Gearing Advice?

[Richard Houghton]

Two years ago I really struggled on the hills of Devon and Cornwall on an ill fated LEJOG. By the time I had reached Hereford my knees had swollen up, I was exhausted and I headed home. I made all the classic mistakes of insufficient training, unfit, wrong diet, over weight, carrying too much kit and wrong gearing on my Dawes Super Galaxy.

Since then I have learned a lot but know I have a lot more to learn.

I intend having another crack next June and I am hoping that some-one can give me some advice about gearing. I have read some articles about LEJEG which suggest that my gearing is wrong. I currently have the standard 11 - 32 teeth cassette with 26-38-48 chain wheel.

I have bought a Shimano Deore 11-34 cassette but now looking at it I wonder if I should also change the chain wheel for the smaller 22-32-34 version.

I am the first to wave my hand in the air to confess my inexperience in all of this so I thought I would ask for some advice because looking at the CTC gearing chart changing the cassette from 32 to 34 teeth makes hardly any difference at all and I would have been better to have left that and just changed the chain wheel for the smaller version.

Should I not bother changing the cassette and just opt for the smaller chain wheel or should I change both or just change the cassette ?

I have to finish by saying that I am less concerned about top end speed and more concerned with being able to negotiate the hills without getting off and maintaining a reasonably 12 -14 mph touring speed?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Richard

 

[raindog]

I currently have the standard 11 - 32 teeth cassette with 26-38-48 chain wheel.

That's already very low gearing for the road. Any lower than that and you'll be spinning out on the flat, let alone down hill.
You say you rode the event two years ago? Maybe you've become fitter and stronger since?

 

[Richard Houghton]

Fitter and stronger for sure but the guy I did it with last time who is a very experienced cyclist did have different gearing to me which enabled him to cycle up the grinders in Devon without leaving his seat. That said for certain he was experienced and fit and that counts for a lot I know but I am just not sure whether I should alter the gearing or not. I live in Essex and there are very few hills around here and nothing like the road conditions in Devon so it's hard to simulate. That said As well as everything else I am planning on a few days pure hill bashing in Devon to get my mind and hill tackling confidence in the right place.

John Franklin in Cyclecraft recommends a bottom gear of around 25 inches but I don't know how to calculate whether my ottom gear is 25 inches or 125 inches ?

 

[raindog]

On your bike as it is now with 26 up front and 32 on the back, you have about a 21 inch gear, which is very low, and lower than what John Franklin recommends. Much lower than that and you'll be pedalling on the spot without forward motion.

 

[Rob3rt]

If you need a gear lower than that, then maybe you ought to take up bowls!

 

[PpPete]

I am pretty rubbish at going up hills.... well, if i'm honest, "absolutely crap" would be a better description.
But your existing gearing (11-32 teeth cassette with 26-38-48 chainset) is already slightly lower than I used on my E2E (on old style Dawes Galaxy)

Top Tips:
For first few days plan shorter distances, and take it gently, until your legs are used to riding several hours on consecutive days.
Consider going JoGLE rather than LEJoG. The roads in Scotland are much less hilly than those of Devon & Cornwall. That way you'll be fully fit by the time you reach the steepest inclines.

If you do change your cassette you will likely need to change your chain as well, not because the length might be different because an old chain will "skip" on a new cassette (and vice versa)

 

[Richard Houghton]

I think I am getting the picture

But in my defence I am getting on a bit, have short legs and hate bowling

 

[Minotier]

Maybe it isn't a gearing issue, it could well be a positioning/set-up problem fella?
Especially if it made your knees swell.

 

[lulubel]

If you have short legs, it could be that your crank (pedal) arms are too long for you. Most bikes are built with 175mm cranks, but a lot of women, and presumably shorter men too, benefit from 170mm or even 165mm. Basically, shorter cranks means your legs aren't so bent at the top of the pedal stroke, so your knees don't have to go through such a big range of movement. To measure them, you need to measure from/to the centre of the bolt at each end.

You could be riding with your saddle too low? Your knee should be almost straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

Or it could be simply that the lack of training meant you hadn't built up the muscles in your legs enough, so your knees were trying to do the work that your quads, calves, etc should have been doing.

I live in a very hilly (mountainous) area - I used to live in Cornwall, and some of the hills are similar in steepness - and I ride a bike with 30/39/50 chainrings and a 11-34 cassette. When I take it touring, I'll swap the chainrings for 26/36/48, and if any of the hills are too difficult, I'll either stop and rest or, if that doesn't help, walk up them. There's nothing wrong with walking!

There's also nothing wrong with going for smaller chainrings if you want them, but you need to be aware of how stable your bike is at very slow speeds. Mountain bike gearing, which is what you're looking at, means you'll be moving considerably slower than walking pace in the lowest gear, and you might have trouble balancing a fully loaded tourer at that speed.

 

[Richard Houghton]

I think I get the picture indeed all the above resonates with me so I think I am best leaving it alone and looking more at myself and less at the bike.

All boils down to inexperience really.

Many thanks for the top tips I must say that on my last attempt with no training 65 miles to Golant on the first day crucified my legs and not eating, drinking or resting properly didn't help much either.

By the time I reached Hereford I felt banjacxed but I learn't a lot about how not to do it and this time I will be much better prepared

It really put me of cycling all together and I am only now just starting to enjoy it again.

Well you live and learn !

 

[Lee_M]

I've just come back from 2 weeks on Lefkas in Greece which is basically all mountains and way beyond what I've done before (I live in essex so I don't do hills). Its amazing what you can do when you have to - make sure you dont set off too hard and get in the right gear early, and take it easy