Originally Posted by
Alias530
I live in a mostly flat area but 30 miles away there's plenty of 10-15% grades and 25%+ grades offroad. I climb pretty decently on my mountain bike but I just recently started going out to the hills to road bike and I'm getting killed.
I have a 34/50 compact with 12-25 cassette. I was just reading the suggestions on a century ride with a ton of climbing and they suggest 39x28 gearing for this extreme climbing event. That's harder gearing than what I have!
I'm in good shape... I can go on 70-80 mile rides and average 20mph, but at my weight (6'6" 240lbs) the hills just kill me on the road with the harder gearing. My easiest mountain bike gear is 30x40 and my easiest road gear is 34x25.
On my cross bike (which I use for road riding), I have a 46/34 up front (note, this was a 46/36, but I changed the small chainring to a 34 to give me more ability to climb). In the rear I used either a 11-28 or a 12-30, depending on whether I'm doing a bunch of hills!