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Gearing For Draycott Steep 1.9 km @ 11.4%

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  • May 8, 2018 at 10:29 pm #28490
    Bonification

    Hey everyone,

    I am going to be staying in Somerset in a few weeks and am wanting to do some riding in the Mendips.

    I want to do a ride involving Draycott Steep which is 1.9km at 11.4% (https://www.strava.com/segments/659038), and seeing as I have never done anything that steep  am worried that the gearing on my Cannondale Supersix Evo won’t get me through the sections which go up to 20%. I currently have an 11-28 casette and a  52/36 crank. It would be great to get some advice on whether I would I be better off switching to a compact on the front or putting on an 11-32 on the back?

    I only started  cycling seriously a year ago, but seem to be among the quicker riders on the short and not particularly steep Cambridgeshire lumps. I am 80 kg  and still have youth on my side if that helps at all.

     

    Thanks in advance!

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  • May 17, 2018 at 6:32 am #919189
    0
    CXR94Di2

    I was out for a ride

    I was out for a ride yesterday, a few of the old school riders were saying I dont know why I needed the 28t granny ring, “they had toured with ladened panniers with bigger gearing”

     

    Funny, how I was ahead most of them up a five minute climb on my 28t chain ring and 32t sprocket.

    😀

    May 15, 2018 at 8:24 pm #919187
    0
    dave atkinson

    I ride draycott from time to

    I ride draycott from time to time, when i’m feeling particularly masochistic. I’m 93kg and reasonably fit (3rd cat racer sort of fit). I’ve done it on 36/28 on my race bike but to be honest it’s not a lot of fun; I prefer doing it on my Tripster that has a 40/36 bottom gear so i can sit and grind up the majority of it. Even then, I’m out of the saddle for the really steep bit. 

    If you enjoy it, head over to the Quantocks and try Crowcombe, which is even more of a bitch of a climb 🙂

     

    May 15, 2018 at 7:02 pm #919185
    0
    CXR94Di2

    I went with a MTB crankset,
    I went with a MTB crankset, 40/28. I love the 28, allows Climbing of the very steepest gradients. I found that the 40 ring just wasn’t big enough for slight declines for powering down. I fitted a 44t outer ring which allows a greater top speed whilst keeping cadence under 100rpm. I completed my first of the year 100 mile sportives on my 40 mm G-Ones, it was great, lovely smooth ride, fast(for me@>17mph) and gearing to get up all the steep bits with relative ease

    May 15, 2018 at 5:30 pm #919183
    0
    Anonymous
    rdmp2 wrote:
    BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
    StraelGuy wrote:
    Just been playing with Excel (because I’m also looking at lowering my gearing) and these are the gear ranges with various combo’s – cassettes are 11 speed:

     

    34 ring, Shimano 11-28: 89.6 – 35.2

    34 ring, Miche Light 12-30: 82.2 – 32.9

    33 ring, Shimano 11-28: 87.0 – 34.2

    32 ring, Shimano 11-28: 84.4 – 33.1

     

    ​So it looks like replacing your 34 tooth ring with a 32 tooth ring would give you a similar effect to replacing your 11-28 cassette with a Miche Light 12-30 and save a chunk of weight (and cost!) at the same time.

    Unless you buy a different chainset altogether you can’t get a 32 on a standard compact, or do Shimano and other 4 bolt compact allow that?

     

    No- I think need to go to FSA adventure or Praxis chainsets for 32 front ring. For your suggestion- will 33 ring play nicely with 52 outer?

    Given 52/34 probably isn’t that uncommon I would just give it a go, certainly avoids the jumps with a 32T big sprocket.

    My old Carlton has an 86mm BCD Stronglight 99 with 52/28 rings, shifted with a shimano FD-6207 and Suntour power shifters. it’s a bit silly but I thought why the fuck not and works just fine.

    May 15, 2018 at 4:34 pm #919181
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    StraelGuy

    I was only doing the

    I was only doing the calculations for the middle ring but mistakenly multiplied by 29 not 27. The relative ratios still give an impression of the different ratios though. Oops…

     

    Just to add… I’ve just dome two sportives on my heavy winter bike and they both had a huge climb that was really hard work so I’ve just ordered a 12-30 Miche to replace the 11-28 Shimano.

    May 15, 2018 at 9:50 am #919179
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    rdmp2
    StraelGuy wrote:
    Ahem… Back to Excel…

     

    So, Current crankset with 11-32:              94.9 – 32.6

    50/34 crankset with current cassette:    89.6 – 35.2

     

    ​So keeping your crankset and replacing the cassette, you get a lower bottom gear and wider range of gears overall although the jumps will be bigger.

     

    StraelGuy- are you in gear inches there? Seems different to my calculations?

    52/36 x 11-32: 126 – 30.1

    50/34 x 11-28: 122 – 32.5

     

    Have I made a mistake somewhere?

     

    May 15, 2018 at 9:49 am #919177
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    StraelGuy

    Sportives! That’s why I’m

    Sportives! That’s why I’m looking. The last two I’ve done have had massive climbs on and were done on my winter bike which weighs at least 12 KG indecision.

    May 15, 2018 at 9:46 am #919175
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    MarsFlyer

    I changed my cassette to 11

    I changed my cassette to 11-32 for the Tour de Yorkshire sportive and was very grateful of the lower gears on the long steep climbs. The only adjustment that I had to make was to the B screw to increase the gap to the derailleur. I aslo replaced that screw with a longer bolt with an hex head as the normal Shimano cross head ones aren’t very good.

    I’ll switch back to my 11-28 cassette for my normal riding that only has short steep climbs.

    May 15, 2018 at 9:46 am #919173
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    rdmp2
    BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
    StraelGuy wrote:
    Just been playing with Excel (because I’m also looking at lowering my gearing) and these are the gear ranges with various combo’s – cassettes are 11 speed:

     

    34 ring, Shimano 11-28: 89.6 – 35.2

    34 ring, Miche Light 12-30: 82.2 – 32.9

    33 ring, Shimano 11-28: 87.0 – 34.2

    32 ring, Shimano 11-28: 84.4 – 33.1

     

    ​So it looks like replacing your 34 tooth ring with a 32 tooth ring would give you a similar effect to replacing your 11-28 cassette with a Miche Light 12-30 and save a chunk of weight (and cost!) at the same time.

    Unless you buy a different chainset altogether you can’t get a 32 on a standard compact, or do Shimano and other 4 bolt compact allow that?

     

    No- I think need to go to FSA adventure or Praxis chainsets for 32 front ring. For your suggestion- will 33 ring play nicely with 52 outer?

    May 15, 2018 at 9:45 am #919171
    0
    fukawitribe
    BehindTheBikesheds wrote:
    StraelGuy wrote:
    Just been playing with Excel (because I’m also looking at lowering my gearing) and these are the gear ranges with various combo’s – cassettes are 11 speed:

     

    34 ring, Shimano 11-28: 89.6 – 35.2

    34 ring, Miche Light 12-30: 82.2 – 32.9

    33 ring, Shimano 11-28: 87.0 – 34.2

    32 ring, Shimano 11-28: 84.4 – 33.1

     

    ​So it looks like replacing your 34 tooth ring with a 32 tooth ring would give you a similar effect to replacing your 11-28 cassette with a Miche Light 12-30 and save a chunk of weight (and cost!) at the same time.

    Unless you buy a different chainset altogether you can’t get a 32 on a standard compact, or do Shimano and other 4 bolt compact allow that?

    AFAIK you’re right, it won’t fit on a the standard Shimano 4/5 compact, but the Cannondale Si/Sl chainset (if the OP has one fitted) might – they have a direct mount attached spider which you can get chainrings for. The only ones i’ve seen myself have been narrow/wide ones, but i’ve not looked for dual chainrings; might be worth a look…

     

    Edit : forgot, AbsoluteBlack do 110BCD oval sub-compact sets – 48/32 and 46/30 – loved to have used them but the price was a bit too steep for me at the time. No idea what they are now.

    May 15, 2018 at 9:38 am #919169
    0
    Anonymous
    StraelGuy wrote:
    Just been playing with Excel (because I’m also looking at lowering my gearing) and these are the gear ranges with various combo’s – cassettes are 11 speed:

     

    34 ring, Shimano 11-28: 89.6 – 35.2

    34 ring, Miche Light 12-30: 82.2 – 32.9

    33 ring, Shimano 11-28: 87.0 – 34.2

    32 ring, Shimano 11-28: 84.4 – 33.1

     

    ​So it looks like replacing your 34 tooth ring with a 32 tooth ring would give you a similar effect to replacing your 11-28 cassette with a Miche Light 12-30 and save a chunk of weight (and cost!) at the same time.

    Unless you buy a different chainset altogether you can’t get a 32 on a standard compact, or do Shimano and other 4 bolt compact allow that?

    May 15, 2018 at 9:36 am #919167
    0
    StraelGuy

    Ahem… Back to Excel…

    Ahem… Back to Excel…

     

    So, Current crankset with 11-32:              94.9 – 32.6

    50/34 crankset with current cassette:    89.6 – 35.2

     

    ​So keeping your crankset and replacing the cassette, you get a lower bottom gear and wider range of gears overall although the jumps will be bigger.

    May 15, 2018 at 9:26 am #919165
    0
    rdmp2
    StraelGuy wrote:
    Just been playing with Excel (because I’m also looking at lowering my gearing) and these are the gear ranges with various combo’s – cassettes are 11 speed:

     

    34 ring, Shimano 11-28: 89.6 – 35.2

    34 ring, Miche Light 12-30: 82.2 – 32.9

    33 ring, Shimano 11-28: 87.0 – 34.2

    32 ring, Shimano 11-28: 84.4 – 33.1

     

    ​So it looks like replacing your 34 tooth ring with a 32 tooth ring would give you a similar effect to replacing your 11-28 cassette with a Miche Light 12-30 and save a chunk of weight (and cost!) at the same time.

     

     

    I think the OP is currently on 52-36, so your calculations are slightly off…!

    May 15, 2018 at 9:09 am #919163
    0
    StraelGuy

    Just been playing with Excel

    Just been playing with Excel (because I’m also looking at lowering my gearing) and these are the gear ranges with various combo’s – cassettes are 11 speed:

     

    34 ring, Shimano 11-28: 89.6 – 35.2

    34 ring, Miche Light 12-30: 82.2 – 32.9

    33 ring, Shimano 11-28: 87.0 – 34.2

    32 ring, Shimano 11-28: 84.4 – 33.1

     

    ​So it looks like replacing your 34 tooth ring with a 32 tooth ring would give you a similar effect to replacing your 11-28 cassette with a Miche Light 12-30 and save a chunk of weight (and cost!) at the same time.

     

    May 15, 2018 at 8:19 am #919161
    0
    Anonymous

    And the cheaper option

    And the cheaper option without having to worry about if you have to change your rear mech, chain length and have a wider range cassette with the bigger jups you may only need to use once in a blue moon is to simply buy a 33 inner ring *. It also means you get to use those small sprockets that get barely any use.

    *TA Zephyr is £25

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