I’m in the process of building pricing up an escapade for touring for the summer and just wondered if anyone had any sage advice on gearing.

I was looking at getting the new 11 speed 105 with 36 chainring and 34 cassette (partly because the bike will be used for some road riding after the tour).

My question is is this likely to give me enough gear range, In terms of relief on the route I’m heading over the eastern side of the alps then down to athens, hopping up to Hellsinki then up and over to Sweden and Norway.

In terms of my viewpoint, the gear ratios of 36/34 is roughly the same as a more traditional 30/28 setup (with triple crankset).

Cheers in advance

Joe

Seems awfy tall to me, but then I use an Ultegra triple and an XT cassette.

Maybe you’re a lot younger / stronger / lightly loaded than me.

I’ve been running 36/50 and 11-32 cassette and it really wasn’t anywhere low enough for me when touring with some loaded panniers.

My girlfriend was having much more luck on here Ridgeback Touring bike which had a 26/38/48 chainset and 11-34t cassette.

It all depends on how much you’re carrying and how you’re using the bike though.

26/36/48 & 11-36 here. Copes with most circumstances. Don’t mind changing tyres for different rides, but I’m not swapping major components. This lets me spin up a 1:3 or 48/11 lets me stay up with (slow) roadies.

I’ll be pretty loaded (approx 10-12kg) given its 6 weeks mostly camping and self supported.
In terms of future use I guess it would be a little bit of touring/bikepacking/long days out.

I must say one of things that was attracting me was the cheap groupsets on Merlin.

On a side note I have toured with 36/28 as my lowest which definitely wasn’t enough.

Also I made a mistake before the Shimano combination would be 34/32 rather than 36/34

I’ve got a 54/34 with a 11-36 at the back and I did actually use the bottom gear on my last trip through Mull and the West Coast of Scotland. Whether I actually needed to go that low is another question. 34×32 would handle most of what I’ve done.

I’ve gone for 24/36/48 with an 11-36.

Used both the smallest and largest gears yesterday on the way home from Hebden to Burnley via Heptonstall.

Sounds like a great trip. Most riders would want a lower gear than 34-32 for 10-12kg in the Alps or a multi-week long tour. I would, I’d generally use 40-28 double with 11-32 for multi-day rides that take in anything steep like Italian climbs or dirt roads, usually carrying less than 6kg and used to riding a SS MTB so fairly happy on taller gearing. But it’s all really variable, worth trying it out somehow. 105 compact with a 9s MTB rear mech and an 11-36 is a fair range.

Okay so following on from this presume most are using MTB chainsets with either road or MTB cassettes.
Are any of you using MTB bits with road shifters and have you found any issues (other than exceeding the manufacturers operation range)?

34-48 up front with 11-36 mtb meched back end. The kitchen sink tends to make an appearance on my trips though. Spare lighter wheels with 11-28 for the commute.

As I said up there – Ultegra triple, XT cassette (both 10-speed) with 10-speed STIs and a 9 speed XT rear mech.

Running a 34:48 upfront qn an 11:32 out back.

On the list of to dos before next tour is a triple upfront with an xt touring most likely. P

Yup, road and mtb mix:
Dura Ace 10 speed bar end shifters.
105 front mech.
Stronglight triple (square taper BB).
Deore 9 speed rear mech.
HG50(?) cassette.

Bit of a mix but works perfectly.
So far!

ultegra 50/40/30
12/36 cas with deore 9 speed rear mech

If I was loaded up anywhere near the Alps I’d want as low a gear as possible! I’d go 22/34/44 with a 11-32 cassette.

I found the comments on this thread very helpful.

34:32 was fine for touring calais – amsterdam. but coming back over the surrey hills was very hard work – i didn’t walk any hills, but i did have to pause for a breather a couple of times.

26/28 would be a better c ring.

Briefly, it depends. You have a fair range there but if you struggle or walk up stuff you could’ve ridden with a different setup you’ll be annoyed. Are there any locaal hills for you to try it out on fully laden?

Thanks for all the help guys, pretty sure I’ll go for a bigger range after the advice.
Unfortunately testing different stuff isn’t an option as currently the bike is just a parts list!

Ring Spa with debit card in your hand and buy what they recommend

My current tourer has a 105 compact 50/34 on front and 11-36 out back with an xt speed mech. Now building a Fargo which will first use for a 500 mile bimble round scotland in June. That will have 24/36 on the front and 11-36 on the back. Last thing i want to do on tired legs is push a heavy gear!

22/32/44 and 11-34 on my Fargo has winched me up a few cols in the Alps, more importantly for touring I was able to spin up them and didn’t really feel the need to factor in any recovery. Mixed SLX/XT drivetrain with Dura Ace bar end shifters have yet to miss a beat – shifting in friction mode is amazingly intuitive despite my reservations.

That said I’m currently looking at double options for short and fast(er) weekend jaunts with STIs and lighter wheels. Road compact and 11-36 could work but is already maxed (minned?) out at both ends in case it gets tough. The Middleburn Incy option looks grand but you certainly pay for it, and the 22/40 they suggest seems like a big jump. A 28/40 Shimano SLX double is a fraction of the price but I’m not entirely sure how far up and down you can go if swapping out the chainrings.

A 28/40 Shimano SLX double is a fraction of the price but I’m not entirely sure how far up and down you can go if swapping out the chainrings.

I only need to spin 40-11 faster than I’m comfortable with at around 27-28mph, past 30 and I’ll tuck rather than pedal to go faster. Starting to think a 42 is as big as I’d need on anything aimed at distances rather than bunch chain-gang pace.
Wish Middleburn did a 104 double spider for the RS7. I like doubles for bar-end shifters, either-or rather than middle ring trimming works for me.

I’ve got a 42/28 MTB chainset on mine with 11-36 out the back. Gets me up pretty much anything and goes as fast as I want to when I’m on the pedals.

I’ll say what I always say on touring bike threads – Get the lowest gears possible. It’s not a race. You WILL NOT miss high gears but you will most likely need lower ones.
Me?
22/32/44 with 11-34 cassette. Mrs PP has the same with a 12-36 cassette. We never run out of top gears. 🙂

Those of you who are using MTB chainsets on STI shifters (Brifters), what front mechs are you using? As I understand it you need a triple, road mech if you’re using road shifters however such as 105 front mech only allows a maximum gear difference of 20 teeth. (so 26/36/48 would be out of the question).

I know there’s always the option of bar end shifters but I would much prefer Brifters

For what it’s worth, I run Ultegra 10sp on a Croix de Fer and have just invested in a Sugini OX601D chainset, this runs 46/30 with an 30 on the back, I’ll see how it goes, but I’m thinking a 32 on the back and it’s all ultegra and good chain line!

I’ve gone low for loaded touring. XT touring triple on front with 48/36/26 and 32 at the back on 26″ wheels. This has seen me through the Pyrenees carrying tent etc.

Those of you who are using MTB chainsets on STI shifters (Brifters), what front mechs are you using?I know there’s always the option of bar end shifters but I would much prefer Brifters

My wife’s bike has a 48/36/26 chainset with STI shifters and a Tiagra mech. It is 9 speed but I don’t know if that makes a difference.

I’ve got bar end shifters and really like them but the bike is a heavy old MTB turned into drop bar tourer and used for longish heavily loaded touring. They seemed to make sense for that bike / usage.

No-one ever regretted getting lower gears, ever. I’ve got bar end shifters for my triple/8speed. Keeping them separate from brake levers also means I can use magura HS66 hydraulics (not been made in years) which are the best canti brakes ever made.

Thanks for this thread, it’s been an interesting read.
I’m running a standard Kaffenback with Sram Apex 50-34 with a 11-28 rear block and as I am an unfit fat bloke I am finding the hills on my commute to work (West Cornwall) a bit of a climb and my legs are just not strong enough to push those gears at the moment.
Looks like if I want to go to a go for the 11-32 I need to change to the Apex WiFLi rear mech…. might need to wait for a pay day or two after paying for my Alfine….
I don’t think I can drop to a smaller inside ring with the Apex front derailleur.

Cheers, Steve

With Sram Apex you can use their MTB derailleurs. You could run a bigger cassette that way, I have 11-36 on mine with an X-9 rear derailleur.

Thanks Steezysix

Some of you seem to know what works with what, so can any of you give me some advise please. My set up is 2×11 with rs685 stis, 50/34 chainset and 11-32 cassette. I’m off to the alps in the summer for a couple of weeks and will be carrying my kit. I’ll be travelling fairly light,more bike packing than traditional touring but there will be a lot of climbing, maybe 50,000m. Any ideas of how to set up lower gearing using my current stis?

Lindarets Roadlink and an 11-36 or even 11-40 cassette might be the simplest option

Pete, have a look on cyclingabout.com, there’s some good articles on mashup gearing that covers all the options.

Wolf Tooth Tanpan: Mix MTB Components with STI Road Shifters to Lower Your Gearing

JTek Shiftmate: Mix MTB Cassettes with STI Road Shifters to Lower Your Gearing

Low Gear Range: Road Shifters & Gears For Easier Hill Climbing

Is there an 11-36 11 speed cassette for road hubs – would the current 11 speed mtb ones fit – I’m a bit vague on their compatibility…

Thanks jameso I’ll look through that. I think the tanpan maybe the easiest solution . Breathes, I don’t think the mtb cassettes will work on 11 speed as standard. They’re too big for a road mech and a mtb mech won’t work with road shifters. A 11-36 11speed cassette would be just the job tbh.

There’s an 11-36 version of the SRAM PG1170.

I think that you might get one of these in a 5800 medium cage. (it’s something I have been considering trying)

Another option is to swap the crank for a Middleburn one. They do a range of spiders with BCD from 58 to 130mm, so you can run anything from normal road gearing right down to a 20 tooth inner ring.