mrs G wants more road gear(s) help please!

Mrs G seems to struggle up hills (must be a family thing)
current road bike gearing 50/36 12-25. She likes to push a high gear but suffers from that > she needs to get in some big miles to be ready for outlaw in july. option 1 cassette 11-27 same chainrings
2 cassette 11-27 ish 48/34 front. need to keep costs down SQ Taper BB is in good nick. Will these options make much real world difference? any thoughts?

my wife had a noticeable improvement switching to 11-27 on normal compact up front try that first, it will help

is it 10 speed?
Why not go 12-30/32 & a new mech if you haven’t got a long cage already?
Cheaper than a chainset swap

I was out on Sunday leading a club run and on one hill found i just couldn’t turn over 34/25, the other guys were just able to keep on top of 34/30. I does make quite a difference having those extra few teeth on the back.

The outlaw course is pretty flat apart from one short hill (oxton bank). So she should be ok on the day with a 12-25

a bit more detail 9 speed
tried my xt 11-32 cassette only just fit with sora rear mech top jockey wheel/chain and cassette almost touch but allows a clean change. if 11-27 will make a decent difference will prob try that first.

Ditch the 11 and go for a 12-28 with no change in RD. You may get away with a 30 without a new RD. You might need a new (longer) chain but I run 11-23 to 12-28 without changing chain or RD.

There’s a big difference between 25 and 28 when you are tired.

What about fitting smaller sprockets on the front? My road bike had massive rings on the front. (Rather than a nice compact) so for a trip to the Alps where I’d mainly be riding up or bombing down I fitted a spare Truvativ MTB crankset and it made life much easier

Swap out the 36 inner for a 34, which should be the same bcd, and put a 12-28 on the back. I think you might even be able to get away with bigger than that if you have a long cage mech. Both my parents run 30t cassettes.

Ditch the 11 and go for a 12-28 with no change in RD.

^^ This is the right answer.

I’m considering similar as I am always either in the small front ring at the smaller end of the cassette, or the big front ring at the larger end of the cassette.
I figured swapping to a 48t chainring would allow me to make more use of it, rather than dropping to the inner chainring all the time.

Struggling to find many 48t chainrings though. Any ideas where I can get one from? It’s for a Sora crankset.
Alternative would be a 12-28 cassette, I suppose.

thanks for all the replies all good to my mind. I will however, put the suggestions to the boss to find a winner :lol:,

12-18 or even 11-28 and she’ll be rite.

Saying that the new shimano stuff will handle a 30 at the back on a normal dinky road mech

I’d swap the cassette first as it’s cheap and you always would need a new cassette.

If that wasn’t working, I’d then get a 34 inner ring. I wouldn’t swap the outer to a 48 as this would cost and give little benefit. I certainly wouldn’t be swapping the whole chainset as it should already be a compact if it’s running a 36.

Having said that, how much is she struggling. If it’s lots, then maybe a mountain bike cassette and derailler.

Sheldons gear calculator gives you a rough idea of the changes these make.

thanks for all the replies, i think the winning entries are going to be the change cassette to 12-28 for starters followed by chainrings if needed. A bit dissapointed to see no mention off the obvious WTFU, probably for the best really. Prizes are being sent via RM 😀