Gearing Advice?????

[rovers1875]

Can anybody give any advise on the best way to adjust the gearing. I live in Accrington (E Lancs) and if I ride out towards the Ribble Valley / West coast the terrain is reasonably flat / undulating. Most of my riding has been in this area. however if I head the other way towards Rossendale it gets hilly (this has been avoided as much as possible).
I have two bikes, a basic Sectuer road bike and a Claud Butler Hybrid, Both 21 speed, and I have never really paid any attention to the gearing ( I just knew the Sectuer was quicker) I put this down to the skinny tyres and the fact it is only half the weight. But as I have now started to attempt some of the bigger hills, I have noticed that despite the extra weight, the hybrid is much easier to ride up hill. For example one of the biggest hills locally (Pendle hill), I can get over on the hybrid with only slight need for oxygen and medical attention, but have yet to complete this climb on the Sectuer (yes I realise that extra effort will eventually get me up there)
Because of this I have taken note of the numbers on the chainrings / cassette on the Sectuer the front is 52-43-30 with the rear a 13-26 on the hybrid it has 48-38-28 with the rear 15-29.
So this is what I am seeking advice on, with these numbers, is would there be such a difference. is the sectuer particularly high geared that I need to make changes to the chainset or cassette. or is the hybrid just low geared. Or am I wimp and need to get more practice on hills.
Any help would be apprieciated as I haven't a clue what these numbers mean or the best way to make the Sectuer easier to go up hills

 

[kilf]

You original post got moved to technical section know how...lol it happened to me yesterday nice of the admin to tell us non forum experts isnt it. Anyway I replied there with this....just my 2 cents no facts
This should help

http://home.i1.net/~dwolfe/gerz/

But to be fair im around 16 stone and there isnt much you cant pedal up on a triple road chainset. Your position on the Hybrid could be much better allowing better climbing ( do you sit up and climb on the tops of the bars on the Secteur ...Watch the Pros on the mountain stages of the big tours)..wheel size also has a bearing. ( dont get me wrong I hate hills but my fitness gives out well before my gears).

The way I climb is in my mind I class standing climbing as cheating and I hold out as long as I can before standing. (Not saying it is cheating in fact I know its not but my Ego wont accept it as so)

Are you actually saying you are pedalling in 30x26 and its still to hard? (Just a question even if it sounds like a put down I promise it is not) if not change down further

 

[rovers1875]

Thanks for your reply, The wheel sizes are the same (700) just the widths are different 25 against 38.
Yes going up over the hill I have eventually have to drop to the bottom gear (30 x 26) and have had to quit pedaling and get off and shove (annoying as last time I was only about 30 yard short of the peak) But as I said on the Hybrid which is almost double the weight I can complete the climb bottom gear 28f x 29r?
Just to to put some meat on the bones so to say I'm 50 years old, reasonably fit, 6' 2" and 14.5 stone. I started cycling aound this time last year, I am cycling two to three time a week (now increasing with the good weather) I have completed four 50+ mile rides and am looking to complete my first 100 before long. As I said earlier the bulk of my rides have been on flatter terrain, and hills have been relativley avoided. I'm now trying to change this.

 

[kilf]

Could you stand to get the last 30 yard or though upon standing its worth shifting up a few on the rear mech what are you climbing real mountains?

 

[rovers1875]

Not mountains, just this one big hill that just beats me on the Sectuer. The incline in question is from Sabden to the Nick of Pendle (according to the mapometer it is a rise of 510 ft in 0.8 of a mile) In my defence just a minute before I have just completed Read Hieghts, which is 495 ft in 1.5 miles.

 

[rovers1875]

Not mountains, just this one big hill that just beats me on the Sectuer. The incline in question is from Sabden to the Nick of Pendle (according to the mapometer it is a rise of 510 ft in 0.8 of a mile) In my defence just a minute before I have just completed Read Hieghts, which is 495 ft in 1.5 miles.

 

[al78]

The gearing on the hybrid is a bit lower than on the road bike, evidently in your case sufficiently lower to more than compensate for the extra weight thus enabling you to get up the hill.

If your gearing is too high, you will end up grinding at a low cadence and suffer lactic acid build up, which will manifest itself in ever increasing amounts of pain until your legs give up completely. With more suitable gearing you can spin the pedals at a higher cadence, each pedal rotation requires much less effort so your legs don't go lactic, instead the strain is shifted more to your cardiovascular system. Perhaps in your case, you have a strong cardiovascular system but relatively weak legs, in this case you find it easier to spin a low gear up the hill than grind in a higher gear.

The numbers refer to the number of teeth on the chainrings and individual sprockets on the cassette, so a 48-38-28 chainring set will have 48 teeth on the biggest ring, 38 teeth on the middle chainring and 28 teeth on the smallest chainring. The higher the number of teeth on the chainring, the higher the gear. On the cassette, it is the other way around, the higher the number of teeth on a sprocket, the lower the gear. The reason for this is that the gearing is related to the RATIO of the number of teeth on the chainring, to the number of teeth on the sprocket.

If you wish to reduce the gearing on the road bike, then the easiest way would be to change the cassette to one with a higher number of teeth on the biggest sprocket than the one you have at the moment. Replacing the 13-26 cassette with a 13-30 cassette would shift the bottom gear down close to that of the hybrid (assuming your rear derailleur can handle it).