Triples and double digit gradients
-
- Posts: 263
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 6:01 pm
Triples and double digit gradients
Postby The_Eggman » Wed Apr 02, 2014 1:59 pm
Next roadie may be coming from Europe, so a triple is a serious option on the new steed.
I'm also trying to do the three peaks (http://www.backoffalls.blogspot.com.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) next year and was striving to improve my climbing. I already have a compact crankset and a 12-28. Will a triple make a massive difference to my capacity to climb steep stuff? I do tend to blow up when it get above 11% for more than a very short burst, so Hotham and the Back of Falls scare me. Hopefully my climbing gets better over the year, and the weight goes south. Nonetheless, is a triple a good idea for really steep stuff?
-
- Posts: 14420
- Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:40 pm
- Location: Bendigo
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby warthog1 » Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:07 pm
- anttismo
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:53 am
- Location: SE Melbourne
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby anttismo » Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:36 pm
I have no doubt I can finish 3 peaks in about 10~11 hrs, and I can do it with 39/25... probably. But, if I had the choice, I'd take the 30/30 option, if not then 34/30
- Xplora
- Posts: 8272
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:33 am
- Location: TL;DR
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby Xplora » Wed Apr 02, 2014 2:50 pm
-
- Posts: 727
- Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2009 8:33 pm
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby ausrandoman » Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:08 pm
For both rides, I used a triple crankset 44-34-20. That is not a typo. I used a chainwheel with twenty teeth.
If anyone tries to tell you what gears to use, without telling you their preferred cadence, weight and threshold power, ignore them. I'm 90 rpm, 64 kg and 210 Watts. If your figures are much different, my gear ratios are irrelevant to you.
- toolonglegs
- Posts: 15463
- Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:49 pm
- Location: Somewhere with padded walls and really big hills!
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby toolonglegs » Wed Apr 02, 2014 5:17 pm
- biker jk
- Posts: 7012
- Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:18 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby biker jk » Wed Apr 02, 2014 5:55 pm
- Strawburger
- Posts: 1729
- Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:19 pm
- Location: Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby Strawburger » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:08 pm
- ldrcycles
- Posts: 9594
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:19 pm
- Location: Kin Kin, Queensland
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby ldrcycles » Wed Apr 02, 2014 7:33 pm
+1, just bunging on an MTB cassette is a great, easy option. I hate the limited top end of compacts so i run a 39-32, but a semi-compact (52-36) would be nice for really insane grades. I've ridden 25%+ without trouble with my current gearing, the only one that has defeated it was well over 30% and i had already bonked anyway.toolonglegs wrote:I go the cheaper option when heading to the really big hills for a week or so... I put an xtr mtb derailleur on with an 11-32 ( or 34 for a 1 to 1 ratio ) cassette. Works really well and I don't notice the jumps in gears very much at all. I rarely use the biggest cog. Works well.
To follow ausrandoman's lead, i'm a grinder (haven't got a meter but from my best estimation pretty much never more than 90rpm), 82kgs and mid B grade.
- Duck!
- Expert
- Posts: 9877
- Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
- Location: On The Tools
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby Duck! » Wed Apr 02, 2014 8:24 pm
Correction: It's going 11-sp. Won't be seen on the road for a few more months yet.biker jk wrote: Moreover, Shimano 105 has gone 11-speed and will offer the same option but at a lower price.
- biker jk
- Posts: 7012
- Joined: Tue Nov 17, 2009 6:18 pm
- Location: Sydney
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby biker jk » Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:25 pm
Well technically they have gone 11-speed since the groupset is in production. True that it won't be on bikes for several months. In any case, the OP will have the 11-speed 105 option unless he plans to have his new bike built up before then.Duck! wrote:Correction: It's going 11-sp. Won't be seen on the road for a few more months yet.biker jk wrote: Moreover, Shimano 105 has gone 11-speed and will offer the same option but at a lower price.
-
- Posts: 193
- Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 2:16 pm
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby Stefan_A » Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:51 pm
-
- Posts: 76
- Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2014 1:41 pm
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby sankari » Thu Apr 03, 2014 12:32 pm
-
- Posts: 14420
- Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:40 pm
- Location: Bendigo
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby warthog1 » Thu Apr 03, 2014 12:53 pm
If you can't climb on a 34/30 or whatever is available then you are never going to be a climber. That is some pretty low gearing.
Blame tapatalk
- cyclotaur
- Posts: 1782
- Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 1:36 pm
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby cyclotaur » Thu Apr 03, 2014 12:58 pm
And if you are not a natural 'climber' then use as many gears as you need, I say. There are plenty of tour companies in Europe that offer hire bikes with triples so their clients can complete and enjoy even the toughest of the iconic climbs.
My old blog - A bit of fun
"Riding, not racing...completing, not competing"
- Duck!
- Expert
- Posts: 9877
- Joined: Tue May 21, 2013 8:21 pm
- Location: On The Tools
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby Duck! » Thu Apr 03, 2014 2:17 pm
Double/big cassette setups may be smoother, but the trade off is much bigger jumps between each gear, making it harder to stay in your sweet zone as the gradients change.
- barefoot
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:05 am
- Location: Ballarat
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby barefoot » Thu Apr 03, 2014 4:02 pm
Or, if you don't want the hassle of swapping cassettes, chain and derailer every time you want to go for a steep ride...biker jk wrote:If you don't want the hassle of a triple (harder to adjust gears correctly)...
I'm not sure what this "harder to adjust gears correctly" thing is. Never been a problem on any MTB I've owned, and hasn't been a problem on my road triple in the ~9 months I've had it.
I had a compact. Really didn't like it much. The gears you actually want, most of the time, are the bottom of the big ring and the top of the little ring. So you're always swapping rings. The 34 is just too small to leave it in on flats and gentle descents... the 50 is just too tall if the horizon goes up a bit.
Now I've got my 30-39-50 rings. I rarely use the 30 - most of the time, I treat it like a standard double. The 39 is tall enough to be a good general-purpose ring, and I can stay in it for hours. Then I've got the 50 for when the pace picks up [1].
But then, when things get nasty, I still have the 30 up my sleeve. For emergencies. Without having to pre-emptively remove my standard drivetrain and swap in a climbing drivetrain. My 30:25 is lower than your 34:28.
And yet... I can still swap in a climbing drivetrain if I know things are going to get super nasty [2]. But a 30:32 gear is getting outside the realm of what normal people want to do with road bikes
But anyway, that's my take on it. With a triple, you can have a bike that's nicer to ride most of the time, and still have the low gears for the some of the time. Compact cranks give you the some-of-the-time low gears, but make the bike less pleasant to ride most of the time.
tim
[1] I honestly don't know what people do with a 53... I can out-sprint most of my friends with gears to spare, and I've "only" got a 50:12 top gear. 50:11 would be superfluous. 53:11 is crazy.
[2] My "road" bike is designed to be a go-anywhere bike. I've taken it places that I had to walk when I couldn't get started again in a 34:32 gear, when I still had the compact on it. I probably still would have walked that day if I had a 30:32 gear (there were sections that Strava calls sustained >40%... on dirt... and no gear is going to maintain traction there ), but I would have been more comfortable up until that point. Some would say this is MTB territory; I would say that I didn't want to ride the flat 20km to and from the hilly 40km on a tractor
-
- Posts: 14420
- Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:40 pm
- Location: Bendigo
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby warthog1 » Thu Apr 03, 2014 7:58 pm
Blame tapatalk
- ldrcycles
- Posts: 9594
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:19 pm
- Location: Kin Kin, Queensland
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby ldrcycles » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:12 pm
You know what I don't get? The hysteria about "jumps between gears", i'm only on 9 speed with my 11-32 and have no problems, you want to talk about jumps try using a 14-28 5 speed, or even better a 3 speed hub .
-
- Posts: 14420
- Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:40 pm
- Location: Bendigo
Triples and double digit gradients
Postby warthog1 » Thu Apr 03, 2014 8:40 pm
I don't find gaps a problem either with my 28-11 or 30-12ldrcycles wrote:
You know what I don't get? The hysteria about "jumps between gears", i'm only on 9 speed with my 11-32 and have no problems, you want to talk about jumps try using a 14-28 5 speed, or even better a 3 speed hub .
Blame tapatalk
- WyvernRH
- Posts: 3190
- Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:41 pm
- Location: Newcastle NSW
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby WyvernRH » Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:50 pm
Well, I can sort of agree with that being brought up in the days when 5 speed 14-34 touring was considered normal but wait til' you get a bit older and your knees start to give out....ldrcycles wrote:I use the 52-11 on every single ride, it doesn't take much of a downhill for that to be a good gear to just slowly turn the pedals over in. Or you can spin it if you get a good motorised draft .
You know what I don't get? The hysteria about "jumps between gears", i'm only on 9 speed with my 11-32 and have no problems, you want to talk about jumps try using a 14-28 5 speed, or even better a 3 speed hub .
Richard
- toolonglegs
- Posts: 15463
- Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 7:49 pm
- Location: Somewhere with padded walls and really big hills!
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby toolonglegs » Fri Apr 04, 2014 4:28 pm
Yesterday I found a climb to rival La Redoute ... I won't be going back there in a hurry on standard cranks!.
- barefoot
- Posts: 1203
- Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:05 am
- Location: Ballarat
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby barefoot » Fri Apr 04, 2014 5:04 pm
:-/ldrcycles wrote:I use the 52-11 on every single ride, it doesn't take much of a downhill for that to be a good gear to just slowly turn the pedals over in. Or you can spin it if you get a good motorised draft .
Any hill that's too fast to pedal in 50:12 is fast enough that I'm happy not to pedal.
One of my regular bunch routes has a flat "informal sprint" at the bottom of a downhill. If I'm having a crack at the sprint points, I'm still doing 60km/h, 500m after the downhill bit ends. If I'm not doing 60, it's not for lack of gears.
Anyway, I could have a 53:11 on my triple if I wanted, and I still wouldn't give away my climbing gears. I'd just open up a couple of little gaps between gears
I'm used to MTB cassettes, and I commute on a singlespeed. I know about jumps and being stuck in a not-perfect gearYou know what I don't get? The hysteria about "jumps between gears", i'm only on 9 speed with my 11-32 and have no problems, you want to talk about jumps try using a 14-28 5 speed, or even better a 3 speed hub .
But now I've got used to a 12-25 10-speed road cassette, I really do appreciate the fine steps between gears. On the flats. In a bunch.
Try it. You might like it.
tim
who would probably go for a 30-42-50 triple in a perfect world, and would spend most time in the 42
-
- Posts: 14420
- Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2012 4:40 pm
- Location: Bendigo
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby warthog1 » Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:12 pm
The large gaps are only up the top of the cassette where the speeds are lower so pretty easy to ride around. Down on the harder gears where the speeds and effort are higher the gaps between gears are small which is the only place they need to be.
The larger range cassette minimises front changes and allows you to stay in the big ring longer where you are more efficient. Win win.
- ldrcycles
- Posts: 9594
- Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:19 pm
- Location: Kin Kin, Queensland
Re: Triples and double digit gradients
Postby ldrcycles » Fri Apr 04, 2014 9:52 pm
Return to “General Cycling Discussion”
- 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.