12-27 or 12-34 ?

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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IanB
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by IanB

Adri wrote:Did a tough offroad ride today with 44/32 up front and 12-34 in the back.
Funny thing was, I climbed all the hills with the 32/34 combination whilst my friend had to dismount several times while using 22/34 or thereabouts.
Sometimes a bigger gearing is better, it seems. :thumbup:


You're spot here Adri - before I adopted my 12-27:29/42 set up I used to ride a lot of singlespeed, and was never ceased to be amazed by what I could get up in a 32/18 gear, lack of traction notwithstanding obviously. For geared systems, you just need the will-power not to change to the lighter gears too soon and your leg strength and power will improve quite rapidly :)

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JK
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by JK

Ehm... that is kind of true guys... having to ride a bigger gear obviously is a good force training. I've got some questions though:
You both say traction is the limiter. Do you not lose traction earlier because you are unable to apply pressure evenly trough the pedal stroke when riding a steep hill in a big gear? Besides that, do you ever find yourself thinking "This is not the kind of workout I would like to do in this period of my training buildup"?

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Adri
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by Adri

JK, I only go into the hills when I feel like doing some climbing, if I don't feel like it and want to train LSD or recover , I stay on the road or do some flatter circuit. On the road I use a set of wheels with a DA 12-25 cassette anyway.

In races (marathon stuff, no XC) I usually have a granny , not because I cannot climb the hills on the middle ring, but to prevent me from going into 'power mode' all the time, sapping too much energy . I use the granny to be able to relax a bit while on longer climbs. I know it sounds a bit funny but you actually can recover on a climb :wink:

It's a mental thing as much as a power thing. You have to believe in yourself and try to make the climb on the longer gear. You'd be surprised what you can climb on a 34/34 gear !

You need a good eye and the ability to stop pedalling when the traction is worse, and re-engage pedalling when the wheel bites.. it's quite a challenge sometimes but that is what mtb is all about, is it not.

About the traction thing, the lower the gear you are in, the more likely you are going to start to stutter over pebbles and stuff, I feel you can correct loss of traction easier when in a bigger gear.
That being said, if you are on the granny at the beginning of a tough technical climb (say you're pushing 22/23 or something) you can always shift up a few gears (say to 22/28 or something) to take you over a steep part and then shift down again to a longer gear to continue the climb. If you are already on the 34/34 there is no other option but to push hard and try to grind it out ..
Auribus teneo lupum

JK
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by JK

Adri wrote:It's a mental thing as much as a power thing. You have to believe in yourself and try to make the climb on the longer gear. You'd be surprised what you can climb on a 34/34 gear !


I know... I'm walking as soon as 32/32 is a too heavy gear, because it is faster! Just being the devil's advocate a bit here... I think 44/29- 12/27 would be nice for me too.

Cubeman
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by Cubeman

I use a 42/30t TA combo on my Tune Bigfoot cranks and a 11-32 XTR in the rear.
I love this setup and I'm amazed with what I can climb with it.
I use a medium caged XTR 2004 model rear derailleur and a Rohloff SLT99 chain.
No problem with chain slap or spider grinding.
Choosing between 30t and 29t was a bit of a gamble, but since I came from 32t I thought that 30t would be more than enough.
And using it for some time I can say it does fit like a glove:)

Since I live in the Netherlands I never did use my granny a lot, and switching from 42/32t tot 42/30t made that I never missed my granny so far.
The shorter steep climbs here are easy to do with some speed and enough power output.
Even on some longer climbs it's sometimes easier and faster to use a bigger gear.
You just have to get used to it.
I always rode a fairly high gear up climbs so that isn't a problem for me.

For me this is the perfect setup!

Cubeman
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by Cubeman

JK wrote:
Adri wrote:It's a mental thing as much as a power thing. You have to believe in yourself and try to make the climb on the longer gear. You'd be surprised what you can climb on a 34/34 gear !


I know... I'm walking as soon as 32/32 is a too heavy gear, because it is faster! Just being the devil's advocate a bit here... I think 44/29- 12/27 would be nice for me too.


I just ordered a 12-27t cassette just to try out.
Since Holland in a bit flat I guess 42/30t in front and 12-27t in the rear is more than enough for me.
Maybee an Dura Ace rear derailleur just to lose some precious grams:)

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Tippster
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by Tippster

Cubeman wrote:
JK wrote:
Adri wrote:It's a mental thing as much as a power thing. You have to believe in yourself and try to make the climb on the longer gear. You'd be surprised what you can climb on a 34/34 gear !


I know... I'm walking as soon as 32/32 is a too heavy gear, because it is faster! Just being the devil's advocate a bit here... I think 44/29- 12/27 would be nice for me too.


I just ordered a 12-27t cassette just to try out.
Since Holland in a bit flat I guess 42/30t in front and 12-27t in the rear is more than enough for me.
Maybee an Dura Ace rear derailleur just to lose some precious grams:)


Take a DA7800 (10 speed) rear mech. stock it is 180g. Mine was 181g. They come with too much green gunk grease. remove the excess and mine came in at 180g "actual".

An SRP kit together with removing the adjuster barrell (already have an adjuster barrell on my XT shifters (2 is overkill) gets the overall weight down to 168g. Some additional savings can be made by drilling your pulley wheels
"Ride it like you've just stolen it!"

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