on a triple and a 11-34 will make your life easy. Or Buying a lightweight seat post bolt will let you sail up those hills! 😆

That's a tall gear for a hilly area – no shame in gearing down. cheapest solution is to change the cassette – is it 8 or 9 speed? you can even fit an mtb cassette to give yourself a wagon wheel granny if you like…

Sorry, would have had more abuse in the post as per your request but there's a roast in the oven and I'm half way through a bottle of white – feeling good with the world after a muddy couple of hours…

Look, I'm assuming you do this for fun? You're not training to be some sort of world class athlete, or planning to blow away the local racer boys? Then TBH get some gears that'll make it enjoyable. A compact and a decent spread of gears out back.

Just no triples, OK? 🙂

Not at all mate, don't worry yourself about it. We all have a maximum potential and physioligical disposition and it could be that no matter how hard you train, that gearing is going to be too hard for you.
I go out a couple of times a month with a Cat 1 road racer and he gets up Winnats on that gearing but he knows he's done it and he doesn't look forwrd to it much and if I remember correctly, those hills round your way are as near if not as steep as Winnats.
It'll get easier until you get as good as you can be (if you really want to work that hard) or you can chuck a long cage rear mech and 27 cog on when (and if) you concede defeat and you may just find you're enjoying your cycling more.

It took me ages to type that and now others have said it already.

Ian, it's an 8 speed.
Think I'll pop into LBS and see what they have knocking about.

Ta for all the advice so far.

Just fit a compact 34/50 chainset and you'll probably be fine. If not, bigger cassette

no shame in low gearing, i used to run 34/46 at the front as i hated the jump between rings on a 34/50. have 11-28 on the back now and I've gone back to the 34/50

Tough gearing
I run 34/50 with 12-25 rear and that's about right
Tend to have a gear or 2 in reserve on all but the biggest hills
Be careful how big you go at the back as I think you will need a higher rise rear mech with much above 28

I've done Winnats on 42-19….

When I was racing, 39-23 was considered a bit of an easy gear…

However, now, as a chubby-ish ex racer who likes riding rather than racing, I use a compact 50-34 at the front with 12-23 at the back.

Just buy a cheap Shimano compact, they are about £50, and stop fretting.

45 GI – mtfu.

I'm a cat two road racer and live in the peaks….mtfu is all well and good.But you need to be reallistic,I ride a 34-27 on my training bike and 38-27 0n my race bike.Im 10st wet through and 6'4 so dont worry,big cassette and compact.
SORTED

just keep on as you are. Ride at hard stuff though, don't wimp out because it looks hard. Won't be long before you never drop out of the big ring, and not long after that before you'll be looking for something higher. It'll hurt a bit at first but you'll love it once you get there.

Changing to a compact first is crap advice, it won't make much difference and it's expensive. Change to a 26 cassette instead.

When I first bought a road bike a few years ago it also had the same high gearing which meant that any signficant hill required a lot of standing up and pedalling. I soon replaced it with a bike with a triple groupset fitted and that was a lot better. Even then, with a bottom gear of 30:28, it was still a lot higher geared than a mountain bike so I put a 28:38:48 on the front and an 11:34 on the back.

a 39×26 is almost exactly the same gear inch as a 34×23. Change to a compact and a bigger cassette, spin up those hills and enjoy yourself. It's always better to have too many gears than not enough.

Some of you smug MTFUers obviously haven't ridden a road bike in Calderdale, a lot of the climbs are seriously steep, much steeper in general than the Peak – bar Winnats and one or two others. Yes, you can hammer yourself senseless on every ride and possibly get used to it, but is that why you're riding a bike?

Yes, you can hammer yourself senseless on every ride and possibly get used to it, but is that why you're riding a bike?

Is there another reason for riding a roadbike? Other than finding people to overtake and making them hurt more than you are?

What BWD said – Calderdale is STEEP. A lot of the roads are quite lumpy too so you can never get much of a rhythm going.
You might be a bit restricted by what's available 8sp but changing the cassette will make more of a difference than changing the chainset. You'll almost certainly need a new chain as well especially if the one on there is quite old. The rear mech will be fine, that'll cope with anything up to 28T at the back.

Is there another reason for riding a roadbike? Other than finding people to overtake and making them hurt more than you are?

You really are quite sad. Look around you some time, smile at the sheep, wonder at the ickle little birdies flying around. Smell the flowers. 🙂

"changing the cassette will make more of a difference than changing the chainset." err no. It's the cumulative gear inches. Changing the chainset or cassette will have the same effect quite often, you will end up with the same gear. It sounds to me that the original questioner need to change both.

If it's Shimano – then there is loads of cassette availablity but for Campag it's much more limited.

When I changed my 8-speed triple set-up to have an 11-34 I also changed the rear mech to a MTB one – Acera I think.

You really are quite sad.

I completely agree.

12-27 cassette should do it, maybe a chain to go with it. Definitely no shame in it especially living in a hilly area. A lot cheaper to try a chain and cassette first than a compact/triple. If you still need lower then get the compact.

"You really are quite sad. Look around you some time, smile at the sheep, wonder at the ickle little birdies flying around. Smell the flowers."

there's plenty of time to do that while waiting for people at the top 😉

i prescribe a mix of a 27 on the back and MTFU by the way

No you are not a wuss, I know you'll get the old schoolers saying we only had 42 front chain rings and 19's on the back etc etc. But things move on, people dont get softer, equipment just develops usually for the better in most cases. And if you live in a lumpy area (as I do in North Wales) then 39/23 is too big a gear. You can either get a Compact and run a 11-23 which should give you a usable spread of ratios or just get a 12-27 cassette and run your 53-39 chainset. (The only downside of the 12-27 cassette is being a bit between ratios at the top of the block.
But its no big deal in training. I train with a couple of 1st cats, one is a very quick first cat doing the premier calendar races and a 60kg climbing specialist. When he trains he runs 12-25,

What BWD said – Calderdale is STEEP.

Yup, did my first ever road bike ride round there (with a compact) and the very first climb out of Hebden Bridge was brutal as hell. Not much round here (Lancaster) or in the Lakes that I can think of that's as bad.

Not much round here (Lancaster) or in the Lakes that I can think of that's as bad.

There's a few climbs out in the Trough of Bowland that can be quite brutal. Otherwise you need to head a bit further north – try The Struggle out of Ambleside up to Kirkstone Pass. 😉

Jubilee tower is the worst one I can think of (but I've not done loads of road riding) – I think the climb I did out of Hebden Bridge was worse though.

The Struggle would be pretty brutal.

There's a few climbs out in the Trough of Bowland that can be quite brutal. Otherwise you need to head a bit further north – try The Struggle out of Ambleside up to Kirkstone Pass.

I did that the other week, in the rain. Thought it was okay, but then I was mostly looking around at ickle birdies, sheep, flowers and stuff 🙂

They hold hill climb races on the Jubilee Tower climb. Starts at the crossroads in Quernmore, finishes at the little stone tower. Record is sub 8 mins, closest I ever got to it was 8.14 and that was when I was a young fit cat 2 roadie. F*** me it hurt! (39:23 gearing by the way… 😉 )

Nowadays I tend to go for the BWD school of hill climbing – look at the view/birds/sheep/flowers.

Jubilee tower is the worst one I can think of (but I've not done loads of road riding) – I think the climb I did out of Hebden Bridge was worse though.

Which ones are we talking about here? The Hebden Bridge climb being the one over to Keighley? That's not so bad. Long, but not that steep.

Jubilee tower (in Darwen, yes?), now that's a tough climb.

edit, aah, seen crazy-legs reference, yeah I know that one.

Sorry crazy-legs – the Jubilee tower record is now 7m 13s, average speed 14.55mph! 😯

http://sites.google.com/site/lancastercyclingclub/Home/events-results-2009/2009-10-04-jubilee-res

Jubilee Tower is from Quernmore/Lancaster towards the Trough of Bowland.

Not sure what climb out of Hebden, went past a church and up onto the moors.

Yeah, that sounds like the Keighley climb, that's easily doable in a 53 ring. 😉

I like the look of the Jubilee tower climb, I might ride over there this weekend to give it a go. 7 minutes you say?

Got it, starting here. Tower bottom right.

sweet!

From from what I've read optimum hill training is interval, easing off at threshold – when your legs 'start' to hurt. Not trying to sprint up till your legs turn to jelly. That might improve your sprinting but not necessarily hill performance.

To manage it properly you need a range of gears that suits your current level of fitness / hill grade and allows you to gear up and down as necessary probably a number of times on the long ascents. Simple as that really.

After you've got a year's riding under your belt a standard set-up will probably be fine for anything. But I reckon for beginners north of the Severn Wash line more progress would be made in the first year with an MTB cassette and dérailleur. After which you have spares for your MTB and can start telling others to MTFU.

Well, thanks for all the advice.

Decided to go with the cheapest option for a bit and see what happened, so MTFU it was!

Have done a couple more rides and I AM slowly getting used to it.

Just been out today from Radcliffe with my SO and her youngest daughter, through Bury and up past Burrs, Peel Tower, over the Grane Road and back over the hill at Affetside.

Hurt on the last climb up to Affetside, but managed to ride it all! Had to stop a couple of times, just to let the world come back into focus, but really, really enjoyed it.
Big thanks to the bearded chap on the black Orange 5 for letting me hang onto his wheel up past Peel Tower – you're an absolute star.

Big thanks to the bearded chap on the black Orange 5 for letting me hang onto his wheel up past Peel Tower – you're an absolute star.

Oh you'll never make a roadie, you've just admitted to wheelsucking a mountain biker, one on a full sus at that!
I'm just waiting now for the thread to appear on here from the rider of a black Orange 5 saying how he overotok some knackered roadie then had to tow him to the top of the hill!

😉

Seriously though, well done for sticking with it, it's amazing how quickly your fitness picks up.

I'm impressed if you can ride that gearing up past Peel tower. 😉