Climbing setup that works on flat roads too

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tymon_tm
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Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2006 4:35 pm

by tymon_tm

there's no good answer to your question. some folks use compact cranks some don't. some spin like mother-beepers some push it like it's a strongman contest. some are fit some are... less fit

I never use anything else than a 52-53/39-42 with a 11-21 cassette on flats. for small 1-3 km climbs i've got a 53/39 with a 11-23 or 11-25 for an early season. now, the 11-21 cause a lot of hurting, but i always tend to use the biggest cog possible (no matter how long or steep the climb is) since the choice to not make things easy for myself. if i used compact cranks with, say, 11-28, i'd be a lot worse climber
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Nefarious86
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by Nefarious86

34 with an 11-28 11s rear is great for hour+ climbs if you like to spin.
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identiti66
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Feb 28, 2015 12:10 pm
Location: Suffolk, UK

by identiti66

Nefarious86 wrote:34 with an 11-28 11s rear is great for hour+ climbs if you like to spin.


It's a 10sp but I will have 50/34 and 11-28T.

Once my general fitness is up I'm going hunting for hills (starting small and hopefully building up to something epic-ish, if I have it in me).

Thanks for all the replies chaps.. really appreciate the help :thumbup:

964Cup
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Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:31 am

by 964Cup

I've heard that pro riders will sometimes run a 52/34, even though this exceeds the theoretical 16T max gap for the FD; apparently with Di2 this works OK. That gives you a wider gear spread. I've ended up going 52/36 with a 32 largest cog on my climbing wheels, a 28 on my every day wheels and a 26 on my deep section wheels.

refthimos
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Joined: Fri May 25, 2012 6:02 pm

by refthimos

964Cup wrote:I've heard that pro riders will sometimes run a 52/34, even though this exceeds the theoretical 16T max gap for the FD; apparently with Di2 this works OK.


My mechanic (head mechanic in one of the largest shops in SoCal, works on pro bikes etc) has been running 53/34 DA rings no problem with di2. We just got my bike set up with 53/36 Q-Rings with di2 and it seems to be working great as well. As Cat 3s go, I am not the best climber, so there is no way I am gonna run a 39. I'm really digging the 53/36.
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CerveloBert
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

by CerveloBert

I'm a shameless 50/34 : 12-28 user as my weekend rides typically go up Angeles Crest Highway in California (ToC Stage 7 descended this mountain last year into Pasadena). There are a couple different routes from this main climbing road, but going up to Mt. Disappointment, there is a 20-24% finish that would be nearly impossible for me to turn my crank for if I didn't have the current gearing I have right now. I usually have no issues descending as I just tuck in. On flat rides my gearing is usually not an issue even for the hard turns in the front. As a matter of fact, the only time I wish I had some bigger gears is for the descents.

Just as a point of Reference (shameless here too)
Weight: 176 Pounds (79.8 kg)
FTP: 224

And the whole female comment is funny, because a lot of the females I know can climb very well being fit and petite at 110-115 pounds (50-51 kg) of weight. A lot of them will beat out the 200+ lb. (90kg+) with FTP at 300+.
Last edited by CerveloBert on Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

identiti66
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Location: Suffolk, UK

by identiti66

At the risk of a dumb question, what's FTP?

CerveloBert
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Location: Los Angeles, CA

by CerveloBert

identiti66 wrote:At the risk of a dumb question, what's FTP?


Functional Threshold Power - The number of watts you can crank out in an hour based off of readings from a power meter.

identiti66
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Location: Suffolk, UK

by identiti66

Gotcha..

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