I just finished up my first Triathlon over the weekend, but did so on a road bike. I picked up a very nice used litespeed and after my first race this weekend I am starting to think the gearing may not be right for me.

I am a tall rider tipping the scales at just barely over 200lbs and road an extremely hilly Olympic length ride. The killer was the climb in the middle that had many sections at 10+% and lasted roughly 2.5 miles. My bike is set up with 53/39 chainrings and a 11-23 cassette. I had to grind through the whole climb with that 39-23 lowest gear.

I am wondering if I should look at changing cassette, cranks/chainrings, or both. I want gearing that will allow me to climb but also doesn't give away too much top end. My previous bike was a 50/34 compact double with a 12-25 cassette, there was a huge difference in the climbing on that bike. Although it was a much heavier bike the gearing made a world of difference on steep climbs.

Still relatively new to cycling, and well aware I picked up a great deal on a little too much bike for me, but I want to be able to to grow into it. What suggestions do you have, should I change out all the gearing or just one set or the other?