Originally Posted by
San Rensho
You want to have the closest possible gears when you race, so get a straight block, one tooth difference between cogs, or as close to that as you can possibly get.
A 39/23 is really a pretty low gear, it should get you up anything that doesn't have switchbacks.
I start fading if I have to maintain lower than a 60 cadence. I have trouble doing that while training on steep inclines in a 39/25 sometimes if I'm not feeling all that great.
I'm probably going to get 12-27s just to have a bailout gear, and keep a compact on hand if I ever need to swap out for a race. I'm starting to think that the latter will be less of an issue as this year progresses
Originally Posted by
Flatballer
^Thanks. That's true, might as well shoot high. But not too high, obviously I'll never be a Pro.
I bought an Ultegra 9 speed 12-27 Cassette just a minute ago. $60 total off eBay.
Between an 11-23 and a 12-27 I'll feel more confident in any terrain I could see.
Confidence racing and confidence training are two different things. If you're doing a climb in your 39/23 while training, you'll probably be doing it in a harder gear in a race, or want a slightly easier gear if you want to accelerate and jump on the climb.
Having a few easier gears doesn't hurt you in any way. You have a good enough range of cadence even with a 12-27 and you can do with a little bit of variance. You can always swap to the 11-23 in a crit if you really want to, though I have no problem varying between 90-120 rpm while racing so I've never really even swapping cassettes for crits.
Originally Posted by
Flatballer
I'm interested in this. You guys don't think that with a lot of hard work a somewhat athletic person who picks up cycling at age 20 can get to Cat 1 at some point in their life?
Depends on your genetics, team setup, coaching competence (self or coach), and your dedication.
If you don't have one, the others are useless. You'll be hard pressed to race and win in the 3's and such without any team. You won't be able to be naturally good at something if you don't have the genetic makeup for it. You won't get better faster if you don't know how to train or don't have someone to tell you what to do. And you won't get anywhere if you don't care enough about it to make it happen.
I'm 19, and I started riding at 17 and racing at 18. This is the first year I'm actually serious about it because I've realized that I don't like being without it. This involves 7am wake ups twice a week when I don't have class to go get coached and/or ride for a few hours, get in early on weekends so I can wake up early the next morning to race/train, and forgo other things since this is one of my priorities.
It's not the easiest thing in the world, but if you've seen good athletes and their dedication (ex crew teams), you know it can be done if you want to dominate.
I have a similar plan to yours, more on that once I think things through/the gears start turning.