Willbird

I was able to hit the 1% a week from 300+ to 180. Time will tell, I'll check back in :-).

Thanks for the sage advice :-)

I'm not a total newbie to cycling, I had a Bianchi premio in 1992 and rode 100+ a week and did a century back then. That was a 7 speed setup back then.....and the century was a windy one on the return loop,and I was wishing I could have shifted down a few more cogs :-)

fstshrk

+1 on this.

When you start averaging 25mph, then think about going to a 53/39.

EdgewaterDude

I love my compact when riding solo. I've noticed that I only wish I had a standard double when I'm doing club rides in a pace line. It's much, much easier to get to 25+ when you're sitting on a wheel, and I find that I've only run out of gears when one of those 'go for broke' sprints occur.

Willbird

Thanks for all the input, back home now on the PC, was on phone earlier :-).

I just want to get the best setup to start with......so I can be setup as well as possible to begin with.

I was not so much thinking of spinning out on the big ring as spending the majority of my riding being stuck going back and forth between big and small.

I like fiddling with numbers, so my present setup runs 40-83 inches on the middle ring,50-105 on the big ring
The potential new bike (Felt Z85) will run 30-75 inches on the small ring,44-110 inches on the big ring

My old Bianchi was probably 42-52 up front, and 13-28 across the back
40-85 inches on the small, 49-105 inches on the big


Will have to play around spinning in a lower gear and see what speed I get, and calculate cadence from there.

In the end it is all about fun....I remember the first decent downhill I took on the Bianchi, at 35 or so it felt like FLYING......I want that feeling again :-).

contango 

One other thought, I routinely cruise at 15-18mph on the flats on my mountain bike when I'm on the road. That's with a 44-32-22 triple and a 9-speed 11-34 cassette.

Some years back I was looking at changing the chainrings for a 48-36-26 to get higher gearing. Then I realised I still wasn't using the smallest three sprockets at the back. So where I could have increased my gearing from 44-15 (approx 3:1) to 44-11 (4:1), an increase of around 33%, I was looking at throwing money at the problem to replace the chainrings that would have given me just under a 10% increase. That made no sense, and I'm still running my 44-32-22 triple.

On a steep descent on the road I'd be spinning out a high gear on the MTB but I do those sufficiently infrequently it's not worth worrying about it. If the hill is that big I'll freewheel it and enjoy the rest.

Willbird

The hills close to home here are probably more whoop de doos or some such.....so if you can wind up to 26 it helps get over the other side and on to the next one in some cases. Looks like 26 mph with 38-13 (I try not to cross chain onto the 12) gives me 110 RPM...which does make sense to run on the big ring when there is a 6mph tailwind.

So I guess I know I can hit 110 RPM.....:-).

When I get a computer for the new bike it will have cadence function.


Also the Ap I have been talking about is indeed Myfitnesspal......forgot to confirm that earlier.

There is a group challenge called the UAC or Ultimate Accountability Challenge. It requires you to post in a forum every 3 days minimum confirming you logged every day, logged everything and met your goals, and exercised at least 20 minutes a day.....I was already doing many of those things, but the 20 mins a day has gotten me power walking at walmart when it was pouring down rain outside :-). When I get my new bike I will put fenders on the one I have now for rainy days.

Bill

RollCNY

Something you may want to consider if your primary concern is excessive front shifting on a compact. If you pair a 50/34 with a 12-23, you have linear gearing with no overlap (accept cross chained cogs you wouldn't use anyway). This may not help you if your cruising speed is right at the 50x23 or 34x13 junction, but if you are a few cogs off it, the tight spacing and no overlap is nice.

Willbird

Yes that is a very good thought :-).....and a cassette is not terribly expensive either :-).

Nailed the 15 average today, 15.25 average for 20.18 miles, now to work on staying above 15 average EVERY day :-).

Bill

Willbird

This might be good for some LOL :-).....or even a few ROFL....but this was me the day after I did my metric...there is 6lbs less of me today than then. But when I hit that 200 goal, and the 160, this will give a frame of reference :-).

Bill

bikemig 

Use your watch and count your RPMs; actually counting for 15 seconds and multiplying by 4 gives you a rough and ready count. Old school but it works.

linsdog

Same app I use and have used for a few years. Primarily started cycling for fitness, fell in love and got a Felt Z5 with compact. Have not outgrown it myself and on flats with no wind I avg 20+ at this point. Only time it is an issue is on big descents and if there is a go for broke sprint as mentioned above.

But as far as fitness/weight it can be done! went from 213-165 using Myfitnesspal among others. mostly in the span of about 6-10 months. Good luck and happy riding!

merlinextraligh

You mentioned using a 52-36 setup on a standard crank. Smallest chainring you can use on a 130BCD crank is 38. You need a compact to run a 36.

FWIW, I race Cat 3, and haven't outgrown my compact crank.

unionmade

Yeah, but it's fun to coast past the skinny little guys going downhill.

Willbird

I'm just going by the copy on the "new" Shimano 105 group (is it 5800?)
First Look: New Shimano 105 11-Speed Group, Plus New Mechanical + Hydraulic Road Disc Brakes!

The Felt Z85 does NOT have a 105 crank/BB however, it has an FSA Omega.

https://www.feltbicycles.com/Resource...otos/Z85_4.jpg

Willbird

But overall the cheapest and best thing will be to.....
A. Find "The" bike and buy it (October 2014)
B. Get the saddle situation figured out and ride "The" Bike 500 miles the first month
:-).

For the winter month I want a trainer and a set of rollers, and some punishing trainer videos :-). Might be able to ride the Trek some days depending on what mother nature throws our way.

merlinextraligh

WHich eliminates the issue of the compact. Shimano's new 4 arm cranks eliminate the distinction between "traditional" and "compact"

JohnJ80

In the sense that you can play with chainrings to your heart's content.

I have a similar riding profile for geography to you and I'm about the same age. I'm riding an Ultegra 11 speed set up with 50/34 and an 11-28 when I'm in the mountains or at home (flat or up and down - <500' vertical per ride) for versatility. I often switch out for an SRAM 11-26 cassette because I like the tighter gearing in the smaller cogs than what Shimano provides (BTW, SRAM works just fine in Shimano 11 speed drive train). What I think would be a really nice set up would be a 12-28 or a 12-27 although they aren't available yet in 105 or Ultegra.

One caution - since you are just getting back into cycling and you are working pretty hard, you really do need to get a bike computer with cadence and then start working on your form with low effort per stroke but high cadence (80-85 or higher). Otherwise, expect knee and back problems. With a higher cadence, you'll get just as much exercise, but you'll be better off aerobically, it will definitely help with your climbing and you'll protect your joints and back. Average speed is a nice metric, but if you are pushing too high of a gear and straining your muscles or joints, then not such a great idea. Getting an injury could put a big crimp in your plans and in achieving your goals (been there, done that). The other side of having a computer with good data capabilities is that for us goal driven OCD types, it's pure heaven especially if you can get the data back on your computer.

J.

Sixty Fiver

This is pretty much it.

Willbird

And really to be clear, perhaps I phrased the question wrong :-).

My main concern was spending the bulk of my riding back and forth between the big and small rings, which has been mentioned before in other threads where compact vs conventional cranksets came up.

I never remotely thought for a minute I could hop on the new bike and not have enough top end gear, it was just looking like maybe I would have a lot of low end gear I would never use in my normal riding area.

But I have learned a lot in this thread, and gained some new perspective, so it was a 100% success in that way :-).

And I do make sure not to run at low cadence.......I hate that :-). I was forced into it on my century years ago, it was that or get off and walk :-). I have taken the wind 1 mile at a time back in the day to, 1 mile West then 1 south, then another west when the wind was almost too much for the gearing I had on the bike at that time. It is a terrible place to be ending up without gears to shift down into under those kinds of conditions :-).

The world moves on and it is really nice how robust, simple, small, and complex computers have gotten in 20 years off the bike :-). I love having all the data from cyclemeter :-).

Bill

JohnJ80

Spend some time with one of the gear calculators.

What I find when using an 11-28 on my bike (11 speed Shimano) is that I like to stay on the small ring when I am slower than 14mpg-15mph because I am then in the portion of the cassette where the cogs vary by about 1 tooth. That allows me to fine tune my cadence much better. When I'm faster than that or on the flat or slightly downhill, I like to be on the big ring because at the same speed I'm in the part of the cassette where the cogs vary by 2-3 teeth making for a bigger change in cadence.

In this way, there is no excessive jumping back and forth between the chain rings. You have to take into account the geography at the same time.

j.

surgeonstone

This, a 50 34 front and an 11-23 or 11-25 rear 10 or 11 cog will give you everything you will ever need without excess or wasted cogs.

Willbird

Rode a Z95 today, looked at a Z85 that was too small, z85 might be the one :-). The Z95 was actually pretty nice but the Z85 just is so much more bike for another 400 bucks,nicer wheels , 105...far nicer looking too.

Reynolds 

50/11 is a big gear. Most recreational riders won't outspin it on the flats without a tailwind IMO.

joejack951

If a 38 tooth chainring works for you now, why not just get a 50/39/30 triple (or similar)? You eliminate the compromise of too high gearing of a standard crank and the awkward 34 tooth inner ring of a compact. Because you have the 30 tooth granny you can run a tighter cassette and still get the low gearing you need, especially if you swap the 30 for a 28 or 26. Check out the ratios available running a 50/39/26 or 50/39/28 triple and an 11/23 or 12/25 cassette.

fstshrk

Exactly. But OP can, because he is Fabianolous.