Long Cage Mech 11-36

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Trkorb
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by Trkorb

Just an example, during the 2010 Giro, on the Plan de Corones, Vinokourov rode an 11-32 cassette to 8th place with a 34 up front and Gadret rode the same to place 3rd on the stage. I'm sure I've seen Contador and Wiggins on long cage mechs as well.

So if the top male pros are using a 34-32 on racing stages on the Giro, can you say that a 36 for an amateur woman is really out of the question?

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ultimobici
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by ultimobici

Plan de Corones is a loose surface climb so even a pro has to sit down. Sounds like she is a novice rather than a more experienced rider, no? If it's a built bike, why not see how she goes with the stock setup so she at least has properly functioning gears. Trying to cobble together a setup like you're describing for a novice is fraught with pitfalls.


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ultimobici
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by ultimobici

OliverRB wrote:Just an example, during the 2010 Giro, on the Plan de Corones, Vinokourov rode an 11-32 cassette to 8th place with a 34 up front and Gadret rode the same to place 3rd on the stage. I'm sure I've seen Contador and Wiggins on long cage mechs as well.

So if the top male pros are using a 34-32 on racing stages on the Giro, can you say that a 36 for an amateur woman is really out of the question?

Can't really see any climbs in Luxembourg that would warrant more than 34x32, or 28 for that matter - unless the rider, male or female, was severely impaired.

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superdx
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by superdx

ultimobici wrote:So often technique is overlooked. Many riders, both newcomers and longtime riders, ride as if they are driving. That is they start a climb in too high a gear and then change down as the gradient bites. They lose any momentum they had and effectively stall. So they then need an even lower gear to recover.


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If a rider can use "momentum" for a "climb" that's not really a climb, that's a small hill. Pros do indeed use 11-32, 11-34 and yes even 11-36 on very mountainous stages. Grinding up is simply a waste of effort that could be used in an attack or final sprint. It's not a macho thing.

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ultimobici
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by ultimobici

superdx wrote:
ultimobici wrote:So often technique is overlooked. Many riders, both newcomers and longtime riders, ride as if they are driving. That is they start a climb in too high a gear and then change down as the gradient bites. They lose any momentum they had and effectively stall. So they then need an even lower gear to recover.


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If a rider can use "momentum" for a "climb" that's not really a climb, that's a small hill. Pros do indeed use 11-32, 11-34 and yes even 11-36 on very mountainous stages. Grinding up is simply a waste of effort that could be used in an attack or final sprint. It's not a macho thing.

Momentum was perhaps the wrong word. But what I am getting at is that many riders use their gears in the same way as they would when driving a car. The problem is that they just slow down more and end ups "stalling". It isn't about being macho at all. By putting a 34 or 36 on a road bike you are already outside what the manufacturer specced, so potentially risking a system that doesn't work well. THAT is more of an issue with a new rider who needs a system that works as smoothly as possible. If you're using an 11 speed setup, you have very limited options with regard to rear mech, the chain length will be either too long to accommodate the possibility of big-big shifts or too short for that eventuality. I have seen numerous examples of this type of setup that "work fine" but are not something a newer rider will have the nous to use safely. What happens when they descend through a corner and are suddenly faced with a steep climb and keep shifting down, not realising that they are still in the big ring? A more experienced rider will normally execute a double shift to avoid that big-big gear, but the novice may not realise until it's too late. At best the gears are tight, but there is a real risk of it ending up in a big repair bill.

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by superdx

I'm confused, are you talking about beginners that apparently don't know anything about shifting and yet trying to do a big climb on what you assume to be poorly setup bike? You can mix and match MTB derailleurs on both Shimano and SRAM products and put it on a road bike with some adjustment on the B-screws. Having a properly setup bike has nothing do with a beginner or not. You just have to pay the right bike shop or have friends who know how. Cross chaining is not limited to beginners either.

There's a lot of assumptions your making but I'm not really getting your actual point.

Big gears help riders, pros and beginners alike, get over climbs with less effort. Pro riders do it, for reasons of strategy and simply conserving energy for attacks/sprints, and beginners use them because they don't have Hulk legs. What's the problem with how people choose to gear their bike?

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ultimobici
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by ultimobici

superdx wrote:I'm confused, are you talking about beginners that apparently don't know anything about shifting and yet trying to do a big climb on what you assume to be poorly setup bike? You can mix and match MTB derailleurs on both Shimano and SRAM products and put it on a road bike with some adjustment on the B-screws. Having a properly setup bike has nothing do with a beginner or not. You just have to pay the right bike shop or have friends who know how. Cross chaining is not limited to beginners either.
No, I'm talking about using out of spec setups with parts that aren't designed to work together. It may be possible to make them "work", but they are never optimal.

There's a lot of assumptions your making but I'm not really getting your actual point.

Big gears help riders, pros and beginners alike, get over climbs with less effort. Pro riders do it, for reasons of strategy and simply conserving energy for attacks/sprints, and beginners use them because they don't have Hulk legs. What's the problem with how people choose to gear their bike?
Based on 20 odd years experience in the industry where on a regular basis I see this kind of Frankenbike setup proposed. When 10 speed was the performance standard you could use Mtb mechs and get away with it. Now with 11 speed it is harder as Mtb mechs do not play as readily. I'm not deriding a rider having 11-32 & a 34, indeed I am sorting out just such a setup for my return to Il Muro di Sormano in July. But I am fully aware that my SR11 EPS can only just cope with it partly thanks to a longish mech hanger.




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