dockayak

I'm anticipating doing the Blue Ridge Parkway in the near future and would like some suggestions for changing my current bike into an appropriately outfitted climber. Currently I ride a 2004 Lemond Buenos Aires with a shimano ultegra rear derailleur and a shimano 105 front derailleur. Any suggestions for switching out my current setup (standard on this bike, no modifications yet)? It's set up for road racing right now and I can't imagine the BRP with it's current gear ratio, it'd be a killer up the long hauls. I am about 6'3" and weight about 212, average about 20 mph riding in the mountains of eastern KY and TN, but now live in NC in flatlands so I train with small hills I call them compared to the Appalachians I used to ride, I just would like to go big again and BRP answers the call. Thanks for any suggestions. I don't know enough unfortunately about gear ratios to tell you what I have currently (there are 2 front rings, and 8 rear rings, how can I tell the ratio? Count the number of teeth or measure them or something?)

Patriot

First you start off with a whole bunch of money......

Actually, you could take it to the LBS, and just see if they have an old Triple crank, and a cassette with lower gearing they could sell you which fits the older drivetrain. That would be a good start. This is of course, if you are on a budget.

jsharr

the triple and new cassette idea sounds the best to me.

definitely better, easier and cheaper than the way lance became a great climber

Crack'n'fail

If you are avereging 20 MPH in the foothills of TN and Eastern KY you probably don't need a triple. Most of the climbs on the Parkway are fairly modest gradients, just for long miles. The only place you hit super steep stuff is on the approach to the PKWY.

On solo rides I average about 18-20 miles an hour (that's what my computer says at the end, not how fast I am going on the flats which some people mistakingly call their average on here) on rides in the river valley of OH, so not quite the climbs your used to, but more walls maybe. So if you're properly using your avg mph terminology I have to assume you're in as good a shape as me.

That being said, until this past month I had always done the Parkway on a Double with a 42X23 as my smallest gearing option. I mashed it out but it took a day to recover from most of my rides. This year I've put a 27 on the back and actually shaved time off of my route because I was able to recover during the ride and hammer tempo on the flats on the way home after all the climbing.

If you don't think you're that strong, which I think you probably are, you shouldn't need anything more than a compact crankset with a 39 in the front and a 27 in the rear.

This is of course assuming your talking about a road ride and not touring. If you're going to be carrying panniers and the like then a triple would make good sense.

hoodlum

I agree with that statement. I ride often on the parkway, and can get by no problem with a double with the lowest gear being a 39x27. I have been eyeing myself a compact, and will probably move in that direction in the near future.

john5211

FWIW, if you have a 2004 stock Buenos Aires then you have a 12-25 in the rear (meaning that the smallest cog has 12 teeth and the largest one has 25). But in that case you should also have 9 cogs, not 8. (Specs at https://www.lemondbikes.com/2004_bike...os_aires.shtml ).

As long as you're not changing the diameter of the tire or the length of the crank arms, then the only number you need to compare gears is the ratio of the number of teeth on the front chainring to the number of teeth on the rear cog. So the 'easiest' gear for you to pedal in (small chainring, big cog) is 39/25 (=1.56), and the 'hardest' (big chainring, small cog) is 52/12 (=4.33...).

As for what you should do, I frankly have no idea. If it were me I would probably try to find a hill or two of local hills comperable to what you'll find on the parkway and then ride up and down them a bunch. If it seemed too hard I'd switch the cassette (cheapest thing first!) and then think about adding a triple. But if you switch to a triple I think you need (at the very least) a new bottom bracket. Then again, I live in central Illinois, so what the heck do I know about hills .

John

Phatman

I agree that the Blue ridge wasn't that hard, at least the parts that I rode. a 39x25 was fine for most of the parkway, and it was only on piper's gap (coming to the pkwy) that i wished for a triple.

has anyone noticed that its a good 10 degrees colder on the BRP than any surrounding area?

Retro Grouch 

There are lots of choices. Unfortunately for you, you have asked a question that only you can answer. Nobody else can say what gears you will need for a particular ride. Your personal background and fitness level are what determines that. It is helpful to know what other riders have used for the same ride but you still have to filter that information through knowing your own personal experience.

Ways to get easier hill gearing on a road bike:
1. Buy a 12-27 cassette and maybe a new longer chain. (Least expensive but not much gearing change)
2. Buy up to a 12-34 cassette, longer chain and a mountain bike rear derailleur. (Cheap but big spaces between gears)
3. Install a 50- 34 compact crankset. (Requires an extra rear shift when you shift front chainrings)
4. Install a triple road crankset, new derailleurs and new shifters since you now have a 105 8-speed. (Most expensive but greatest range)
5. Some combination of the above.

I think that the smart way to make the decision is to:
1. Figure out the gearing that you think you are going to need.
2. Plot out all of the gear ratios of the combinations that you are considering. It'll maybe take you 1/2 hour at most.
3. Do some kind of cost/benefit analysis to determine what you want.

I'm thinking that a compact crankset will give you a hill climb gear almost as low as a triple crankset but you will probably just have to buy the crankset and possibly a new bottom bracket. You get to keep the spacing between gears that you have now. That's what I would do if it was my bike.

Crack'n'fail

Almost always. You need to consider that when planning what layers to bring with you.

I've left from Maggie Valley in shorts and a long sleeve jersey and ended up in a snow storm.