I was in the lakes last week and did a short road ride around the Borrowdale Valley taking in Honister Pass up to Honister Hause from Seatoller. Now I only just managed to ride it on the lowest gear of 30/25 on My triple chainset Giant SCR. If I was looking for a double front on a new bike, what setup would you recommend that might give that sort of low ratio. I am reasonably fit at the moment but most of my riding is done on the flatlands of Cambridgeshire so these sort of climbs are pretty rare at the moment. I can’t really see my fitness improving greatly.
As a matter of interest, what sort of gearing do you use yourselves on these sorts of climbs.

50/34 compact double with a 28t on the rear, got caught out on the steepest bit of Newlands but that was about it.

I ran a triple (50/39/30) and a 32t cassette when I did the Fred Whitton earlier in the year. It meant I could stay seated for everything and grind out every climb while plenty around me were walking.

Round here on Dartmoor I’m back on a 28t cassette.

50/34 compact double with a 28t on the rear,

I’d second this, there’s very little I can’t get up with this and healthy dose of stubbornness. If you want more and still want a double of guess you could go the with SRAM WiFLi stuff which gives you up to a 32 sprocket on the back.

If you’re getting new 11 speed I don’t see why you wouldn’t go 11-32 for general riding.

Can I assume you are all using 10/11 speed as opposed to my 9speed?

I live in East Devon where it is very hilly and run 50 / 34 upfront with an 11 – 32 cassette on 11 speed 105 drivetrain . Its a fantastic compromise and good all round combinations of gears.

9sp on a very old bike, not done the lakes for a while though

50/34 front and 11-32 back is great if you are not racing.

A 34/25 is the same ratio regardless of how many gears there are on the cassette.

I’ve done the Etape du Dales with 50/34 front and a 11-25 rear (might be a different high ratio but certainly was only 25 at the bottom end) and only got in to lowest gear on a short section of The Coal Road. I’ve now a 12-28 cassette BTW. In “Four Yorkshiremen” style I used to ride in the Lakes with 52/42 front and 12-20 six speed on the back but there’s no way I’d cope with that now and really wouldn’t recommend it.

To some degree it’s a simple matter of getting used to the hills which, as you say isn’t that easy where you live. Once you get to those sort of gradients (25%) then you are up out of the saddle and grinding – even the pro cyclists on the Tour of Britain were doing 40rpm or so when going up Honister the other year.

32t works fine on Shimano mechs, no need for WiFli, just wind in the b-tension

or just use a 9spd MTB mech.

no 9spd Di2 😉

9spd MTB mech has the same pull ratio as 10/11 spd road so works perfectly…

If you’re getting new 11 speed I don’t see why you wouldn’t go 11-32 for general riding.

Very much depends what sort of rider you are and what your general riding is 🙂 Some pretty big jumps early on with an 11-32. I’d find it very annoying but it’s fairly flat around here. 11-32 makes sense maybe if you live somewhere properly hilly.

“If you’re getting new 11 speed I don’t see why you wouldn’t go 11-32 for general riding. “

This.

11 speed Ultegra/105 , 50/34 and 11/32.

If you’re getting new 11 speed I don’t see why you wouldn’t go 11-32 for general riding.

I have 2 wheelsets, 11-28 and 11-32 (with cross tyres on) – unless you’re hitting 20% hills regularly and late on in rides, I’d stick with 28. Below that the jumps in the cassette on road get noticeable and (to me at least) annoying . You can still spin 34-28 up 99% of what you’re likely to come across (unless you live Lakes / Snowdonia etc. in which case you already know the answer!).

PS – headwinds are just long hills 🙂

Mate of mine used 11-32 on a compact. We live in the flatlands of Cambridgeshire, but he put it on for doing the Wiggle Dragon Ride in Wales & never took it off.
I don’t like it. The large gaps are very noticeable on the road, but it is useful when you are huffing up steep hills, especially if you aren’t used to them.

I swapped my 11-25 our for a 11-28 SLX 9-speed cassette for the same ride & that is about right for me.
There was only one hill I couldn’t make it to the top of on the Dragon Ride & it was one of those occasions where I could have made it, but didn’t want to totally trash my legs as I didn’t know what was still to come, so walked the last 100m or so to the top & then instantly regretted doing so.

34:28 is practically identical to 30:25, however I found running 11:28 9 speed the gaps were a bit big. In fact 12:25 I’m still finding the same to a degree, particularly that the 2T gaps continue if you’re using the big ring right up to high 25-30mph.

As others have said 11 speed will give you options of a huge range on a road bike. Or you could even stick with 9 speed and make a bastard road/MTB love child if you swap the mech and cassette out to give you a range up to 34 or maybe 36 teeth, noticeably lower than you currently have, if you don’t mind having relatively big gaps between ratios.

I really don’t like using compact chainsets. The wide gaps I need at the rear annoy me, and the big jump at the front annoys me too. Triple for me, with 11-25 10sp.

You should think in gear ratios.

You can work out what is equivalent, assuming that the wheel size doesn’t change, by dividing the number of teeth on the front by the number on the back.

30:25 = 1.2

For doubles you have the option of Compact, Semi compact and standard.

The smallest ring on the front is going to be 34,36 or 39 in each case.

For a 34t front you need a 28 on the back, a 30 or 32 would be a bit easier than now.

For 36 you’d need a 30t

For 39 you’d want a 32 but that would be a little harder.

If you are getting a new bike with 11speed then I’d suggest 52/36 p front and an 11:28 out back for most things.

If you ride around Cambridgeshire most of the time then just get gears for that, so for me I’d probably go 50.34 with a 11 to 25 block (unless racing then 53.39 upfront). You can then always chuck on an cassette with a 28 on for visits to hiller places.

As above…average geezer 34/50 the 11/25 or 27 maybe for around Cambridge, then if you going somewhere lumpy pit a 30/32 big cassette on the back.

Like jonba says, just divide. 30/25 = 1.2, 34/28 = 1.21 so essentially the same (the latter is fractionally taller)

I’ve got 50/34 and 11-28 10-speed, and don’t find the gaps between gears problematic, front or rear. Then again, I happily ride a 7-speed cassette on a relatively wide 12-28 and don’t really notice a lack of gears at the rear there either.

I bought the wider cassettes for riding in the Lakes, planning to put the standard ones back on when at home, but I just never bothered.