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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 9, 2018 at 12:34 pm #919129
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    Anonymous

    forget the humblebrag

    forget the humblebrag bollocks from certain posters because you will struggle on 36-28 if you haven’t ridden any hills

    IMO get a 33T inner ring, pointless getting a 34 when a 33 means you can have a 3% lower ratio, and see where you are at, at the very least it gives you a margain to fall back on.

    May 9, 2018 at 12:16 pm #919127
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    shutuplegz

    Personally I’d go for the

    Personally I’d go for the lowest gearing you can for this climb. i.e. your 36t chainring, with a 32t sprocket, or even put a 34 on the front too. If I am doing this climb (and there are a couple of other similar ones nearby) I always go for my bike with a 34/32 lowest gear – I’m 60kg and in my mid 40’s and not a mega-athlete or powerful rider but I usually average 16-18mph on solo rides and I generally enjoy climbs. Whilst the average gradient might be 11% there is a really nasty bit where it goes through the trees ….. you start the climb with quite a good gradient from the very bottom in Draycott and you can get settled into a nice pace, low gears, high HR, then you round a slight bend and see what can only be described as a wall in front of you dissappearing up into the trees! On my first attempt at this hill many years ago I was on a very light bike but with a 39/28 lowest gear. At this time the road surface was very poor (resurfaced a couple of years ago, much better now) with a mixture of smooth polished and rough tarmac, including some slippery algae covered sections under the thick tree canopy. I got out of the saddle, because with that gearing it was impossible not to (for me) and lost traction! I nearly fell off! The road is quite narrow so zig-zagging didn’t really work. By this time I was deep into the red anyway and nearly keeling over whilst still clipped in just raised the heart rate even more. I just about managed to stop to unclip. Then I had to walk about 50m up the road to get to a farm turning which gave me enough space to get a short run up to get moving again whilst clipping in!

    It was the first time in many years that I’d had to stop on a hill for any reason out of my control and it was also the last time! For a while I was in fear of going back to it but I did with a heavier bike, as it happens, but with 34/32 lowest gear and this time I made it, still very tough and with my heart and brain feeling like they are going to burst out of my body! It was my ‘nemesis’ for a while though!

    May 9, 2018 at 12:05 pm #919125
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    Stef Marazzi

    I’ve done it on a compact,

    I’ve done it on a compact, with a small-ish cassette so 34-25 so you’ll be fine.

    Just spin up it and get ready to grind for about 100 metres a bit once the tree cover starts, you look up and its quite a wall, you do have a bit of space to zig-zag up though , just look behind in case the odd car comes up it.

    Its actually not that bad.

    Crowcombe Combe off the quantocks, and out of Sidmouth there are two mental bastard hills – Salcombe and Peak Hill – so get down to Devon and try those as  well!

    If you are staying in the area – try Prospect Place (towards Box out of Bath) and Rosemount lane (Bath) as well.

    Did a 110 mile ride two year ago which did Crowcombe Combe at 60 miles and Draycott at 99 miles, that was interesting!

    May 9, 2018 at 10:29 am #919123
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    bobbydazzler

    I’ve done this climb and many

    I’ve done this climb and many others in the Mendips [my club goes through various routes around there every few weeks].  I’d recommend switching to an 11-32 cassette/mid-cage rear derailleur if you don’t mind the expense.  As well as the gradient,  there may also be places where the road is slippy, as it’s wooded banks on either side so doesn’t get much sun.

    Plus if you are going to be doing more riding around the Mendips then I just think it will help with the overall enjoyment of it, and build your confidence in tackling the other steep climbs such as Ebbor Gorge/Deerleap, the climbs from Harptree etc.  If you get bored of all the climbs there are some nice flat rides out to the coast that aren’t too far!

    Have a great time!

    May 9, 2018 at 9:49 am #919121
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    srchar

    I’d have thought you’ll be

    I’d have thought you’ll be fine.  I’m in my late 30s and weigh a couple of kilos more than you and have got up the Giau, Madeleine and a few other mountains on 36×29.

    May 9, 2018 at 8:46 am #919119
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    Anonymous

    As you’ve said you’re young

    As you’ve said you’re young and pretty fast so you should be ok. I dropped from 25 to 28 to 32 as I got braver with hills and started hitting the double digit stuff and there’s not a massive difference between 28 and 32.

    I guess some of it depends on whether you want to work standing up or sitting down. I was watching the power meter on a climb the other day, keeping it nice and steady about 250, got out of the saddle and started cranking and it jumped to over 400 for what seemed like not much gain in speed but a lot of gain in tiredness. Obviously it was faster but I prefer to keep my gearing low so I can still spin at the cadence I want and remain a bit fresher, at 20% though you’ll probably have to get up and out.

     

     

    May 9, 2018 at 8:45 am #919117
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    MoutonDeMontagne

    You’ll be fine with that

    You’ll be fine with that gearing, as stated above, the steep bits might be an out of the saddle grind, but you’ll get up. In the weeks before, might be worth doing some rides on shallower climbs/flat in a hard gear at a low (<60rpm) cadence to get used to the feeling of grinding, but trying to keep pressure on all the way round and not getting choppy.

    I suffer on climbs when my cadence drops below around 70, so find this is a useful way of building your climbing power, plus you can do it on the flat. Just remember if you are doing it on the flat, to sit up in the position you usually climb in to help engage your core and glutes.  

    May 9, 2018 at 7:16 am #919115
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    madcarew

    Like CRX94Di2 I’m 50 and 90
    Like CRX94Di2 I’m 50 and 90 kg. We have a me any climb which is 10-13 % and 1.2km long. I go up that without too much difficulty on 39/53 11-28. (28 times in 4 hours once) I think you’ll be fine but be prepared to stand up on the steeperparts

    May 9, 2018 at 5:18 am #919113
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    CXR94Di2

    You’re low end middleweight,

    You’re low end middleweight, with youth and being reasonably fit, the gearing will get you up.  You may need to stand up and grind up the steeper sections but you should be fine.   A 32t cass will make it more bearable.  Its alot more expensive to change over a crankset.

     

    I weigh 90+Kg, older 50+, so have easier gearing.  I like to stay seated mainly. I built my bike around climbing first, then touring, followed by sportives/club runs.  It has 44/28 crank and a 11-32 cass for general use and i then swap over wheels for mountains and have 11-40

     

    Im doing my first 100 mile uk sportive this year, so standard gearing and comfy 40mm tyres to roll along with

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