going for a day trip there and my current bike is 1x10 with a 11-36 cassette and 36t up front . Is this a little too much of hard work , should I use a 32t or 34t up front to make it easier . I hear the quantocks has some hills !!!!
sorry about my bad english , long day !
Sharki does / did the Q's on a single speed
but he is as mad as a raddish
I rode an all dayer there back in October on a 32lb hardtail setup 1x9 with a 32T ring and an 11-32T cassette. I struggled... A lot!
I rode there last weekend on an all dayer, riding lots of the same trails, on my 28lb full sus bike with full 3x10 XT setup (including 24/36 lowest gear ratio), and I still struggled... But probably slightly less so.
Some of the climbs in the Quantocks are steep, and most of them are pretty long. I know people that can singlespeed it though, so everything is relative, but it's the kind of place you want to give yourself as much advantage as possible when it comes to gearing IMO.
1x9 here and don't struggle any more than with a wider spread of gears. Ss is a little tougher, but perfectly doable too.
I used to ride their a lot (from Triscombe) and personally think you would get more from the riding with a wider spread of gears.
That said its all fitness/madness dependent.
SS and 1x9 round Q's a few weeks back, bit of a slog but a good workout, spin out a little on the descents though on SS. Good fun on 1x9 though.
I've currently got 34/11-32 on my XC HT. 34/32 seems OK when I except that the odd steeper pitch, e.g. the very top of Lady's Edge, will require either a short push, a short rest, or a session of heave-ho, depending on mood. It's not noticeably slower when trashing the thing in 34/11 along the ridge tops.
Mboy- you can find time to post on here, could you find time to respond to my emails about the frame I paid for a month ago please?
1x9 here and find the Q's just as hard as the people who had 3x9...
@northwind a month!!!!! get the bombers out...!!
I will give it ago then 1x10 it is :):)