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Endurance bike setup to climb – advice needed!

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  • January 10, 2018 at 1:11 pm #28006
    kitlewis

    Hi – long time reader, first time poster!

     

    I’m joining a few friends to cycle some of the Pyrénées cols, including some big HC efforts (at least Port de Pailhères). They’ll all be on carbon framed race bikes. I’ll be on this Kona endurance/cross bike. It’s setup as out of the box (apart from a few months of use). 

     

    How is can I best set this bike up for big climbing rides? I was thinking maybe a new set of wheels with 25s/28s? Any advice re. a cheapish disc wheelset that’s suit? Is there anything else I could do?

     

    I don’t really want to buy a new bike, or hire anything – but is the endurance-style going to make this hard going? 

     

    Any opinions / facts / advice very welcome.

     

    Thanks!

     

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  • January 11, 2018 at 3:34 pm #909617
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    fukawitribe

    CXR94Di2 wrote:

    CXR94Di2 wrote:
    My touring bike setup for climbing, uses a MTB crankset and derailleurs. I started with 40/28 crank and an 11-32 for general hilly stuff.

    Lovely looking bike – mind if I ask what model the cranks are (XT ?) and any issues with BBs/chainline etc when you put it on ?

    January 11, 2018 at 1:28 pm #909615
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    Daveyraveygravey

    Have a look at the profile of

    Have a look at the profile of the climbs.  A lot of proper mountain roads are engineered to have a steady average gradient, usually around 5-8%, that’s why they switchback across the mountain.  They will probably have a smoother surface too.  If you know it, Boxhill in Surrey is like this (I think the road was built by the Canadian army so tanks and artillery could get up it during the war).

    More rural mountain climbs may take the shortest distance approach, and go straight up in places.  These stretches where the gradient ramps up and then drops back, can be the hardest to climb as you can’t maintain a steady rhythm.  If you’re on one of these, get up the steep parts as best you can and then really make the most of the recovery time when the gradient calms down.  Pebble Hill off the A25 near Boxhill does this, a bit of faffing around across the hill at the bottom, then near top it just goes straight up!

    Also be aware of the weather.  If it is hot, that will sap your strength like nothing else. Take plenty of fluids (mountain roads in Europe often have springs at the side of the road for drinking water).  On top of that, it can be 25-30 degrees at the bottom and sometimes only 5 degrees at the top.  In my experience that is ok whilst climbing but as soon as you stop you need to get warmer clothes on, and wear them down the hill too.

    Descending can be harder work than expected – you look forward to tearing back down again as you grind up, but after 20 minutes a different kind of tiredness can catch you.   Your weight will be forward, you’ll be on the drops, your neck will be canted up at an extreme angle, your wrists will hurt, and you may be glad when it is over.  If you’re going to be coming back down the road you go up, look out for loose surfaces, holes, tightening corners and try to remember them for the descent.  don’t get too close to the guys in front, when it goes wrong going down a mountain things happen very quickly.

    January 10, 2018 at 8:59 pm #909613
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    Anonymous

    That bike looks just fine.

    That bike looks just fine. You might get a 11 -34 cassette – you can never have too low a gear in the Pyrenees. If you are thinking of changing tyres I would go for the lightest in 700 x 23c. You won’t notice any comfort difference climbing on those magnificent French roads and a 23c tyre will always be lghter than a 25c or a 28c. I have climbed the Port de Pailhères, its a cracker of a climb!

    January 10, 2018 at 6:04 pm #909611
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    CXR94Di2

    My touring bike setup for
    My touring bike setup for climbing, uses a MTB crankset and derailleurs. I started with 40/28 crank and an 11-32 for general hilly stuff. I will change out the rear wheel with an 11-40 cassette when doing alpine climbs. I weigh 90+kg so like to spin at 85 rpm even when the gradient is >10%. I changed my outside chainring to 44t now for better cadence on slight declines.

    You can now get 11-34 11 speed cassette from Shimano
    Change the inner chainring for a 33t
    (Currently doing both these to my daughter’s Kona Jake the snake cyclo-cross bike for hilly outings)

    January 10, 2018 at 5:22 pm #909609
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    kitlewis

    Thanks everybody for the

    Thanks everybody for the notes on tyres – tubes – rims. I’ll see how much I can loose from them easily and cheaply. 

     

    Great to to hear the bike looks good for the task at hand, and that 30s MIGHT not be a big issue. 

     

    And I hear the trading point loud and clear: I’ve got a stone to loose and climbing to get into the legs…!

    January 10, 2018 at 4:27 pm #909607
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    PRSboy

    As Rod says, the bike looks

    As Rod says, the bike looks great as is.  In fact, Im sure a bloke on an Alps tour I did had a very similar Kona bike.  The 11-32t cassette gives a sensible spread of gears.

    Im sure you’re on it, but a decent training regimen will make more of a difference than bike mods.

    That said, I would want to make sure that the tyres were of excellent quality for those speedy descents…

     

    January 10, 2018 at 3:20 pm #909605
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    Rod Marton

    Your bike is perfectly

    Your bike is perfectly adequate for long climbs, technique will probably make more difference than equipment. If you do want to change anything, wheels and tyres will have the greatest effect.

    Don’t go haring off at the bottom. Find a comfortable gear, then drop down a couple of teeth. A comfortable gear at the bottom will be a struggle at the top. Then just keep pedalling evenly and steadily. It is always a temptation to go too fast at the bottom, particularly if your friends disappear up the road, but if you do this you are likely to catch them when they have collapsed in a heap halfway up.

    If you want to start racing, wait until you get near the top. If you have been cautious at the bottom you should still be reasonably fresh and be able to surprise a few people.

     

    January 10, 2018 at 2:54 pm #909603
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    kil0ran

    Looking at the spec you’re

    Looking at the spec you’re adequately geared, just make sure your pads are in good nick for the descents, may be worthwhile getting a brake service from your LBS.

    Agree that best upgrade would be wheels and no harm in sticking some racier/lighter rubber on those. Maybe use it as an opportunity to go tubeless too. It’s surprising easy to find half a kilo in savings from tyres and tubes, let alone looking at rims.

    January 10, 2018 at 2:45 pm #909601
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    pockstone

    As above , wheels are

    As above , wheels are probably a good place to start but I can’t find any details of the Novatec your Kona came with, so hard to know how much weight you’d save per ££.

    One thing that surprised me recently was how cheaply I could shave off quite a few grams by replacing my Cube saddle and post with a Cosine  endurance saddle and Tifosi Carbon/Alloy seat post. Whip your post and saddle off and weigh them. A couple of hundred grams might make a difference on the long climbs.

    I’m a stranger to the Scwalbe s ones, but I bought some cheap Vittoria Hyper voyagers last year for my gravel/tourer and despite being proper jumbos they don’t seem to have slowed down my progress compared to 25mm tyres on the road bike, and they’re super comfortable. 30mm tyres might not be the handicap you think. 

    As for the style of bike, if it’s built for long days and your comfy on it, stick with it. 

    January 10, 2018 at 1:20 pm #909599
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    Canyon48

    Cosine make some light wheels

    Cosine make some light wheels  at a low price as do Prime, both available through Wiggle.

    Honestly, when it comes to hills, your own fitness is going to make the biggest difference. When it comes to endurance (and I guess hills), bike fit is VERY important, so you might want to go to your LBS and get a bike fit.

    I use 28’s on my endurance/winter/commuter bike – they are definitely more comfortable than 25mm when it comes to rough roads, they roll marginally slower, however.

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