Well if strava says it’s quicker then it’s a winner

been on 11-32 for ages, its good, switching to 11-40 XTR 11 Speed with a Lindarets Road Link

I did three days in the Alps with an 11-36 and standard ultegra mechs / shifters. Got some very jealous looks spinning along side those with ‘normal’ road gearing.

Since i discovered that Contedor used 30×34 in a Giro up hill time trial I feel sure that lots of people ride road bikes with the wrong ratios as they have been told that they don’t need a lower gear. Rather than it being true

11-32 works well on both di2 and mechanical Ultegra 6800 short cage mechs with just a twiddle of the b tension screw. You don’t need a medium cage mech as long as you avoid inner ring/smallest sprocket combos.

32 on the back definitely helped on the Fred for me. Meant I could keep grinding out the pedal strokes up hardknot while all around me people were stalling.

That’s the thing there’s far too much stigma around low gears, but if you’re still spinning happily and they’re struggling or walking then who gives a crap!

I think a lot of the stigma has gone now, given even the pros are happy to use super low of need be eg Tirreno Adriatica a couple of years ago.

I’m on a 34/32 bottom gear on the commuter, it feels just as hard, just slower. Probably will go back to a 12-25 block next time I need a new cassette.

Just to clarify, I’m in the Midlands not the Alps. I’m no hero. I’d want an MTB cassette in the Alps.

I’m on a compact and 11-32 and still struggle up the top of the Steyning bostal. I’m a long way off the best climber but by no means the worst. Got up Ditching beacon on an 11-25 last summer, nearly bloody killed me. The closer ratios were lovely on the flat but not that lovely.

Just answered my own question:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/are-shimano-road-and-mtb-cassetteshubs-intercompatible

macho stopped years ago … minimum 28 now. dabble with 34 or 36 on
the front depending where I’m going 🙂

I have the 12-30 Ultegra cassette for trips to thr Alps, its a road cassette and is about right for most stuff. UK hills are a bit steeper IME and so would run happily run 12-32 or more if needed.

On Ultegra compact with 11-28t.

Manage fine in the west Pennines but I notice there’s now an Ultegra 11-32t cassette, which might be useful in the Lakes.

Wish I could try it without having the expense and faff of changing cassette and chain.

11-30 works fine with a short cage 105, and the 11-32 with a medium cage.

Got 11-36 and an 9 speed XTR mech on my Tripster but unless going 1x on the fron t I think a super-compact at the front and less range at the back might be better as the chain and cage is further from the mud and possible rock strikes on bumpy stuff.

11-32 on a compact front has been a saviour for me. I’d struggled numerous times trying to force too high a great up some hills and it now hurts my knees. Going to the large cassette setup has made the hills more enjoyable again. Who cares about what others think.

The whole big gaps argument doesn’t hold as much water as it used to either, we used to manage fine with 6-7 cogs going 12-25 so now there’s 10 or 11 sprockets you can get a lot more range with similar gaps, especially down at the small end of the cassette.

I *can* get by on a 36×25 bottom gear round here on Dartmoor, but it’s thoroughly unpleasant and wears me out quicker so why not use lower if it means you’re not as wrecked towards the end of a big ride.

It’s personal too, I can’t stand tiny 1tooth gaps, I end up changing two gears at a time, possibly comes from riding a lot of SS though, I’m amazed on club runs sometimes how frequently some people shift, they’re. Ever in one gear for more than a few seconds!

25/12 (11 speed) is the one for me! It means you have to stand up all the way on the 25% hills. But I use pretty much all of my gears all of the time. My other bike has a 28/11 and the 28 and 11 barely get used.