32 tooth cog on road bike rear cassette

[Davidc]

There's far to much macho bullshit written about gearing.

Well said.

 

[MacB]

Well said.

Yep, people should be encourage to buy bikes they can ride not bikes they need to push

 

[numbnuts]

Yep, people should be encourage to buy bikes they can ride not bikes they need to push

I wonder why it's called a push bike

 

[MacB]

I wonder why it's called a push bike

Hah, never thought of that did I, very good sir!!!

 

[zigzag]

to get to the top of the hill at the same time, you need to generate the same amount of watts. whether that energy is generated by spinning or by grinding, doesn't matter. by having low gears you have a choice of spinning, but with higher low gears - grinding is the only option. i like to use both ways of climbing, and it depends on a hill, mood, fatigue etc. 36x32 or 39x34 got me up all of the hills and mountains i've cycled so far, but sometimes i wished i'd had even lower gearing.
those "macho" type comments are from the guys that haven't cycled proper hills, therefore can be ignored

 

[GrasB]

those "macho" type comments are from the guys that haven't cycled proper hills, therefore can be ignored

Macho has it's uses though... got a 10 min climb up 8.3% gradient with an ave speed of around 9mph. You're aiming for a climbing cadence around 60rpm do you go for 38/19 or 54/28? & which one puts the fear of god into people?

 

[Garz]

those "macho" type comments are from the guys that haven't cycled proper hills, therefore can be ignored

Please enlighten us to as what you call a 'proper hill'?

 

[zigzag]

38/19 and 54/28 are nearly the same, so i would choose 38/19 for better chainline. proper hill - plenty of them in sw uk, wales, northern borders. i'd say a mile long hill over 15%, or 10 mile hill of 10% are proper hills. when they come after a long day(s) on a bike, it's very useful to have low gears to altenate grinding with spinning to get to the top.

 

[GrasB]

38/19 and 54/28 are nearly the same, so i would choose 38/19 for better chainline.

I'll go for 54/28 -
* I've yet to see benefits to keeping the chain line 'good'.
* better efficiency - turbo & crank power metering shows me I get higher % of my crank power to the rear wheel on the 54/28 combo than the 38/19
* slightly lower gear for a little more head room for the steeper sections of the climb
* If things get really steep an instant 42% drop in gear & as I've got the cadence band to deal with that boy does it work well
* if in a competitive environment is a psychological advantage.

 

[steve52]

if i knew then what i know now! id have bought a triple

 

[zigzag]

I'll go for 54/28 -
* I've yet to see benefits to keeping the chain line 'good'.
* better efficiency - turbo & crank power metering shows me I get higher % of my crank power to the rear wheel on the 54/28 combo than the 38/19
* slightly lower gear for a little more head room for the steeper sections of the climb
* If things get really steep an instant 42% drop in gear & as I've got the cadence band to deal with that boy does it work well
* if in a competitive environment is a psychological advantage.

if you know the hill, and this technique works well - then fine! there are many ways to tackle hills, every hill is different and there are no hard and fast rules which way of climbing is best. you'll climb the the same hill differently when starting fresh and at the end of long hilly ride. what works for one rider may not work for another.

 

[GrasB]

Actually on unknown hills it works well too. To drop a gear or 2 from that point you're using the normal-low strength of the front mech & normal-high strength of the rear mech. Quicker transitions so faster gear change. I don't get this you ride differently thing, as even after 90 miles in the Alps I'm still climbing in the same way I did when I started the ride, I'm just pushing out less power.

 

[zigzag]

I don't get this you ride differently thing, as even after 90 miles in the Alps I'm still climbing in the same way I did when I started the ride, I'm just pushing out less power.

try climbing the same way after 200miles that day, and then the day after. 90miles can be challenging, but there are many riders doing double or triple that. we all see our challenges differently, therefore as said before what suits you may not suit for the others.

 

[Manonabike]

I have a triple 52/39/30 I think and a Shimano 11-32 at the back. I can honestly say that thanks to that I managed to do all the cycling I needed to do to lose 4 stones..... a very steep hill near my house was always my worst nightmare but with that big cassette at the back I was OK even when I had been cycling for hours. Now, that I'm much lighter I never use the granny ring but I remain grateful

I don't think I would have done all that cycling and lost all that weight if it wasn't for the big cassette.... cycling for me is a way of keeping fit and also mental therapy.... forget all my worries when I'm cycling - not trying to go fast.

 

[Garz]

proper hill - plenty of them in sw uk, wales, northern borders. i'd say a mile long hill over 15%, or 10 mile hill of 10% are proper hills.

Ten miles of 10%..

I think your mixing up hills with mountains and european terrain. I live just on the edge of the West Pennines and occasionally dabble in the rides around the Dales or the Lakes so to me a 'proper hill' is anything that makes you sweat hard and gets you out of the saddle or forces you to struggle with whether to sit/stand or fall sideways.