Road bike gear ratio advice please!

[Chris James]

what part of somerset do you originally hail from? did you ever do the South Somerset century ?

I don't originally hail from Somerset. I come from Chester (also flat as a pancake!).

I lived in Weston-super-Mare for 9 years.

 

[fossyant]

The mention of Triples and Compacts makes me queasy.....

 

[peanut]

The mention of Triples and Compacts makes me queasy.....

its a scary dark place

 

[Globalti]

Thanks for all the advice, which is carefully noted.

Tim, can you explain this a bit more?

You're not the only one to be duped by the compact con trick that feeds on roadies vanity.

 

[jimboalee]

I don't think the 'compact con trick' is feeding on the 'roady's' vanity. I think it is feeding on the 'wet-behind-the-ears' roady who can't be bothered to grow some muscle.

The REAL vain roadie will have a 55 ring and a 39 ring, coupled with a 11 x 23 cluster.

 

[jimboalee]

Gear [inches] = ( 1 / ( Bike [lb] + luggage [lb] ) ) x 1000

This is the 'old wives formula' for deciding the lowest gear you should have in your armoury.

If you have lower, good on you.

 

[GrahamG]

I love my triple for the exact same reason, I just couldn't stand the constant changing at the front with a compact (regardless of cassette, my chainline in a 'cruising' 65-70" gear was terrible). I live on the 40t middle ring most of the time but like the option of spinning up hills when knackered (or after 6 months off the bike!) and as it's the light touring bike too I need to be able to tow a trailer for which a 30" is useful.

 

[BentMikey]

The gearing on my Fujin SLII has a triple, and covers 28" to 105". 105" isn't really enough for the top end.

 

[Saddle bum]

The gearing on my Fujin SLII has a triple, and covers 28" to 105". 105" isn't really enough for the top end.

IMHO, if you are not racing, anything over 100" is a waste of capacity.

 

[mickle]

IMHO, if you are not racing, anything over 100" is a waste of capacity.

+1

 

[jimboalee]

+1.

I have a Dawes Giro 500 for Audax riding. 30 - 42 - 52 rings.

Thought about taking off the 52 ring, but it would look stupid. Hardly ever use it and 42 x 12 is 95", more than enough for cruising at 22 mph.

 

[mickle]

I never use my 53, probably because I'm not a pro and do not ride in a peleton.

 

[Saddle bum]

If you have a 52 or 53 outer ring, put a 14-up cassette on and all is well.

My "road bike" has 30-42-53 rings and 14-23 cassette. I can ring the changes using a marchisio cassette system.

Audax bike has 30-40-50 x 13-26.

 

[peanut]

its horses for courses.

Just because you guys don't use above 100" gears doesn't mean they are not useful to others.

This discussion has been thrashed out before.
There are lots of cyclist's that even on training leisure rides enjoy speeds in excess of 35mph .I am one of them.

To reach those speeds I frequently use 53x12 which is effectively 119" I would soon run out of revs on 53x14t (100" ) but then my cadence may well be a lot lower than yours because I have a different muscle physiology .

If you spend some time watching pro riders on Le Tour you'll be surprised at the huge range of gears and cadence rates used in the peleton.