Originally Posted by
jdishner
Hello, I recently moved to Maine from Illinois and there is a
lot more elevation here. I was already advised to go with a smaller front ring in Illinois but I was ok with powering along at a slightly lower cadence, however one ride here has convinced me that I need to make a change. I have a 2016 Specialized Tarmac Sport (
specs on bikeradar here) with a stock 52/36 up front and 11/28 in the rear. Suggestions?
My Specialized Tarmac is stock with a 52/36 up front and a 11-30 cassette in the rear. I've used this on several very long 100+ mile rides with long mountain pass climbs. Has served me well and no difficulty in climbing long grades 10+ miles at 7-8% incline. If I was to make any change it would be to a 11-32 rear cassette just for the added gearing on a big hill. No plans to do that though.
My much older LeMond Zurich is a triple with 52/42/30 and a 12-25 cassette. I rarely ever used the 30 up front. Once climbed a short half mile hill in 30/25 that was at 14-15% grade. Biggest problem was keeping the front wheel down!