Which Cassette?
-
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:34 am
- Location: Adelaide
Which Cassette?
Postby darkpromenade » Sat Dec 15, 2007 7:57 am
-
- Posts: 1698
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:03 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Postby Deanj » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:17 am
Gear calculator
- mikesbytes
- Super Mod
- Posts: 22179
- Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:42 pm
- Location: Tempe, Sydney
- Contact:
Postby mikesbytes » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:36 am
How high a top gear do you need? A lower top gear will help reduce the gaps.
-
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:34 am
- Location: Adelaide
Postby darkpromenade » Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:03 am
I could afford to probably drop from an 11 to a 12 at the other end, but the run down Cross Road from the Eagle can be done pushing a big gear. I'm yet to do it on this bike though, so I'm not sure I'll need the 11.
- europa
- Posts: 7334
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:51 am
- Location: southern end of Adelaide - home of hills, fixies and drop bears
Postby europa » Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:02 am
My setup.
Chain rings - 26, 40, 52
Cassette (SRAM) - 11-12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32
I haven't tried Greenhill or the Eagle yet, but am climbing the big hills down here with a cadence of 90 and a comfortable HR - Greenhill would push that HR up.
No Mike, there aren't any holes in that set up. You do notice the jump from the 24 to the 28 but when you're reaching that low, that is usually a good thing. Having said that, I can understand why someone trying to maintain an even pace on the flat would prefer 1 tooth progressions.
The chainring progressions are smooth and very rarely require a double shift. There's no need to cross chain on this set up because of the sensible overlap between the rings. Having said that, it's also possible to just live on the middle ring if inclined.
It's a good, alround setup that allows me to run with the fastest (yes, I regularly use top though only downhill with these old legs) yet climb anything I face.
Were I to loose the granny, I'd still go with that rear cassette and chainring combination.
Now having gearing on a bike that allows me to loaf up hills, I can't see the point in killing yourself trying to climb with higher gearing.
Richard
- toolonglegs
- Posts: 15463
- Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:49 pm
- Location: Somewhere with padded walls and really big hills!
Postby toolonglegs » Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:25 am
- Bnej
- Posts: 2880
- Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:43 pm
- Location: Katoomba, NSW
- europa
- Posts: 7334
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:51 am
- Location: southern end of Adelaide - home of hills, fixies and drop bears
-
- Posts: 267
- Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:58 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Postby Jeremy » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:46 pm
I guess it's a matter of how hard you want to work to get up the hill....if you are like Richard and have no interest in how long it takes you to get up the hill, then find the lowest gearing you can.
I'm more competitive than that, so i figured that if others can manage to power up the hills using very similar gearing, at a much faster rate than me, then i had to HTFU and train
My dad had identical gearing to me but really struggled in the hills so chose to drop to a 11-25 cassette.....he found it slightly easier, but now i'm even faster up the hills
-
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:34 am
- Location: Adelaide
Postby darkpromenade » Sat Dec 15, 2007 2:47 pm
Your 39/23 would be equivalent to a 42/25.... so thats a vote for a 25 and a vote for a 28.Jeremy wrote:I run a 39/52 and 11-23.......i can get up hills now, but it's taken a while to get there.
Going for a smaller chainring is a good idea, but I'm using late '80s biopace chainrings and I havn't seen one smaller than a 42.
I'm somewhere between a loafer and a "pusher"! I'm not one to simply cruise around, but I also know I have to take it a little easier on my longer rides. My riding is all about overall cardiovascular fitness, so working in that 60-70% max HR range is important, rather than hammering all the time. Having said that, I'm a sucker if I see someone ahead of me on the road...... I have to try and catch them!
- LuckyPierre
- Posts: 1432
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2006 4:37 pm
- Location: Canberra, ACT
Postby LuckyPierre » Sat Dec 15, 2007 2:58 pm
Don't worry about the 'bio-pace' bit - it was a pretty short-lived design (yes, I know that a couple of obscure manufacturers still do something that's just different enought to avoid any patent issues).
Alchemy Diablo - Columbus Zonal tubing, Ultegra 9-speed groupset, UltraGatorskins
Gitane Rocks T1 - U6 tubing, Deore/XT groupset, CrossMarks
-
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:34 am
- Location: Adelaide
Postby darkpromenade » Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:11 pm
The whole Biopace thing is more to do with the fact that thats what the bike originally came with..... definitely more about the heart than the head...... trying to keep it as it was, circa 1990.
If I thought I could push a 42/26 up the hills I'd go with that....... I might have to go and check what the Rockhopper has, as I could cruise up the hills on the middle chain ring and the smallest rear cog without too much of a problem.
brb!
-
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:34 am
- Location: Adelaide
Postby darkpromenade » Sat Dec 15, 2007 3:26 pm
I climbed the hills on the Rockhopper using a 32T chain ring and a 32 or 26 rear sprocket. Thats a 2.0 or a 2.5 ratio. Even with a rear 28 I'm only at 3.0. Now the roadie weighs at least 4kg less than the Rockhopper and has much less rolling resistance but it seems a lot to make up.
Smaller chain ring is looking like the only choice. Hmmmmmmmm.
On another topic, I'm about to go for a ride!
- Bnej
- Posts: 2880
- Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:43 pm
- Location: Katoomba, NSW
Postby Bnej » Sat Dec 15, 2007 5:29 pm
If you want the same effect as the biopace rings I believe Rotor make elliptical chain rings that can be set up pretty much the same.
BTW I find I can push a 39F/26R on the road bike on similar gradients that I use a 34F/30R or so on my mountain bike - weight difference is similar FWIW.
-
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:34 am
- Location: Adelaide
Postby darkpromenade » Sat Dec 15, 2007 8:02 pm
34/30 is 2.3, similar to what I was pushing on the Rockhopper........
So again, maybe I'll be alright at 28 with the 42T chain ring........
Anyone got a 12-28 7 speed Hyperglide cassette they want to get rid of?
p.s. the ride was good....... head wind on the way back along Port Road was hard work. 49.83km (AT) 30.1km/h
-
- Posts: 233
- Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:43 pm
- Location: Toowoomba
-
- Posts: 630
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:29 am
Which Cassette?
Postby silverlight » Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:19 pm
-
- Posts: 267
- Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:58 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Postby Jeremy » Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:38 pm
Dad called it, and said he couldn't go any further, and being just the two of us, we turned back down (damn it was hard on brakes too ) I looked up later how far we'd got, and were pretty close to completing it
I was certainly struggling too though.....and realised that all hills are not created equally......i was actually meaning to come back to this thread and say i was considering adding a bigger cog
-
- Posts: 267
- Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:58 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Postby Jeremy » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:19 pm
It's quite a skinny rd with an old faded sign leading off the right hand side of gorge rd as you start to hit the hills.....easy to miss if ur not looking for it
- europa
- Posts: 7334
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:51 am
- Location: southern end of Adelaide - home of hills, fixies and drop bears
Postby europa » Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:30 am
Richard
- sogood
- Posts: 17168
- Joined: Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:31 am
- Location: Sydney AU
Postby sogood » Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:33 am
Isn't that what a "hole" is? A noticeable jump from one cog to the next.europa wrote:No Mike, there aren't any holes in that set up. You do notice the jump from the 24 to the 28..
RK wrote:And that is Wikipedia - I can write my own definition.
-
- Posts: 1698
- Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 8:03 pm
- Location: Adelaide
Postby Deanj » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:02 am
I don't know that area too well at all, but have done Gorge road a couple of times on the motorbike. As you say, I wouldn't think of riding all the way along it. Not looked at my route there as I went straight to bed after, but, if I can't get there what I class as "safely" it wouldn't happen. This leaves me a little stuck at times coming up with routes from my place, and is the reason I stick to my regular 100 km loop, its low traffic and the roads have reasonable visibility. Do you take the straight 100-110 km roads out Strath way, or the slower, less visible roads of the hills?europa wrote:The Gorge Rd and the Corkscrew are both very narrow and very twisty. They are the sorts of roads where drivers come flying up behind you, have to slow down to a crawl and have nowhere safe to pass. These are the sorts of circumstances that are very unsafe to all concerned and which aren't helping the attitude of drivers towards us in the slightest (one of the largest causes of complaint on the radio). Yes, we deserve to be able to ride where we want to, but the Gorge is one road I won't ride up, particularly in any sort of group, because it just isn't safe, and not helped by groups of riders who don't give a stuff about the other road users. Sorry, co-operation is the only way to make many of the hills roads work and while some riders refuse to offer any, the impatient motorist won't play ball either (don't get me wrong, both are to blame).
Richard
Another problem with the Hills is the busiest time on the roads is the weekends. I've worked on a road all day Sunday and the traffic was a nightmare. Did the same stretch (within a few k's) midweek and traffic was at a guess around 10% of the weekend. This was another road I wouldn't ride all the way along but a busy cyclist route, Loebethal Road.
I don't mind riding down any of the hills into the city as your usually faster than cars, but all but once, I've come back up Eagle.
- General Australian Cycling Topics
- Info / announcements
- Buying a bike / parts
- General Cycling Discussion
- The Bike Shed
- Cycling Health
- Cycling Safety and Advocacy
- Women's Cycling
- Bike & Gear Reviews
- Cycling Trade
- Stolen Bikes
- Bicycle FAQs
- The Market Place
- Member to Member Bike and Gear Sales
- Want to Buy, Group Buy, Swap
- My Bikes or Gear Elsewhere
- Serious Biking
- Audax / Randonneuring
- Retro biking
- Commuting
- MTB
- Recumbents
- Fixed Gear/ Single Speed
- Track
- Electric Bicycles
- Cyclocross and Gravel Grinding
- Dragsters / Lowriders / Cruisers
- Children's Bikes
- Cargo Bikes and Utility Cycling
- Road Racing
- Road Biking
- Training
- Time Trial
- Triathlon
- International and National Tours and Events
- Cycle Touring
- Touring Australia
- Touring Overseas
- Touring Bikes and Equipment
- Australia
- Western Australia
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Victoria
- ACT
- Tasmania
- Northern Territory
- Country & Regional
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users
- All times are UTC+10:00
- Top
- Delete cookies
About the Australian Cycling Forums
The Australian Cycling Forums is a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.
Bicycles Network Australia
Forum Information
Connect with BNA
This website uses affiliate links to retail platforms including ebay, amazon, proviz and ribble.