Fearing the worst in the alps
- Thread starter jowwy
- Start date
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ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
It certainly wouldn't suit me to do long climbs in 39/28. The last time I went to Spain I was rode a bike with a 39/29 bottom gear and tackled the Tudons climb behind Benidorm. I think that is about 20 km long and goes to 1,000 metres from sea level. My back was screaming for mercy by the time I was about 3/4 of the way up!
These days I would use 28/30 on a climb like that. (Current weight 13 st 11 lbs or 87 kg)
These days I would use 28/30 on a climb like that. (Current weight 13 st 11 lbs or 87 kg)
oldfatfool
Guru
Wanna bet? Anytime you fancy a trip to Allemonde or Bedoin give me a shout, looser pays for others trip expenses.i think forum gearing is being posted here, rather than real life ones
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
I've always believed that it's better to have a gear and not need it than to need it and not have it, so I've always used a triple, with the smallest available granny ring (24T mainly, but 20T on the current bike).
Having said that, sometimes you do just get in a rhythm where a bigger gear seems right - on one Spanish trip day 2 was over the Veleta to Capilera, which I think was about 37 km at 6 - 6.5%, and I never got off the middle ring (38x32). The previous day though, we'd been right to the top by way of a warm up, and I had needed the granny (24x32), both for the rough bit at the top, and for the climb up from Guejar Sierra (the small road, not the one the Vuelta has used)
Having said that, sometimes you do just get in a rhythm where a bigger gear seems right - on one Spanish trip day 2 was over the Veleta to Capilera, which I think was about 37 km at 6 - 6.5%, and I never got off the middle ring (38x32). The previous day though, we'd been right to the top by way of a warm up, and I had needed the granny (24x32), both for the rough bit at the top, and for the climb up from Guejar Sierra (the small road, not the one the Vuelta has used)
swansonj
Guru
I hesitate to find fault with a post I very largely agree with - but it would probably help the cause of mature and rational consideration of low gears if we stopped calling them "granny"....
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Amen. There does seem to be a widespread tendency to hit climbs hard and flog oneself. In the UK, you'll usually get away with that because few climbs are long. Elsewhere, the climbs may often not be as steep but they are mind bogglingly long, especially when you include bits that few regard as part of the climb but are still going up around 5%. If you can't or don't want to flog yourself, you need to get used to riding in a "forever gear" where you're not wearing yourself down hardly, so you could ride the whole day even if the climb went on forever.
Shut Up Legs
Down Under Member
A bit off-topic: how did you find the tunnels, while cycling up to Col du Galibier from the southwest? I read that climbing it from that direction is not recommended because of the tunnels.
oldfatfool
Guru
The first time on a laden tourer was quite daunting especially with woeful lights, on the road bike I knew what to expect, the worst imo is the curving tunnel as you leave the bottom dam at Clapier, it is quite steep and you can't see what is coming until it arrives, they also iirc tend to have a high kerb at the edge of the road through them but the surface was good and they are reasonably well lit.
edit: The noise and echos from the HGV coming at you is quite scary when you can't see them lol
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n236/andrewleckenby/Tour 2012/day4-3.jpg
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Winnershsaint
Guru
Looking at doing Sarenne, probably won't use balcony road to get there as absolutely no head for really exposed heights, so it'll be a start from the Lac du Chambon dam. Will certainly go as far as the Lauteret, if not the Galibier so useful info re tunnels going that way. Looks like the Grand Tunnel du Chambon is closed again for the summer months to complete work. Presumably access to the Lauteret/Galibier will be via the RS1091 relief road. Be interesting to know if anyone has used it. Strongly rumoured that this will eventually be a cycling only route which will by-pass the new tunnel making that stretch much safer for cyclists.
oldfatfool
Guru
You will miss the curving tunnel above Clapier as well
However don't dismiss the balcony road and starting from Bourg, you would miss the curving tunnel and whilst the drops are quite hair raising I only met one car the entire time and a few walkers. Don't know what the surface of the Sarenne will be like, I suspect poor, it wasn't fantastic 4 years ago and the tour had just passed over so they had attempted to work on some of the worst bits, one stretch of loose chippings was particularly memorable on the lower part
Winnershsaint
Guru
Mods. Please feel free to move off topic posts from me to Tips for riding in France thread.
Back to the OP. I think what mjr says is bang on re being able to have a 'forever gear' and singling out the length of the climb instead of its steepness as the decisive factor.
Back to the OP. I think what mjr says is bang on re being able to have a 'forever gear' and singling out the length of the climb instead of its steepness as the decisive factor.
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
"Granny" denotes the inner chainring of a triple chainset. The inner chainring of a double isn't a granny, even if it offers similarly low gears.
If you can offer a suitably concise alternative with the same meaning which will be similarly widely understood, I'll use it. Until then, I'll continue to use granny.
