Road Cycling - 53 times how big. 39 times how small

Okay what is the biggest gear you actually need ? I certainly don't feel I need a 53 x 11 and am currently only using a 53 x 13 as the biggest gear. But I don't feel I ever really use this and am considering switching my rear cassette form a 13-23 to a 14-25 (Ultegra) to give me a more useful range of gears when I am riding on flat windy terrain in the big ring and a bale out gear for when I venture into the hills on the 39. The area I live in is predominantly flat with what hills there are an hours ride away c being overcome in a 21 or 23 and are descended very quickly making the need for a big gear redundant in my opinion. I ride chiefly for fitness and am unlikely to race much, and if I do do not consider myself a sprint challenger. What set ups do other riders use and what range of gears do you consider that you actually use ?

I use 39/52 and 13-26 with good success(good thing because the freewheel won't come off).
I live in a rather hilly area with some flats, and ride a 30 pound ten speed with 1-1/4inch tires(32mm) at 80-85psi(5.5 BAR) and I use toe clips and running shoes.
On the flats I use either 52\20 or 52\16 (REALLY wide ratio), on longish 3.5% grades I can use a 39\24 but anything steeper takes the 39\26 and I have yet to try a long 6%+ climb with this bike, exceptions for hills short enough to stand and sprint to the top (less than 50-100 meters depending on slope). For the flats I would prefer 52\18 but if I had clipless pedals I would probably use the 52\16 most of the time.

On my road bike, I sprint in my 53-12 occasionally, but I could probably live without it.

My new tandem has a 54-11 and it gets used a lot more; when you have momentum on a tandem, you want to ride it as long as possible :)

-murray

i think you're missing the point here. i switched to a 11-21 cassette this year and love it. i love the spacing options in both the 53 & 39. i like how ultegra shifts nicely in this spacing. the point isn't that you'd use the 53-11, but that the spacing is better, especially if you ride on predominantly flat roads and cruise up the rolling mounds we call hills.

You make a good point. Having a high-gear that is not used "seems" wasteful. But I think the same rule applies to high-gears as it does to low-gears.

"Smart" riders would never think of going to a hilly riding area without having a gear-ratio low enough to assure their ability to climb whatever hills came up. After they go on the ride, they may discover they did not in fact ever "need" their lowest gear.

Well, the same sort of sensibility applies to high-gears. You may very well never find yourself in a situation where you "need" something higher than a 53x14, but that doesn't mean it's a bad idea to take along 53x11 anyway.

If you're prone to switching setups for each ride, because you know the terrain, then do whatever.

Okay what is the biggest gear you actually need ? I certainly don't feel I need a 53 x 11 and am currently only using a 53 x 13 as the biggest gear. But I don't feel I ever really use this and am considering switching my rear cassette form a 13-23 to a 14-25 (Ultegra) to give me a more useful range of gears when I am riding on flat windy terrain in the big ring and a bale out gear for when I venture into the hills on the 39. The area I live in is predominantly flat with what hills there are an hours ride away c being overcome in a 21 or 23 and are descended very quickly making the need for a big gear redundant in my opinion. I ride chiefly for fitness and am unlikely to race much, and if I do do not consider myself a sprint challenger. What set ups do other riders use and what range of gears do you consider that you actually use ?

I just switched to a compact crankset, which truly does give you low and high gears without having big gaps in the gearing...then you can have a couple of rear wheels with racing and non-racing clusters...works great

I just switched to a compact crankset, which truly does give you low and high gears without having big gaps in the gearing...then you can have a couple of rear wheels with racing and non-racing clusters...works great

Ok Z what gears do I loose over my trippple? Got that web site that calculates the gear run out?

Hey guess what: I am playing golf this afternoon...and tomorrow. :eek: First time in 3 weeks.

Shimano makes a stock 14/25?

Shimano makes a stock 14/25?

Yes.

Ultegra - http://harriscyclery.net/site/itemdetails.cfm?ID=772

Tiagra - http://www.excelsports.com/new.asp?page=8&major=1&minor=10&description=Tiagra+Cassette+14-25+junior+gear&vendorCode=SHIM

I swapped out my ultegra 12-23 for an SRAM 12-26 when I went up to Wisconsin for some riding, figuring I'd need the extra gears. I haven't switched back to the 12-23 yet. The shifting on the wider gearing (I only really lost the 16 going to the SRAM) is fine, but as Riphraph says, the ratio has changed a fair bit - there is a big difference when I'm cruising in the 53/17 and then jump to the 53/15. I'm probably going to switch back soon.

I don't see how it matters what gears I need anymore than it matters what gears Lance Armstrong needs. What matters is what gears do you need.

Okay what is the biggest gear you actually need ? I certainly don't feel I need a 53 x 11 and am currently only using a 53 x 13 as the biggest gear. But I don't feel I ever really use this and am considering switching my rear cassette form a 13-23 to a 14-25 (Ultegra) to give me a more useful range of gears when I am riding on flat windy terrain in the big ring and a bale out gear for when I venture into the hills on the 39. The area I live in is predominantly flat with what hills there are an hours ride away c being overcome in a 21 or 23 and are descended very quickly making the need for a big gear redundant in my opinion. I ride chiefly for fitness and am unlikely to race much, and if I do do not consider myself a sprint challenger. What set ups do other riders use and what range of gears do you consider that you actually use ?

Check that you´ve got room for the 14 , I tried and found that the chain touched the frame at times ( ie when shifting onto the 14 and large bumps ) . Go for the 105 cassette as this can be seperated to allow you to change the 23 + 25 for a 24 + 28 if you go to the mountains ( theory says 27 but 28 works fine ) and unless you´ve got strong legs you are unlikely to notice the difference - the Ultegra has spiders to make the large cogs more rigid - see www.sheldonbrown.com for more details

Ok Z what gears do I loose over my trippple? Got that web site that calculates the gear run out?

Hey guess what: I am playing golf this afternoon...and tomorrow. :eek: First time in 3 weeks.


google Sheldon Brown's website...he has a gear ratio tool that is perfect..alos, the FSA cranks (Energy) are wicked stiff, you will notice that immediately. I haven't really lost any gears since I didn't use the granny except for one gear for long steep climbs...really, I think I gave up maybe two positions.

Gearing requirements depend highly on terrain and rider fitness.

For rolling terrain on my 6-speed road bike (which I don't race), I run 34x50 and 13-21 giving me a gear range of 3.4m - 8.1m (43" - 101"). When I venture into very hilly or mountainous areas, I change to 12-24 giving me a gear range of 3.0m - 8.8m (37" - 110").

On my triathlon bike, I run 39x53 and 12-23 giving me a range of 3.6m - 9.3m (45" - 116"). That's been sufficient for all my races so far - most in rolling terrain, but a few in mountainous regions. I take that back, I could have used a 53/11 in one race that had a steep 6 mile descent (Ironman Lake Placid).

Ignore everybody else--just listen to me!
No, actually you should figure this out for yourself. After 20+ years of cycling, I sat down about three years ago and looked at what gears I actually USE, and have gradually fitted my most-ridden bikes with gearing to accomodate ME, instead of changing myself to fit the bikes. It's really changed my cycling life--I'm riding much more, in more difficult places, and enjoying it.
What I wound up with, mostly based on Rivendell's recommendations when I bought my Atlantis, is a 46-36-26 crankset and 11-28 cassette one one bike, 12-26 on another. That gives me a high gear of about 113 inches, all I'll EVER need, and a low of 25, which I sometimes use in the passes around here. Your requirements may differ, but if everybody told the truth, I'll bet not one cyclist in 25 can turn a 53-11 on flat ground.

I'll bet not one cyclist in 25 can turn a 53-11 on flat ground.

As I said before, my wife and I were turning the 54-11 on our tandem on our first ride, but then that's two cyclist, not one :D

During the last town sign sprint I won, I was pushing my 53-12 and I only weigh 130 lbs :rolleyes:

With all that, I'm seriously considering a compact 50/34 12/23 to give me a little more cushion on the hills around here.

-murray

As I said before, my wife and I were turning the 54-11 on our tandem on our first ride, but then that's two cyclist, not one :D

During the last town sign sprint I won, I was pushing my 53-12 and I only weigh 130 lbs :rolleyes:

With all that, I'm seriously considering a compact 50/34 12/23 to give me a little more cushion on the hills around here.

-murray
I have lost nothing on the high end in going to a compact...if you replace your rear cassette with a 12-25, you'd be surprised at how fast you can turn that sucker over...and it's fun to have a roll easy gear for long climbs...

I use a 53/39 with 23/11 cassette. I used this in mountains around SoCal and in the rollers around Austin. There were times I could have used a 24 on the cassette when I was having a bad day in the mountains but overall I feel it offers every gear I need. I'm 42, 159#, Campy Record 10s

Your requirements may differ, but if everybody told the truth, I'll bet not one cyclist in 25 can turn a 53-11 on flat ground.

I've ran out of gears in 53-12 and I'll looking to drop a tooth. There really isn't any mountains here in Florida so I'm going to go up to San Antonio (FL) and try the hillies up there so I can figure out what gears I'll need. I don't think I have ever gone lower then middle-middle and I run 30/42/52-&-12-26T. I'm looking at a 11-21 from www.amclassic.com