Long Tom

Going to a cassette with a 30 will be like adding a low gear. If you feel like you are "close", then that might just do it right there.

It's cool that you like to climb. You can get stronger faster with that mindset. I don't know how you climb, but if you aren't standing much, start doing that. At first it will blow you up aerobically, but this too shall pass, and soon you'll realize how good it feels to get up off the saddle and climb that way. You are using your body completely differently- you can about get an upper-body workout climbing while standing, if you choose to leverage the situation like that.

Anyway- and this is important- you'll need to shift up at least two gears when going from sitting to standing. That takes some practice to do seamlessly on steeper grades. You can't hold the same cadence standing, hence the need to upshift.

You might find the above helpful? If not then I guess you need a triple up front.

RydeBig

Lot of a good advice, basically its about more riding, I know your tired of hearing that. May I make a suggestion & a point.
Suggestion: find hill that's not to long & not to steep but steep enough, even if you have to drive to this hill, half mile or so & something that you can climb in your easiest gear, then the next gear (2nd) go again, then do the climb in 3rd, do this once for the first week, next week do it twice with at least a day apart. YOU CAN DO IT!!
Point: very few of us are born hill climbers, but most of us love descents, hince the reason to go up!! & your are hearing from folks that have put in their dues. I'm 63, & where I live in Oregon, I do a 15 mile ride it costs 18k in elevation, & I'm not fast (was?) but now I'm just steady. Stick with it, its worth the ride!I personally hate compacts, but that's what you got & you can make it work. Just stay with it & keep us posted on your progress

Long Tom

Thank you. His numbers seemed ludicrous to me but I was still just sorta sinking into a pit of despair that a human could hold those speeds on grades like that...

TheSame

That looks brutal, but it seems short enough where you could power up the super steep sections.

The hills that get me are those that are averaging 12% for a mile. no place to rest, just constant grind up.
https://www.strava.com/segments/626583

Long Tom

What got ME was the Tramway Rd. climb out of Palm Springs. Google it... that thing is just relentless, and saves the worst for last. Plus it's like an optical illusion; the terrain is rising so quickly that the road doesn't look steep.... but meanwhile it's killing you. There's a spot that looks like a short shallow downhill (where you cross the creek) and I was SO looking forward to even just the briefest rest. Wrong. I stopped pedaling and started slowing way down. It's not downhill at all- it's uphill, but the eye is deceived.

What a soul-crushing, ego-devouring, masochistic son of a ***** that climb is. I can't wait to do it again.

Antieverything

i went from 50/34-12/27 to 50/34-13/30 had to custom make the cassette by seperating a couple spare cassettes to get closer jumps. there is a small gain in having a extra gear, especially if you train by purposely not using the 30t until absolutely necessary. eventually you will not need it and it will effectively become the bailout gear. having said that if you are not in the middle of a race and if space allows, you can pull into side streets or pull off areas and make smallish circles on the flatter ground until your breathing and heart rate recovers, then attack once again. i tend to use this on new climbs so i dont blow up before the top. btw the swap to the 30t was achieved with the existing short cage 105 derailleur, a longer b-screw, the chain stayed the same length to prevent a loose chain in the small/small and i have to take care to not use the big/big. anyways those extreme combos shouldnt really be used due to cross chaining. a long cage derailleur would be necessary to upgrade to 34t in the rear, along with a bunch of extra chain, if going that route make sure you ask and/or do the research to get the right derailleur. not all have the capacity to handle 34t and 42t of chain wrap.

Smokehouse

you our know what's funny...strava shows a downhill in the middle of Illini...let me assure you there isn't. The hill kicks, flattens out for a second then kicks you again. If there is a downhill, it is so small, you don't even feel it. I've always wondered why they show it that way.

having taken both...Kerfoot is worse...WAY worse.

https://veloviewer.com/segments/1639004

thats one of those that the first time I took it, I was happy not to stall out. The whole time up it, I kept thinking of a possibly quick turnaround rather than stalling and falling over like a goofball.

antimonysarah

If you're not having fun, get more gears. You will get stronger, but which sounds more like you:

1. I will get stronger, and then I will have no need for these gears.
2. I will get stronger, and I will use these low gears to go climb bigger mountains, woo!

The biggest downside to a wide cassette (aside from cost of changing derailleurs) is that there are large jumps between gears. Ride around a bit, always shifting two gears at a time rather than one, and see if you get annoyed by not having the "perfect" gear at times. That doesn't bug me at all -- probably because I'm used to riding my various transportation bikes as well as my roadie, which includes my folding bike (which as almost the same end to end range as your road bike, but with only 6 gear combinations).

I went to a 50/34 in front and an 11-36 to keep my legs fresh over long-distance rides -- on a 15% grade, I'm still probably better off walking even with the new gears, because I will be going about the same speed and can use the walk as a chance to hydrate/eat and stretch, but on a 5-12% extended grade I'll be a lot fresher after if I can shift down and spin more.

cthenn

Don't do any of this hill repeats stuff or 5 minutes of this and 10 minutes of that and then repeat and time everything and go 80% for 2 minutes...yawn I'm boring myself. That's just going to take the fun out of riding because it becomes a chore. Ride for fun, you aren't training for anything other than getting in better shape. If you don't want to have patience until you mature into the gears you currently have (a 34 x 27 is quite a low gear), you could swap out the cassette for one with a 30, that's the cheapest way to go. Otherwise, just stay off the really steep hills until you get stronger. The more you ride, the more quickly you'll get there!

RollCNY

I briefly did fixed, but now 95% of my riding is SS. Either way, it totally changes your perspective on gearing, but it's one of those things you have to live through to understand.

Smokehouse

You know…this is awesome advice and advice I desperately wish I could listen to.

But for some reason I can't.

I need to set PRs…I compete against myself I guess. I rarely group ride and I will never race competitively…but I race against myself. And I don't know why.

Sometimes it makes me miserable…other times I love it. I guess I am my own worst enemy sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I love to ride and still enjoy it…but if I don't set PRs next year, I will consider it a disappointing year.

I did a small group ride last year and a guy showed up on a fixed gear. he did swap the rear hub to a free so at least he could coast. We did a shorter 20 mile ride at around 17mph average…and it whopped his freaking ass. Not necessarily because he was out of shape (which he wasn't)…but mostly because he was pedaling his ass off the entire time. When it was all said and done, he said he would bring a road bike next time, LOL.

ovoleg

more riding = easier.

7-8% is pretty steep I'd be grinding in my 36/28 if it was longer than 3 miles, otherwise you should have no problem spinning a minimum of 70 cadence if you're in relatively decent shape.

Gearing is not out there to make climbs easy...thats where your fitness comes in.

RollCNY

As a for what it is worth:
I do a group ride twice a week, 50 miles, 2600 ft of climbing, average speed 18 mph -20.2 mph (as an overall average). I have done it on the single speed for two years now. My cadence varies from 30-160 rpm, and it is a ball. My fastest sprint on it was 167 rpm, 36.7 mph.

I have a 25 mile solo loop that I do, with only 600 ft of climbing. The fastest I have ever done it on my SS is 20.8 mph. The fastest I have ever done it on my geared bike is 21.2mph. How long I can suffer has more to do with my speed than what gear I brought.

Gearing, like hills, is largely in your head, IMO.

redlude97

Can you check your RD? If it is a 5700A it has a 30T

There is a good chance it will take a 32T in that case, if you wanted 2 additional lower gears. You'll probably need a new longer chain

iamtim

Truer words have never been spoken. The first time I rode my local climb on my 12-27 cassette was actually a bit harder for me than the previous ride on an 11-23 cassette; reason being, on the 11-23 I was with a group and had something to prove. There was no way I was going to let a bunch of riders see me get whipped by rough gearing! On the next ride I didn't have that mental advantage, I was just tootling along, feeling out the new cassette, suffering because I thought it should have been easier than it was.

gsa103

As far as cadence goes, even pro riders will have their cadence drop into the 60's during steep sections.
https://www.srm.de/news/road-cycling/...ance-stage-18/

When people talk about maintaining cadence they really mean fast enough that it doesn't feel like you're mashing. If you're struggling to maintain a cadence above ~55-60, you would probably benefit from lower gears. Otherwise, just ride.

RollCNY

Last November, I circled Otisco Lake, and failed to plan for a brutal headwind. I spent 15-20 minutes climbing at 20 rpm, 6 mph, 47x16. I developed a whole new perspective on mashing.

Smokehouse

160rpm? Holy hell…man, much above 120 and I feel like my legs are going to explode. I've heard os people doing 150+rpm but I doubt I'll ever be spinning that fast myself...

Jakedatc

with gears you could have been at 80 rpm going faster and not killing your legs

pallen

Its not supposed to be fun. You're supposed to suffer and cry and curse cycling and the idiot who invented the bicycle. Then the next day you say, man, that was fun, lets do it again...

Smokehouse

Thats funny...cycling is one of the few things I do that often, when I'm doing it, I ask myself "why in the hell am I doing this again?" But, like you said, the next day I want to do it all over again.

normally most things are in reverse. I dread them but when I get started I decide it isn't so bad after all.

Jakedatc

my head is twisted and i enjoy seeing how far i can push things. (track running and rock climbing background..sooo) I'm a smaller guy 5'7 125 so I beat people up on hills as much as I can.. pay back for having to pedal while they coast down the other side Sometimes you blow up going too hard.. sometimes you surprise yourself.

Jay68442

34/27 gives you a gear ratio of 1.25 to 1
34/30 makes it a little better 1.13

not a a huge difference but you will feel it. Like the others have said, climbing never gets easy you just get faster. Find a hill nearby and do hill repeats. At your body weight you have an advantage when the road goes up. I'm 202 lbs and live in an area named mountain top, I have no flat roads. I'm either going up or down. In the beginning I would die on even the smallest climb, now I can climb miles at a time. Keep working at it.

wheelreason

27, 5'9", 148?....Throw a 12-23 on there and HTFU...

dangerd

Climbing never gets easier it just gets faster. I ride 50/34 compact on front and 12-30 in back. I like the 12-30 a lot although I try now to climb without going into the 30 but it is nice when I really need it.