What gearing do you use?
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What gearing do you use?
Postby beeb1506 » Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:17 pm
I was suprised to discover that the back cluster ran from 12 to only 21, it's a 9-speed Ultegra set and I've been having some problems getting up some of the bigger local hills. I don't know why I didn't count it before but I always assumed it was at least 25 - my old bike had 28 on the back and 42 on the front, whereas this has 39 on the front and 21 on the back.
Given that I want to do some extended rides outside of Sydney e.g. Mangrove Mnt through to Windsor and others that all have significant hills, I really want to drop the gearing down quite a bit. I've looked at the Shimano options for this set and it looks like I can go down to either 25 or 27 as the lowest, I'm tempted to just leave it at 25 which would give me a lowest gearing of about 40" I think. Question is, what do you use (excluding race day bikes for less hilly sections) that will get you up anything you come across?
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Re: What gearing do you use?
Postby heavymetal » Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:43 pm
My touring bike is equipped with front chain rings of 22-30-42T and the rear ranges from 11 - 34Tbeeb1506 wrote:Question is, what do you use (excluding race day bikes for less hilly sections) that will get you up anything you come across?
I have Shimano on the front and SRAM on the rear. This will get me up most hills in Australia.
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Postby Bnej » Mon Jun 02, 2008 10:53 pm
A 34/50 compact crankset and 11-25 cassette is a good "hills" setup, lets you spin out a couple of lower gears while others are down to weight-lifting their bikes with the cranks.
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Postby mikesbytes » Mon Jun 02, 2008 11:17 pm
On my commuter I run 53/39 11-21 seven speed and I get up the hill to Crows Nest no problems.
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Postby Kalgrm » Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:26 am
Cheers,
Graeme
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Postby kslim » Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:43 pm
Can't say I've done that in one go, but have done most of the roads that would make it up.
I use a 53/39 and 12/27. On the hills on that route, I usu climb seated in the 39/24 combo or higher.
Having said that, there have been times I have been so stuffed that the 39/27 combo was welcome. Maybe it's psychological, but I like knowing I have the 27 there if I need it (though I very rarely use it).
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Re: What gearing do you use?
Postby beeb1506 » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:57 pm
Wow, I'd have thought tyre grip would be your main concern in that low gear when you're heading up a 1 in 2heavymetal wrote: My touring bike is equipped with front chain rings of 22-30-42T and the rear ranges from 11 - 34T
I get up that hill ok myself on 39-21 (as I now know), it was the River Rd hill approaching Greenwich Road near Greenwich hospital that recently did me - I managed it but it was a close thing. I need to be able to get up those sort of gradients over longer distances.mikesbytes wrote: On my commuter I run 53/39 11-21 seven speed and I get up the hill to Crows Nest no problems.
Don't recumbents use much smaller wheels and therefore the final ratio would be very different? I see a recumbent pretty much every day on my walk home up the hill to Crows Nest (as mentioned previously), looks fast.Kalgrm wrote: 52-42(Q-ring)-30 to a 12-26 cassette on my recumbent
I'd probably do this ride over a w'end stopping at Wisemans ferry (it's suggested in a cycle guide book).kslim wrote: Mangrove Mountain to Windsor ?
Can't say I've done that in one go, but have done most of the roads that would make it up.
I use a 53/39 and 12/27. On the hills on that route, I usu climb seated in the 39/24 combo or higher.
Having said that, there have been times I have been so stuffed that the 39/27 combo was welcome. Maybe it's psychological, but I like knowing I have the 27 there if I need it (though I very rarely use it).
I'm thinking that the 27 is the way to go based on this and all the other posts. It won't leave huge gaps and might come in handy later in the day. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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Re: What gearing do you use?
Postby Kalgrm » Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:45 pm
There are many more designs of recumbents than there are designs of "normal" bikes.beeb1506 wrote:Don't recumbents use much smaller wheels and therefore the final ratio would be very different? I see a recumbent pretty much every day on my walk home up the hill to Crows Nest (as mentioned previously), looks fast.Kalgrm wrote: 52-42(Q-ring)-30 to a 12-26 cassette on my recumbent
Mine currently has two 700c wheels on it. I should have specified my wheel size, so sorry for the confusion.
Cheers,
Graeme
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Postby Hotdog » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:41 pm
Me, I like to spin, on one of my recumbents (much like Graeme's, but with 26" wheels) I use a 52/42/30T triple with an 11-34T 9-speed cassette. With that gearing I can keep a cadence of 80+rpm going right down to 8.3kph if I really want to... My newer recumbent (also with 26" wheels) has a 53/39T double with a 11-32T 8 speed cassette and it's taking me a little while to get used to climbing at lower cadences on the steep bits.
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Re: What gearing do you use?
Postby heavymetal » Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:53 pm
I only use the 22T when hauling a loaded BOB trailer uphill.beeb1506 wrote:Wow, I'd have thought tyre grip would be your main concern in that low gear when you're heading up a 1 in 2heavymetal wrote: My touring bike is equipped with front chain rings of 22-30-42T and the rear ranges from 11 - 34T
I fall over otherwise as it's too slow a speed to stay upright.
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Postby thomas_cho » Wed Jun 04, 2008 12:40 pm
The issue is not so much with the big-big combo, but rather with the small big combo where the derailleur pulley wheels do not clear the large sprocket at the back.
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Postby Hotdog » Thu Jun 05, 2008 8:27 am
It's the adjustment screw at the 'b-pivot' where the derailleur attaches to the frame. It's used to adjust how close the derailleur is to the cassette, for best performance you want the jockey pulley to be close to but just clearing the cogs in all gears.beeb1506 wrote: One question, what's a b-screw?
Edit: Sheldon's take on the subject.
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Postby MichaelB » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:39 am
I used an 11-28 for a hilly ride on the LeMond, and will probably resort to an 12-27 on the Argon soon, but trying to work on the engine over winter ....
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Postby beeb1506 » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:42 am
I'll fit the new one on the w'end - sadly it doesn't look like the weather will be much good for riding though.
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Postby stated » Thu Jun 05, 2008 5:13 pm
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Postby LuckyPierre » Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:45 pm
Alchemy Diablo - Columbus Zonal tubing, Ultegra 9-speed groupset, UltraGatorskins
Gitane Rocks T1 - U6 tubing, Deore/XT groupset, CrossMarks
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