Originally Posted by
Drew Eckhardt
How much do you weigh, how steep are the climbs (8% with 15% switch-backs), how long are the climbs (unspecified), do you have a training plan with hard (3-4 x 7-10 minutes as hard as possible is good, 2x20 still works well) intervals, what's your current weekly riding volume in hours and miles, and do you fatigue abnormally soon when your cadence drops to 50-60 RPM?
Depending on the answers 39x23 may be more than you need or 34x30 insufficient.
I liked my 30x21 (like 34x23 or 39x26) low gear for Grand Junction to Golden covering 418 miles and 28,000 feet in a week.
OTOH, with 70 pounds of middle age spread I needed a 30 ring where a 50 would do using the same cog and arithmetic suggests 24x30 is the equivalent.
The first part of this is good advice! I don't think working on your FTP will be good enough unless you are riding solo and are going to stick to your z2/3 regardless of flat or hill. The second part of what Drew says is greek to me so I don't know if its good or bad advice
. I also like the advice on "dutch hills." I don't think you have to use wind though. You can do the intervals anywhere you'll just go faster assuming you don't run out of gears and can't reach the right zone.
Just a note. I noticed you are using HR and not power. Remember that it takes longer for your HR to respond to a change in effort. You need to practice that so you aren't going too hard at first pulling your HR up and then blowing up. You'll need to learn what z4/5 feels like so you can get there before your heart rate tells you you are there. Does that make sense?