In an effort to hit next year in good shape from the off I've decided to visit the dark side over the winter. I'm most interested in long day rides and I'm not sure what gearing to look at - I'm pretty certain that a close-ratio block will prove too much like hard work, so do I go with the man-sized chainset and a wider set of ratios at the rear or do I go for a compact chainset but risk running out of gears or suffering big jumps between gears?
you only need the big ring.
Double and close ratio will be fine.
FWIW I have 39/54 and 11-23 10 speed, no probs at all, even in the Peaks. Remember any hill you are going up on a road bike won't be that steep, it's designed for cars to get up!
And if you live somewhere hilly the difference between a 52 and a 54 on the downs is noticable.
depends on how strong you are and where you ride.
Get a compact.
Stuey01 - MemberGet a compact.
And a blouse.
You should see some of hills round here andrewh 😕 .And if you can spin up 54-11 you must have some big ones !
50-11 @ 100rpm gives 60-62kph.
A compact 34/50 and an 11/25 will give you a bail out crawl home gear at one end and ears pinned back jowl flapper at the other.
Snobs (and kingtut) will tease you about having tourist gears though....as they grind at 13rpm up hills.
Fastest I ever had was on the hill from Loch Leven down to Auchmuirbridge, 55mph (wind assisted!) and spinning like buggery.
I will get 60mph one day. Need to find suitable hill with no corners...
and where do you live that requires a 54 to get the most out of downs hills andrewh ?
my TT bike has a 54 - because thats what it came with , my roadie has a 52.
what have i set my fastest 25 on .... it was infact a borrowed compact ....
so what i be saying is gearing is unimportant its the legs. If its for getting fit id buy a compact chainsetd bike
if your fit id get a standard and close ratio.
little point in getting standard and a wide ratio - lets just add weight at both ends ...
i like my compact.
mrmo, I'm fit rather than strong, and while I'm in the Sarf I have a peculiar liking/aptitude for climbing.
do the snow roads audax then - youll not be needing your 54 but youll see 60mph .....
cairnwell is your friend , youll scare your self shitless
34-50 is a big gap - I'd avoid unless it's all up or down where you ride.
A wider cassette adds **** all weight.
Terry..."roadie" ? It's "road bike" 😡
I had this dilema before buying my new bike as it came standard with 53/39 and 25/11, as i live in a very hilly area i swapped the rear for a 28/11.
i am in the cotswolds, not race fit at moment, i.e. i can do a 60mile ride in the vale of evesham at an average speed of 17mph and get by on a 53x39, 13-26, on this i have one climb, Bushcombe Lane, i have yet to successfully climb in the locality, it is 25% though.
don't know if that helps any.
Cobo rode 34 x 32 on the Angluri and Wiggins 38 x 32! Brad said if he was in the grupetto he would have had something easier! There's alot of posturing about high ratios here. If you want to get fitter for next seasion then a compact with a cassette between 11/12 and 25/28 and you get everywhere by spinning at a higher and more effective cadence. if you want to put some strength work in don't change down when you go up hills. A 50 x 11 gear is higher than Merckx used alot of the time.
I HATE the huge gap on a compact chainset between 50-34 - it just feels rubbish and agricultural.
I use a 39/52 double & the everyday cassette is a 12-27. Works a treat for everyday rides in the peaks... I could do with an 11t for the fast downhill stuff though 🙂
racing (tri) I use an 11-23, unless its a particularly hilly course, in which case I'd put the 12-27 on the race wheels.
My (about to be built) winter trainer/cx bike is going to be 36/48 & 12-27.
Remember 50-11 is a higher gear than 53-12.
Bizarrely I run 38-50 and an 11-23 😕
I should add.... what works for some folk doesn't work for all... but I still hate the massive gap in a compact chainset. I'd go for a double 39/52 or 39/53, and play around with cassettes.
Lots of climbing here in the S.Wales valleys.
39/53 - 11/25 does it all easy enough.
If you've got legs of steel and do lots of long rides and climbs get a standard. if your like the rest of us get a compact. I'm fortunate enough to have two road bikes, one with a standard 39/54 and a 11/27 outback and another with a compact 34/50 and 12/28. I enjoy riding the compact in the Peaks and the Alps. I only ride the Standard when i have a hangover! 😀
cp - your winter gearing is a good set up but probably not readily or cheaply available. You can achieve close ratios on the compact by having a closer cassette. The deciding thing for black hat is what he wants to achieve. He says he wants to get fitter for next season but isn't a strength rider. This suggests to me that he should improve his cadence and therefore his responsiveness so that he can be quicker and sliker off road.
It depends where you live really. Alot of my rides take me over Wrynose or up The Struggle. I used to have a double but now I use a compact and its quicker up the hills. But yes, the big gap between the front cogs is annoying, and a 34 is a bit small for on the flat whereas a 39 is ok.
Aside from sounding like a cock for calling it 'darkside' I'd be inclined to get a compact. I've always run doubles, currently with a 12-25 block and I find myself perpetually either in the big ring at the bottom of the block, or in the inner ring and right at the top of the block. Either way the chainline's crap! I'm v tempted next time to just get a compact, stick in the 50 95% of the time and have the 34 for the big climbs. I've gone for progressively smaller rings on my MTB and liked it, don't see why the road shouldn't follow.
There are also very few places where 50/11 is inadequate!
36-48 can be done very cheaply with 4-arm cranks and deore chainrings 🙂
I still maintain a 'non compact' crankset and wide range cassette would be a good starting point...
Compared with many people I ride with, I'm heavy, weak and a poor climber.
*Most* of the time, a standard is fine, but there are plenty of times I'm fighting it even with a 27 out back. Why? See above.
I also own a compact, and put that on for big days out - like the full edition (all 165 miles) of the Tour of Flanders.
Get a compact, with a 12-25. Then, when you're strong as, ride a standard.
Just get a compact, go for something like an 11-28 at the back and laugh at all the "hard" roadies knackering their kness as they struggle up anything steep.
thing is, adding one tooth at the rear is the same as reducing 3 at the front
if the bike you buy has a compact chainset then you'll be right, but if it has a standard then see how you get on and if it's too hardcore, get a cassette rather than changing chainset
I'm another one who hates the big gap on compact chainsets. Maybe it's just cos I've always used a 39/53.
Chances are if you're buying a new road bike it'll come with a compact anyway unless you're spending £££ and buying a full on race bike.
Cp - where do you get you 48 chainring from?
My winter bike has 34/50 12-27 (+ rack & pannier)
My Summer bike has 39/53 12-27
My Cross bike has 36/46 12-25
I get on fine with the jump between the 34 and 50 chainrings on my winter bike, it just means changing up or down at the back when you change rings - I do it without thinking now.
34-50 11-25 seems fine to me. You get used to the jump.
36/45 11-25 here, no probs on the climbs, can spin out on the descents though
On both of my road bikes I've had & got I've had a compact with 11-25 out back.
I find I can get up anything I've come across in this country and have never found to be wanting for more gears when sprinting on club runs.
Incidently my commuter also has a compact but with 11-27 out back in 9speed, kinda helpful considering the biek weighs 22lbs before you add the rack, panniers & guards (so over 30lbs all in) 😀
Good thoughts folks - even more suggestions than I expected. What do I want out of it? Just a decent alternative to the mountain bike for putting miles in the legs and if I really get into it, something I could use a bit more seriously on a sportive or such like. As someone who tends to ride with a decent cadence (helped by a weekly spin class), I think I should be working on my weakness which is probably strength. Budget isn't too constrained so I can probably pick my set-up (perhaps I should lower my sights and ride what I'm given.......). The idea of getting a standard double and experimenting with the cassette appeals on grounds of cost, but the compact argument seems to have lots of validity too.
I'm unfit and 40 odd and tend to spin.
I've fitted a 48/34 Stonglight compact (from Spa Cycles in Harrogate)and a 12-28 cassette, replacing a 50/39 and an 11-21.
For where I ride (Snowdonia, Lancs/Yorks, Northumberland and the Dales) it's great, so much easier on the knees.
Tend to stick it in the middle of the block and have to use the front quite a lot, but it's no hassle.
I do run out of gears on big downhills, but it's worth it to be able to climb up to Heptonstall and up the Llanberis pass without having to throw up every half mile. 😀
Go with 50/34 and 11-25. You wont run out of gears downhill and have a good even spread of ratios for climbing. Check on the gear inches table to see for yourself http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
The fastest guys in the group i ride with are about evenly split normal/compact.
I run a 52/42/30 with a 12-25, and I love it, hills don't wipe you out and you can just sit and spin...
I rode a double for years and still have it on one bike but this year i've been trying out a compact and have quite liked it, just gives another option when it starts to get steep. If i'm doing a hilly ride then i'm probably a bit slower on the earlier hills if im spinning up them whereas with the double i'd have to attack them more, but when i get to climbs after 50 or 60 miles my legs feel fresher than they used to - and its not because i'm any fitter than i was in the past!
I think, to a point, you get used to what you use. I run a compact with 11-25 on the back, live in the Peak, ride in the Lakes etc and I'm quite happy with it. Last year I spent a couple of weeks out in southern Spain with the guys at Freeride Spain and borrowed Simon's road bike for a few days - lots of big, long hills there and initially I found the gearing a bit harder than I was used to, but after a week, it just felt quite normal again.
I'm not strong or fit or good at climbing, but I think maybe people are overthinking it a bit, particularly if you live somewhere rolling rather than mountainous, either'll be fine. As will a triple. If you're doing something like the Whitton and you're not a mountain rider, then you do maybe need to think harder about gearing, ditto if you're a 'serious cyclist', but for the rest of us, I'm not convinced that it's quite as contentious as people are making it out to be...
[The 'ego' side of this is a separate matter altogether. If you're worried about such things, then clearly you must NOT have a triple or a compact, just buy the BIGGEST double you can find and stick the SHORTEST range, SMALLEST cassette you can find and you'll be the King of the Road at every cafe stop. Don't forget to order your Team Sky/Garmin/HTC ensemble at the same time.]
I use 34/50 and 11-32 on mine!
Lots of sudden, short, very steep climbs out in the back-lanes (an' I'm more worn out than I look) 😛
34/50 - 12/27 serves me well, though I sometimes notice the top end is missing a bit.
Never ridden a double though so nothing to properly compare.
Answer for Wingnuts a few posts back....
Deore 48t ring came new off these here classifieds a few weeks ago. They are fairly widely available for £25ish quid.
I went for an 11 speed 12-25 on a compact rather than paying attention to the big ring snobs and getting a double. Plenty of room on the ups and the downs and a nice close cassette too. The jump between 34 and 50 is quite big, but a couple of shifts down the cassette at the same time sort that out, or a compact with a 36 is slightly closer. I got the compact so I didn't need to grind up the hills in the Alps when I go there on holiday, but also so I can still get up some of the silly steep British hills in the lakes and else where that can be a right bitch on a standard double.
Speak to the local bike shops to see what they'd advise and select on your needs.
39/53 11-26 here so MTFU a bit too. 😉
Why is it assumed that if you spin you are unfit? If you watch pro cycling you will find that the best climbers will generally be in a lower gear and turning a higher cadence, whereas the sprinters will be running bigger gears and grinding to the top - Just look at the cadence that Lance Armstrong use to climb at.
I used to ride in a big gear and grind my way up, but in the last couple of years I've tried to train myself to be more of a spinner: At first it was hard work but I've got used to it and now I find it is much better, particularly on long climbs that have a gradient that varies. Spinning may, on the surface seem the easy option, but keeping a high cadence is certainly hard work and takes some training.
Ultimately, someone who runs a compact will be able to ride just as fast on the hills as someone running a double, albeit at a higher cadence, which is supposed to be better for endurance.
Big gears are often run by people who think they are better than they really are.
But not always 🙂Big gears are often run by people who think they are better than they really are
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Hahaha hence why I used the word "often".
I don't get why 34/50 is a HUGE jump and 39/53 is fine, there's really not much difference. I've ridden 39/52, 39/53, 42/52 and currently ride a 34/50 compact. The main issue is what cassette range you're using IMO, for me 12-27 works best but then I don't mind the gaps that produces and my cadence varies to accommodate, I can understand why some people that have a more specific cadence they like to hold don't like the jumps though. 12-27 vs 11-25 means I can still stay seated on some of the steep local climbs if I want to but I'm sure I could adapt easily enough to a 25.
Compact 12-27 for the Winter.
Compact 11-25 for the Summer.
The only people who really care are MTB'ers for some reason. The most interest anyone in the cycling clubs ever paid to it was "ohh a compact, any good? Should I get one?"
But then again I have a B-twin jersey and DHB shorts, so I'm clearly not fassionable enough to realise how uncool my compact is :p
I'm a strong road rider and have used standard 53/39 for years but I like the compact on my work/training bike because the 50 ring is a lot more useful for everything apart from racing.
If I had a 54 ring I would be nearer the bottom of the cassette just riding around. With a 50 I am in the middle of the block normally.
Just put it in the 34 for the steep climbs. I can even use the 50 for quite a few hills.
Get a compact.
rusty90 - Member
Big gears are often run by people who think they are better than they really are.But not always 🙂
Exhibit B: Mr Obree's road-bike, 55x11 top gear IIRC. Was also pulling a trailer when he came over on the ferry to Islay.
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And FWIW, 34/48 and 12-25 here (with a nice blouse to match, thanks 8) ).
In an effort to hit next year in good shape from the off
Just ride fixed over a hilly terrain. Should see you right. 42/16 and find a big hill to ride up and down. My road bike is 42/52 and 12-27 and gets me over most things, but fixed and hills is the fastest way to fitness.