Shimano 105 R7000
- Thread starter paxterg
- Start date
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Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
Lose top end on the flat? 50/11 is good for 30 mph!
Not for 40
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
You ride at 40 mph on the flat? Who are you, Cav?
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
I can hit 40 ... down Moel Famau in Wales 
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
And how long exactly can you hold almost 1100 watts? I presume you must race cat 1 if you can regularly hit 40 mph on the flat, and you race on Shimano 105?
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The annoying thing is that I recently sold a really clean Ribble Ali frame for sod all, I could have built it up with one of these 105 groupsets and a cheap wheelset, I’ve got everything else
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
Yes, for a few seconds.
If you are racing at a pretty high level and competing in sprint finishes, then you may need higher gearing than that. But then you wouldn't be looking at 105 anyhow.
Nobody except fairly high level racers is going to exceed 35mph on the flat for any significant period. And not many of us are going to hit even 35 without trying pretty hard.
And at 50x11 on a 700c wheel with 28c tyres, it is only 111 rpm to hit 40mph.
Yeh it started with "lose top end" what else does top end mean? Im riding on the road, with tailwinds, lorrys/cars passing, not every road is flat af. My 1 minute power is around 720 watts and 5 sec power is 1250w
72kg at 6ft 3
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
To most of us here, "lose top end" when saying that those gears are no good for you would mean something rather a lot more than not being able to get your ultimate 5 seconds of speed.
Most of us would read it as meaning something you could sustain for a minute or two at least, and possibly more, if you are saying that you would reject those gears because of it. If you aren't a high level competitive sprinter, then your 5 second power is fairly meaningless.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
You're over thinking things. "Lose top end" just means that higher gear ratios aren't available. No more, no less.
I remember years ago, possibly when I changed to 105, being berated by one of the gear police for having a 50/11 gear because I'd have to be going at (insert pointless calculation) mph to spin out in that gear at (more pointless calcs) rpm. Still have my 50/11 top gear. Still use it when I want to.
Alex321
Guru
- Location
- South Wales
50/11 is pretty well the standard top gear with a "compact" chainset. But I agree that I hardly ever use that top gear except on downhills.
I was responding to the way he was using it, which was meaning the top gear isn't high enough for his top end power. Not your sense of the top gears not being useable (on the flat) for us mere mortals.
