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SPIKE718.
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May 18, 2013 at 1:17 pm #18826
climbingkev
Hi all, I’m new around here so hello – and go easy on me!
I’ve got some events lined up for when summer arrives, namely the Dartmoor Classic and Etape du Tour and hills are not my forte (strange choice of events given my weaknesses, but they’re the ones we’re meant to target right!?). I have a compact chainset and 11-28 cassette. My question is how bigger cassette (sprocket) can I squeeze in on my 105 (5700 short cage) rear mech? Was wondering specifically if a 11-32 would fit and whether the real world gains would be significant?
Any help appreciated,
Kev
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cbrookes75
Thinking on, if you do get an
Thinking on, if you do get an 11-36 or 12-32 etc etc. You may find the worst that happens is you don’t use the easiest gears, in which case you switch to an 11-25 etc. Or you may find if you start with an 11-25 you have to get off and walk, apologies if I am repeating other respondents as I haven’t read the entire thread!i just bought a new bike, a
i just bought a new bike, a Specialized Roubaix, having ridden a cheap halfords “hybrid” for two months with a 30:30 lowest ratio, I said to myself despite my new bike being five to six KG’s lower in weight, I wanted the security of at least the same ratio being available to me that had previously been available to me. Ignore the fit people who say “you will manage” and go with your gut. Personally I have yet to use the 30:30 on my new bike, in fact I have not used the 30 ring apart from to come home (as I like to start off in the very easiest gear) but it’s there for when I am going up those hideous hills, as I expect to be doing so over the coming weeks! From Selattyn to the Racecourse I am last (on Strava leaderboards) at 24 minutes, but I walked most of that! I hope to cycle the entire length as I have lost about six kg’s from the weight I need to drag up that hill! Time will tell, as for folks who say “that ratio should get you up Everest” etc. well we are all different, different strengths and weaknesses play to your strengths and configure your bicycle to play to your strengths!JudgeDreddful wrote:Sorry, I
JudgeDreddful wrote:Sorry, I am one of the despised (in some quarters so it seems) unfit types pretending to be a cyclist. I will be the red faced fat bloke you pass when going uphill if you are ever in Gloucestershire. Sorry for cluttering up your roads. I don’t know if a Specialized Secteur counts as ‘a fancy bike’? I suspect not, it’s probably too cheap and not exclusive enough – and it has a shameful girly triple gearset! I might as well wear L plates and get some stabilisers and be done…Anyway….I’m only 4 weeks in with only a couple of hundred miles covered so far and I read this thread with interest as using the correct gears is still a bit of a mystery to me at times – and hills are my nemesis. I frequently find myself either in the wrong gear to start with or change into what feels like the wrong gear halfway up and end up feeling like my thighs are on fire. As a noob I chose my bike more for the ‘relaxed’ geometry than the gears, not really thinking I would be doing hills. And I live in Cheltenham, which is basically a bowl with hills on 3 sides – doh!
Still, it must be doing me some good; my trousers are a bit looser and I don’t look quite so much like a ‘condom full of jelly’ in lycra anymore according to Mrs Dreddful. Plain lycra obviously, I’m not so much of a twat that I’d wear a team jersey. Even I have standards….
I just bought a Roubaix that is very similar to your Secteur, I contemplated the Secteur but went for the Roubaix for the better bits and pieces, I am pleased I went for the triple, despite the majority of cycle shops saying “you don’t need a triple” It is just nice to have a fall back for that hill you just know you are going to encounter! I weigh about 108 KG just now so a “compact” or worse as far as I am concerned would have been impossible to live with on a serious incline! I am yet to tackle a “serious” incline as I only picked up my new bike today! Though I must say when I looked down at the rings (as I can’t see any markers/numbers etc) I was pleasantly surprised to find out what gear I was in!!
As for “Despised” for myself being unfit, I haven’t encountered that in my part of the world, just a mutual respect for fellow cyclists! head nodding and smiling etc. which is great for me! I love it! I feel rather inadequate when I encounter the Time Trial mob on a friday evening, but they don’t overtake me laughing and pointing at me!!!
WolfieSmith
Now prickgate has died down
Now prickgate has died down let me bore you with my thoughts on gearing.20 years ago I was 12.5 stone and would dash up hill and dale for 100 miles using a 36:25.
Now I’m a stone heavier (most of it leg muscle obviously.. 😀 ) on a campag 34:30 and it’s fine. Anymore more teeth would be unnecessary as the my front wheel is lifting off on the 20%’s anyway. Triples are fine. My regular training mate has one. Personally it’s a no no on a road bike on aesthetic grounds and because I also race on the best bike with different gears and wheels.
The only problem is a little cog rub from the top of the inside mech cage on one or two lower gears. My mech is 9 years old so the new cassette isn’t totally compatible. Something to check if you have an older group set and buying a newer cassette ratio.
As for the weight weenies and young buckos? There will always be someone younger, faster and thinner coming past you on the hills. Once upon a time it would have been me but you can’t freeze time – only buy bigger gears. Comfort yourself with the thought that there’s also someone faster than every bugger that passes you on the hill and they’ll be passed one day.
There’s just never a pro cyclist around when you need them to teach someone a lesson…
Colin Peyresourde
Rode a triple while on a
Rode a triple while on a cycling holiday (not out of choice). It did nothing for me. The lowest crank gear was a complete waste. It just didn’t really give that much of a benefit when dropping down to it. It felt pretty silly. It may have been the choice of gears. I can’t remember what they were but it felt like 53/39/34 or some such.But it is horses for courses. You are probably better off riding a gear which doesn’t do lasting cartilage damage. But a compact with a 28 is about what most people need.
dunnoh
Is it possible to get Di2 in
Is it possible to get Di2 in 32? I might get that to go with my World Champion Socks and Sky Jersey. Hopefully that alone will try to keep the ‘true’ roadies from making eye contact with me while out riding.Chris James
I’m 11 stone 10 (75kg) and 6
I’m 11 stone 10 (75kg) and 6 foot tall. As I said, I like my triples better than the compact, and I have owned bikes with both. On these threads there is often an assumption that triples are only for fat lads and pensioners.To be honest, if you are struggling to get up a hill then your only interest is how low your gears will go. A 30 tooth sprocket on a compact is quite a bit lower gearing than the 25 I use on my triples.
People have strange attitudes towards triples. I go out with a social group some weekends, mostly hilly routes in the Pennines. I am the fastest climber of this group and I often get comments about ‘cheating’ by using my triple as I overtake people on the hills, even if the person on the compact is packing a 32 tooth cassette and a long cage derailleur. And yet I also get comments about how heavy triples are. So some people seem to simultaneously believe triples are both cheating to make things easy, and also a hindrance!
I do think there is a element of fashion to it. I was out last night on a local run around the hills and everyone looks so pro nowadays (top end shorts, aero jerseys, carbon bikes) even if they aren’t that good. Compacts looks more hard-core at a glance, but a professionals compact is 52/36 (not 50/34) and they mostly ride 53/39 or similar.
I get a perverse please out of overtaking people on my steel bike with a triple, especially my winter bike which had guards and a Brooks saddle on it. The fast lads in my club can drop me on the hills, but that is because they are stronger and fitter, not really because of their gearing or clothing choices.
CXR94Di2
I changed my rear cass to
I changed my rear cass to have a 32T also with a gs derailleur. So even if my legs die I can spin up with 36/32 ratio. I too am a big fella weighing 15st, so long hills will always be hard to fly up. Steady pacing wins for meLondonDynaslow
I am over 90kg. I put a 30t
I am over 90kg. I put a 30t sprocket on to get up Alpe d’Huez, and I did not run out of gears – 34 x 30 is noticeably lower than 34 x 28. This was on my Ultegra short cage rear mech. The Shimano tech dox will say that 28 is the largest tooth capacity but, at least in the case of Ultegra, which as far as I can tell has the same vital statistics as your 105, there is room for a 30t. I understand that this may not work if you have a particularly short rear mech hanger – mine is on a Roubaix if that helps. I’m pretty sure a 32t won’t fit though.
S13SFC
Of the lads I ride with we
Of the lads I ride with we have a mix of triples/compacts and rear cassettes.Yep we tease the triple riders but they are big lads and need them and climb well.
I’ve just had a bigger cassette put on, if it makes it easier for me to get up a hill then I’m all for it.
I have two bikes with
I have two bikes with triples, including my favourite steel summer bike.There always seems to be an assumption that triples are basically mountain bike gearing and bought exclusively to crawl up hills.
My triples have 12-25 cassettes which, with a 30 tooth granny, is about the same bottom gear as a compact chainset with a 27 or 28 tooth sprocket.
I am not a big enthusiast of compact chainsets as the chainrings are similar to triples, but without the most useful middle ring! 34 teeth is a bit low unless you are permanently climbing, and 50 teeth is a bit big except for pan flat or downhill.
For normal rolling terrain compact chainsets seem to spend all their time in really bad chain lines for this reason.
My cyclocross bike has a compact of sorts (46/34), but then again I hardly use the big ring even when racing!
DaveE128
truffy wrote:DaveE128
truffy wrote:DaveE128 wrote:If you believe riding fast up steep hills is essential to avoid falling over
No, but if you go slow enough you do fall over. Trust me on this! :)The only people I’ve seen falling over when riding up hills slowly had run out of low gears.
Perhaps the higher cadence actually makes it easier to stay upright? 😀 😉
JudgeDreddful
Sorry, I am one of the
Sorry, I am one of the despised (in some quarters so it seems) unfit types pretending to be a cyclist. I will be the red faced fat bloke you pass when going uphill if you are ever in Gloucestershire. Sorry for cluttering up your roads. I don’t know if a Specialized Secteur counts as ‘a fancy bike’? I suspect not, it’s probably too cheap and not exclusive enough – and it has a shameful girly triple gearset! I might as well wear L plates and get some stabilisers and be done…Anyway….I’m only 4 weeks in with only a couple of hundred miles covered so far and I read this thread with interest as using the correct gears is still a bit of a mystery to me at times – and hills are my nemesis. I frequently find myself either in the wrong gear to start with or change into what feels like the wrong gear halfway up and end up feeling like my thighs are on fire. As a noob I chose my bike more for the ‘relaxed’ geometry than the gears, not really thinking I would be doing hills. And I live in Cheltenham, which is basically a bowl with hills on 3 sides – doh!
Still, it must be doing me some good; my trousers are a bit looser and I don’t look quite so much like a ‘condom full of jelly’ in lycra anymore according to Mrs Dreddful. Plain lycra obviously, I’m not so much of a twat that I’d wear a team jersey. Even I have standards….
fukawitribe
Quince wrote:I’m kind of
Quince wrote:I’m kind of high-jacking this out of curiosity now, but I think it’s relevant to the OP; which is an easier/cheaper method of easing up gears: throwing a wider cassette onto the back, or going triple on the front?Easier/cheaper is the cassette (and rear mech/chain if absolutely necessary).
Quince
I’m kind of high-jacking this
I’m kind of high-jacking this out of curiosity now, but I think it’s relevant to the OP; which is an easier/cheaper method of easing up gears: throwing a wider cassette onto the back, or going triple on the front?The front adjustment would obviously require a new front dérailleur, but if the cassette adjustment required a new long mech thing, that might even out the pricing a bit. Also, can you retain the cranks from a double to a triple?
My gut is with the cassette being easier, but there’d certainly be advantages in to having the range of a triple, and it’d prevent the need for any big jumps on the back cogs, wouldn’t it?
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