bjjoondo 

Ok, forgive the title but I couldn't think of how to phrase the question. My current road hybrids use a 48/38/28 and a 46/32/22 both with a 11-32 cassette. The 46/32/22 is my "trailer tugger", all 520 cro-mo steel frame/fork. The 48/38/28 is my "club ride" bike, alum. frame/cro-mo fork, I'm really thinking of trying a "drop bar" road bike by Spring 2013 BUT, the chainwheel/cassette's combo that come on many entry level road machines look like they'd be PURE TORTURE on my 57 year old arthritic knees!

Those of you who went from "hybrid" to "road bike", how long did it take you to become comfortable with the much lower gear combo's?? 50/34 or 53/42/30 and 11-25 or 26 really look like I'd have to "walk" up hills I can now at least slowly get over. Do you have to turn into a "training maniac" just to ride a entry level road bike? I'm not a hammerhead rider, I'm looking at a Jamis Satellite Sport or maybe a Giant Defy 4 Tri, something like that! Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

DnvrFox

I added a road bike to my mtn bike at age 59, after riding the mtn bike one year including the RTR. I got a triple on the roadie, and I never had any problems whatsoever in adjusting to the road bike, including another RTR. Codicil - I have no arthritis.

badger1

60 (soon to be 61) and very arthritic here! Not a problem. Years on 44/32/22x11/26, changed to 50/34x12/28 two seasons ago -- no problem. When you work out the ratios, not that much difference, really; yes, you'll probably blow untrained knees trying to grunt around in 50/11 or 12, but why would you do that?!? If it matters, with e.g. SRAM you can run 50/34x12/32 (lots of 'Apex' bikes out there) -- lots of easy climbing gears.

Phil85207

It wasn't a problem for me either and I went to a triple on the road bike too. I did have some problems going from the triple road bike to a compact (double) road bike. Then my LBS changed my cassette to an 11/36 and I am getting along much better now.

stapfam

I went from Mountain bike---44/32/22 and 12/34 to a road bike with 52/42/30 and 12/26 8 spd. Even with the MTB gearing- our road hills were not easy. The road bike was not easy either but no harder although the hills took less time. Found I did not use the 52 except downhill and with our hills- most of that was coasting. Taught me a valuable lesson and the next road bike was a compact 50/34 crankset and 12/27 cassette. Hills no harder but took even less time and I was using that 50/12 often. Next bike had same compact gearing but I changed the crank to a triple 50/39/30 with 12/25 and for me on the longer hillier rides this is perfect. In fact that bike has settled out to be my distance bike. The compact double now has a 12/30 cassette and that will give me the same gearing as the Triple.

A lot to be said whether a triple or a compact Crankset is the way to go and I no longer have a preference with the gearing that I use. Both give me low enough gears for the hills (Plenty of 1 mile at 10 to 15% round here) but still offer high enough gearing to crank it up on the flat sections with a tailwind. However finding a bike with a triple has been hard in the last year. Doesn't matter though as the 50/34 compact crank and a 12/30 cassette will give just a low gearing as most triples could have done.

By the way- My neighbour bought a new bike last year with the compact crank-50/34 and a 12/25 cassette. He walked a few hills but he put on an 11/28 cassette and no hill has defeated him since. Getting the right gearing is just a cassette change and although it may involve some extra cost of a long reach rear derailleur and chain- you can now get 11/36 cassettes if you are wimpish enough.

CB HI

It would really only be a problem if you have significant climbs and the road bike does not have low enough gearing.

jimmuller 

I don't ride a MTB but I'll offer a thought or two anyway. A "compact" crankset with a small ring of 34 paired to a large cog of 28 will do pretty well for most roads. After all, roads are graded less than mt trails. I'd guess that for most people, climbing a road hill with gearing like that is more of a challenge because of aerobic demands and lactic acid in the quads than stress on the knee joints.

There are other ways to get gearing that low, but anything near 32 gear inches should be fine.

Retro Grouch 

As long as it has the gears that I need I don't care if it also includes a 53/11 that I'll never use.

John_V 

Never had any problems with gearing when going from my hybrid to my first road bike. Both were 9 speed triples and I didn't really start doing any hills until I got the road bike. The problem I had was the change from grip shifters to brifters. It took me a few days to remember which paddle moved the chain in the appropriate direction.

BluesDawg

Remember, you aren't stuck with the stock gearing on a bike. With a road triple, you can almost duplicate your 28/28 next to lowest gear with a 30/30 without changing anything but the cassette, while a 34/30 compact, like I'm running would be about the same as your third lowest gear. If you need lower, you can change the granny ring on a triple from the standard 30 to a 26 if you want and get just about the same ratio as your current 28/32 with a 26/28. Or you can change the rear derailleur and go as low as a 34/36 and almost get there. Gearing is customizable.

That said, you may find that the more efficient position and probably lower weight of a road bike will let you get by with a little higher gearing than your hybrid without more effort on your part.

Mithrandir

My knees are ok but I weigh a lot, so when I built my road bike I put 'trekking' gearing on it (fancy name for MTB/hybrid on a road bike). 48/36/26 and 11-34. There's no reason you have to stick with the default gearing, and judging by the number of people I pass walking their bikes up hills, I'm rather convinced that most default road bike gearing is just not appropriate for most riders.

tsl

I live, work, and cycle in the city. With my hybrid, I became accustomed to really putting some grunt into that first pedal stroke starting form a light, so I could get across the intersection with a reasonable amount of alacrity and a minimum amount of wobbling around.

I was concerned when my first road bike came with a 42-tooth middle ring--until the very first pedal stroke. I stepped into it in the same manner as I did on the hybrid and ZOOM! It LEAPED forward. One-hundred feet down the road I was giggling with joy over how much faster and easier it was.

Little did I know that the very same first pedal stroke also sounded the death knell for my hybrid.

As for climbing, I actively avoided it with my hybrid. I'd ride several miles out of my way to avoid a single 50 foot 3% climb. Fifteen months after that first pedal stroke on that first road bike, I climbed Mt. Evans.

And I'm a lifelong lowlander and flatlander whose home altitude is 478 feet.

qcpmsame 

Bjoondo,
One thing I didn't notice, I may have missed this, with the new cassette ranges and RD available I would think you (OP) could make the new bike in any gear range you wanted/needed. The ranges for cassettes from both Shimano and SRAM are phenomenal. I was looking at an article about the SRAM WiFli systems and you can get a pretty low big cog now, with a nice spread between the 11 or 12 on the bottom and the 32, or even lower I believe. I have an 11-26 on the rear of my CAAD 10 (SRAM) and a compact double on the crank with 50/34 on the rings. These offer a good range fo rme here in out flat area, hills that we have can be done without killing myself.

I really believe you can enjoy almost any terrain you ride with the triples available, even Campy has released a super nice triple for their 11 speed cassettes' system. Shimano had triples up to Dura Ace level so the quality is definitely available for you. Best of luck in making your decision on what to buy, N+! choices are a lot of fun.

Bill

NOS88

Several really good points here. The weight of the road bike will be less. You can get gearing that will be very close to your current setups. With this second one, however, it would be desirable to have a very good LBS that will listen and respond to what you want. See if you can get a test ride that will have a hill or two like the one' thatmay concern you. I think it will be less of a problem than you might imagine.

Dudelsack 

I climb like a wounded rooster, and I always found my granny gear on my road bike, 30X25, to be adequate gearing for the unpleasant hills around here. I was nervous when I stopped riding my MTB on the road, with it's 22X34 gearing, but I never really needed it.

AlbertaBeef

Not 50+ yet... but I'm 47 this year and extremely arthritic...

I climbed over Highwood pass in Alberta on a 34 front/28 rear on a heavy old steel bike with touring wheels... It was tough, but I survived it without any more than a days rest followed by a good recovery ride. That being said though, now that I'm climbing mountain passes more, I swapped it out for a front triple...

Now I ride with 26/36/48 up front and 11-28 cassette when doing mountains. I use a 50/34 for less hilly events.

OldsCOOL

Dont know whatch ya'll talkin' bout. Road doubles, my whole life

bjjoondo 

LOL, John, I'm SURE I'll do no better, infact, I had to ASK on how to shift the new Biffters as the last touring road bike I had had bar-con shifters! Thanks for the thoughts, it's appreciated!

bjjoondo 

I guess, I should have added a bit of information, my questions were centered around the idea of using the stock "road" derailliures and how difficult the change from hybrid to road. I noticed that the road units even with longer cages were quite limited for the "largest" Cog size on the cassette. I was hoping not to have to put "MTB" units on my road bike. Still, I do have a good LBS and I know they'd work with me to make a "road bike" useable. Thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions, I'm really wanting to try a entry level road bike!

bjjoondo 

I bow in your shadow sir, the last Road double I had was on a beautiful "screaming zonker yellow" OLMO, made in Italy, 10 speed racer I bought with 2 years of saving at the ripe old age of 17! Since then I've had nothing but "triples" on touring/mtb and now hybrids, so doubles always look like PAIN going in circles! Have a most excellent day!

bobthib

Like several have said, the lower weight of a road bike, plus the wide range of available cassettes should allow you to tackle just about any hill. Note also that the bike will probably have thinner, higher pressure tires which SHOULD provide an easier ride if the roads are smooth. Another thing you should work on is getting your cadence up and pedaling in circles. Many (or most?) riders new to road tend to "mash" at a low cadence rather than spin at a higher cadence. That really helps the joints.

blt

Well, the answer of how hard it is depends on you and your body. Others can't answer the question for you of how hard it would be. For me, it would be too hard, considering the nasty hills I like to go up. For others posting in this thread, it wouldn't be hard.

How hard will it be for YOU if you use stock "road" derailliures? Go test ride some road bikes with stock "road" derailliures, including the kinds of hills you ride. You should be able to get a good idea of whether you think it will be too hard. If so, get trekking gearing. If not, go stock.

3 months ago, I got my new road bike with 48-38-26, 11-34. I like going up nasty hills, and I am very happy I got that gearing. If I wasn't going up nasty hills, I'd be OK with a default compact double, but now I can go where I want and never walk my bike. Before I got the new bike, I'd sometimes take my hybrid on rides with hills where I'd need to walk my road bike, even though it was a lot slower going for most of the ride. Now, the road bike goes up those same hills a lot easier than the hybrid. For all my favorite routes, my travel time is now a lot faster than it would be on either my old road bike or my hybrid.

It will not be hard to go from hybrid to road bike if you get the right gears. Get the right gears, and it will be much easier on the road bike than the hybrid. The question you need to answer is, what are the right gears. I knew I wanted low gearing, so I bought a bike that came with the 48-38-26, and for no extra charge my LBS swapped out the stock 11-25 for a 11-34 (and swapped out the stock derailliure for no charge), and life is easy. Just choose the right gears, life will be easy for you, too.

stapfam

Others can chime in but I have changed to a triple on one of my bikes from a Compact double. Ultegra front and rear dérailleurs. Had to change the F.D. as it was set up for a double. the R.D could already take a 12/27t cassette and I have fitted a 12/30t on this bike and it works. However there are two types of brifter. Mine are 105 (No idea on series no.) and it will operate on triple or Double cranks. The Later bike I have has a later 105 brifter on it and it will not work with a triple. So the main problem would appear to be when choosing whether to go triple or double as "Modern" double brifter s may not take a triple.

But rear cassette and My Ultegra R.D will take a 12/30 and so will my 105 and Tiagra. Would not like to go any larger though and this is where you may have to fit an MTB R.D. with some cassettes.