I did my first 50 mile ride, have a question .......

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KarlC
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Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:08 am
Location: De Portola Wine Trail Temecula CA

by KarlC

bm0p700f wrote:The riders in your group used there brakes more than you did. Compact cranks have little to do with your groups ability to climb it there level of fittness. If this is your first 50 mile ride then that says it all. If you want to go faster up hills you need to train for that.


I'm sure their fittness and skill level is much higher and then mine, but better gearing on the steeper and longer climbs does seam to help.

Would not a 50/34 with 11/28 be ezer than a 53/39 with 11/28 to climb the steeper and longer hills ?

How about a 50/34 with 11/28 VS a 53/39 with 12/30 ?

Thx
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superdx
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by superdx

Some people just descend better. I am terrible at descending but I'm the first one up any hill. On descents I ride my brakes and I'm terrified of corners. Don't know if its my bike (SuperSix EVO) but I just don't feel safe going fast downhill, meanwhile the guys in my group are just zooming past me on the way down. Wish I had disc brakes, the descents would be a lot less scary.

floriansantana
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by floriansantana

superdx wrote:[…] Wish I had disc brakes, the descents would be a lot less scary.


I hear that a lot, but I don't believe it. I think descending on disc brakes is a lot harder and scarier. I think with normal rim brakes you can brake a lot more precisely than with disc brakes.
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drainyoo
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by drainyoo

Curious, how much do you weigh? Are you heavier than the rest of the folks in the group? If you are then this could be the reason why you're passing them on a descent. I experience something similar when I ride with my friend. He's more experienced, in better shape, kills me on the climbs, but on a descent I fly by him on a straight away. He doesn't ride his brakes. I do weight more than him, so that's my only guess as to why I pass him.

eric
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Location: Santa Cruz, California, USA
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by eric

superdx wrote: I just don't feel safe going fast downhill, meanwhile the guys in my group are just zooming past me on the way down. Wish I had disc brakes, the descents would be a lot less scary.


It's not your brakes, it's your head.

If you can find a descending clinic or someone who is both a good descender and a good instructor and is willing to spend some time with you, you could improve quite a bit.

KarlC
Posts: 1028
Joined: Fri Dec 05, 2014 2:08 am
Location: De Portola Wine Trail Temecula CA

by KarlC

drainyoo wrote:Curious, how much do you weigh? Are you heavier than the rest of the folks in the group? If you are then this could be the reason why you're passing them on a descent. I experience something similar when I ride with my friend. He's more experienced, in better shape, kills me on the climbs, but on a descent I fly by him on a straight away. He doesn't ride his brakes. I do weight more than him, so that's my only guess as to why I pass him.


I'm 6' 180lbs and some of the others guys are lighter and some heavier, all much more experience and better riders. I'm currently putting in more time and miles each month than they are, doing what I can to catch up.
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chanthony
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by chanthony

I wish I had your problem lol


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mattr
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by mattr

KarlC wrote:Would not a 50/34 with 11/28 be ezer than a 53/39 with 11/28 to climb the steeper and longer hills ?

How about a 50/34 with 11/28 VS a 53/39 with 12/30 ?

Thx
They are just different gear ratios, easy is relative! Depending on the rider, preferred cadence, fitness, what the hills actual are like (you haven't told us what hills you are talking about, mountain cols, or gentle drags?) the smaller gears *might* just make you slower. See it fairly often, people just use lower gears to go slower instead of pedaling faster.
And as for the descents, there is little training benefit in going down as fast as is physically possible. So they may just have been braking early and rolling down the hill, taking it really easy.
I know the difference for me between just rolling down steadily and rolling down *and* thinking about lines, maintaining momentum etc can be anywhere between 15 and 30kph (ave) depending on the hill.
That's not even going into descents where I'm *trying* to get down as fast as possible. There might be another 10 kph or more to be wrung out of a descent. I know the fairly boring descent on my usually training loop (not very steep, only 4 or 5 gentle bends and a 90 degree bend at the bottom) I can roll down it at around 40, take a good rolling line at 50 and pin it at 60.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

When it is wet and I am decending on rim brakes I have to start braking for the bends alot earlier which slows me down overall. On disc brakes no such problem exists as my braking point is less afected.

I would not find 34/28 gearing useful. I don't even use 41/27 on my training bike except on the steepest hills when I am tired. Long climbs/drags 5% or so I do mostly in the 53 ring. It really does depend on the rider. It really does depend on your fittness and gearing you use is relative to that and where you ride. If I rode up and down big mountains all the time, I would still use 53/39T but I would have a 12-27T cassette to with it or a 12-29T. 34T is just too small.

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