Hill in the way

[Okeydokey]

I have for the past week really enjoyed my trips out, new bottom bracket has improved things loads. I have decided to change my front sprockets (x2) and rear wheel mounted sprockets (x9) next, teeth are looking a bit done in, but I need something with teeth numbers that will get me up a steep hill which is on my favourite route.
The hill rises about 500ft over 2 miles and I walk, is there a mountain climbing version/ratio of sprockets that will help me beat the hill in the nearer future? OCD has started kicking in I'm afraid. The bike is an older Raleigh Airlite.

Thanks to all those who pointed me in the right direction for the BB btw, improved things out of all proportions!

 

[jim55]

34 on the front and a 32 on the back should get u up anything

 

[steveindenmark]

What bike do you have. Will it take a granny ring?

 

[mjr]

Constraints on gearing usually come from the front and rear derailleurs. Look them up, but many can take "megarange" 11-34 rears and small front chainrings if you also shrink the big chainring by the same number of teeth. You can probably ride up walls with some setups, if only you could solve the whole "falling away from the wall" problem!

 

[Okeydokey]

The Megarange look like the job. As an aside it's interesting how if you don't know the language of cycling you can dissappear up your own backside. Granny ring is an interesting term, it led me to the more proper term compact front chain set and then the concept of a bigger rear cassette.

Thanks all!

 

[vickster]

Granny ring usually refers to the small third chainring on a triple

I've got 50-34 up front and 11-32 on the back,would get cyclists lighter and better than me up most hills, for me I rarely have to stop on the hills I encounter round here (which are mere pimples compared to the mountains up north ). These are on 10 / 11 speed bikes, don't know whether you can get the same range from a 9 speed

 

[mjr]

You can get the same range down to at least 7 speeds, but with bigger steps between gears of course

 

[MikeW-71]

Sora 9 speed cassette is available in 11-32. You would need to check that your rear mech can cope with it, it will need to be a medium cage, not the short.

With a compact 50-34 double on the front, that's as low as road bikes tend to get, and it should be more than enough to get up that hill.

 

[Okeydokey]

Doesn't help much but I now know the hill is 20%, nearly had me crying this morning :S

 

[vickster]

Find a new route so you come down it instead... Wheeeeeee

 

[nickyboy]

500ft ascent over 2 miles is about a 5% average. As you mention 20% there must be some short ramps of this gradient with longer stretches of 3-4%

I'm not sure I'd bother spending money on revised gearing just to handle these short ramps. Walk up them if necessary although the Airlite comes with something like 34-28 as its lowest gear so you're in with a shout of getting up a short 20% ramp with that

In any case, the remainder of the hill that you will be able to cycle up will improve your fitness no end. You'll be able to manage those steep ramps in time with your current gearing

 

[Kip67]

I've spent four years avoiding hills because frankly I suck and tired quickly on anything longer than 50 yards. Seriously. So at the turn of the year I started trying to push myself up hills. I've walked a few. But now I'm starting to see improvement. I'm doing hills averaging 5-7% and 2-3 miles long back to back regularly. Still walk the odd one but I don't give a hoot.

The point is I took on board a piece of advice I've seen many times before on here to improve keep riding up hills.

The short 20% type ramps still do my legs in so I've still plenty more improving to do.

Keep at it.

 

[adamangler]

2 miles at 5% shouldnt make you get off the bike, even with a few 20% ramps. If they do it means youre not fit enough so work on that. In terms of road gearing then you could go down to 34-32.

 

[Cumisky]

I started cycling again in August last year after many years out of the saddle, all I could afford at the time was this £35 singlespeed MTB
The drawback was I live in one of the hilliest parts of the country and pretty much every route from my house pointed up, many being graded.
I found that mental focus goes a long way towards getting up a hill, and am proud to say that I never once pushed.
This may not be a lot of help to you, but steady cadence and a will to do it can be just as much help as changing gears, and you will get to a point where you start to reconsider what you class as a hill
My highspot was , after a couple of months back in the saddle, passing a Clyesdale racer on the climb out of Belmont and staying ahead to the summit, that is when I rewarded myself with a new geared road bike.
After illness I'm back where I started again, completely unfit and overweight, and, rather than start my training on one of my geared bikes I am back on the singlespeed heavyweight, it's painful but it sure gets you there quickly.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Sora 9 speed cassette is available in 11-32. You would need to check that your rear mech can cope with it, it will need to be a medium cage, not the short.

With a compact 50-34 double on the front, that's as low as road bikes tend to get, and it should be more than enough to get up that hill.

You ain't seen how I can gear mine as low as 25.5" you proposed 34x32 is 28.2, and whats more I have good rear ratios, 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27 simple because I ride the unfashionable triple.
@Okeydokey a compact refers to the bolt centre diameter (B.C.D.) of the chain rings its how the holes in the rings are measured, the most common for a compact is 110mm this is what make it a compact, a normal double (or triple) is usually 130mm ( outer rings for a triple inner is usually 74mm) these sizes have changed over the years and different manufacturers have different sizes. I ride a compact triple 73mm inner and 110mm outer rings, I can fit a 26-28th inner and different middle and outer rings. This is why the term granny ring is really wrong its more accurately used if you want to use the term a granny gear, because even though I can set the bike up with such low gearing I currently ride it setup as a 28/38/50 and a 12-23 rear giving me a range of 32-110"
Going off what @MikeW-71 proposed a 34/50 and a 11-32 you would have 28-120" range would mean your lowest gear is lower than mine though I would be on what @vickster calls a granny ring which clearly it can't be if its geared higher.
Just keep riding I don't ride as much as I used to, the more you can do the easier that hill will get, when at my best there wasn't anything round here I couldn't do on the 28x23 32" though not as long or as steep as a 2 mile 20%, but there are a couple of short steep ones and if i was riding them regular I would change the gearing to something a little easier.