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Gearing Advice

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  • March 12, 2013 at 5:18 pm #18210
    hurns

    Hi All,

    So I finally bought a new bike (Cervelo R3) that I found on ebay but need some help / advice on changing the current gear ratios.

    It has come with full campagnola athema carbon groupset with 53/39 chain set and 11 speed 11 – 25 cassette.

    My other bike had a triple chain set so this race set up is a little shock to the system and I simply dont have enough gears to get up the steep climbs I’m training on.

    I’m 6 foot 2 and weight around 235 pounds, so not the smallest or lightest of riders. But the big ring on the new bike is a lot of fun and fast on the flat!

    I’m currently training for the Wiggle Dragon ride (127 miles and 3500m of climbing) and so want to get a new gear set up to cope with this.

    This is a link to the bike if you need to see the componants http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CERVELO-R3-2011-/160980484439cmd=ViewItem&ssPageName=WDVW&rd=1&category=33503&ih=006&nma=true&si=mawx92HgB3ibz8uzFeLalcjSC9g%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

    So my questions are:

    Can I get away with just a new rear cassette? If so what ratio would be best? Do I need to change anything else if going for a 12 – 29, like the chain or rear derailleur?

    Would it be an option to change just the bottom chain ring and keep the 53 or is not the done thing? Again would I need to change anything else?

    Any help would be great as I really don’t know much about gears or campagnolo.

    Thanks

    Martin

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  • March 12, 2013 at 6:06 pm #721731
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    Gazmanmeister

    Sadly the Athena only offers
    Sadly the Athena only offers a 12-27 cassette so a change of the main chainset may be in order.
    You could go standard compact 50/34 or go 52/36 which would deliver you close to current top end speed.

    Have a look here for your options http://www.campagnolo.com/jsp/en/index/index.jsp

    March 12, 2013 at 5:59 pm #721729
    0
    Gkam84

    You could get away with just
    You could get away with just the cassette.

    But the other option is keeping what you have and changing the crankset. I dare say you’d get a good price for your standard and then change to one of the compact options which seem to be

    34-50, 36-52

    http://www.campagnolo.com/jsp/en/groupsetdetail/item_GuarnituraATCarbon_catid_13.jsp

    March 12, 2013 at 5:58 pm #721727
    0
    Leviathan

    Hi, glad to hear you are
    Hi, glad to hear you are enjoying the big ring experience, even the hilliest event has a lot of flat and downhill so stick with it, you don’t want to be spinning out when there is juice in the tank. Okay advice…
    1.) your link is broken, I am sure you have a sweet ride.
    2.) here is a link to a thread I started last year when I was struggling with a particularly steep local hill:
    http://road.cc/content/forum/66448-defeated-blaze-hill-gears-25-incline
    There is a lot of advice from some wise posters on there about just how big a back cassette you can fit on a normal cage. You can get long format ones if you really want a big back ring but for most hills a long cage is not needed and a lot of fuss and cost to get. I would just say if you do get a new back cassette make sure you are not loosing too many teeth at the top end as well 11 down to 12 might be worth it if you need the 29.

    March 12, 2013 at 5:52 pm #721725
    0
    jimmo62

    Normal solution is to get a
    Normal solution is to get a compact chainset. Not sure with Athena, you may simply be able to get 2 new chainrings or you may need a whole new chainset….

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