What would be more beneficial for steep climbs a 50/36 - 11/26 combination or a 50/34 - 11/25 combo.

Thanks

Sorry..... that's actually a 50/36 - 12/26 and a 50/34 - 12/25 combo

50/34 and 12/25....

Whereabouts in CT do you ride?

The 50/34 12/25 gear is the lowest. It is what my wife uses.

There's less than one gear inch diff between the two low sets of combos. I doubt you'll be able to feel the diff.
Why not just go with 50/34 and 12-26 instead?

I took a 36/50 12-25 up a few hills today and it did ok, if I was doing anything much steeper though I'd want one more smaller gear. Keep in mind that I've been back on my bike for less than two months so my legs haven't yet gotten back into shape. In another few months it may be a different story. I have talked to the owner of my LBS who said that it's pretty common for a lot of riders in my area to get compacts (34/50) and slap on a 12-27. I guess people are pretty happy with them after that.

I run a 50/34 and 12-27 (9 speed) setup. It is, IMO, a perfect setup for New England riding.....although there are times where I wish I had an 11T cog.

I'm out of New Milford which is the in the very western part of ct. 90% of our riding is done here and north which is the Berkshire mountain foot hills and the Appalachian mountain Trail. The surrounding towns Kent, Washington, Cornwall are great for riding just a long as you don't mind some long climbs.

What are the hills like in your neck of the woods?

+1
I run a 50/34, 12-27 setup myself.

As for a 11t cog, I rarely find myself really missing it. Sure, it would be nice. (If they would come out with a 12-speed setup with a 11-17 straight block followed by 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, I'd be very tempted.) But I can still pedal smoothly past 40 MPH. By that point, I'm usually not pedaling and just tucking anyway.

The one time I missed it, I was drafting off of an SUV when we hit a straight 7% grade downhill section coming out of a turn. I pedaled up to 44.6 MPH but then didn't have the legs to spin much past 140 RPM to keep in the draft. My best short bursts of speed tend to come around 120-130 RPM, so perhaps with another gear, I could have kept up for another few MPH speed gain. But whatever... I wouldn't have broken my top speed record anyway.

Unless you desperately need that last inch I'd go with 50/36 + 12-25 just for the smoother shifting. Having said that I use 50/34 & 12-25 but then at 240 lbs I could use a 34x26

I run an 11-27 w/ 50/34 9 speed. No 12t cog and it is a bit of a jump from 11 to 13...but you can have it...just get an 11-23 cog set of the same make and mix it up...

I agree with the smoother shifting. When I went from a 50/36 to 50/34 began dropping the chain occasionally. I have a truvativ crank and went with FSA chain rings and had to install small spacers on the rings per a recommendation to improve the drop chain ratio. I guess the FSA rings are slightly more offset than the truvativ rings.

If you're using Shimano components, consider the Shimano crank. In 470 miles, with lots of climbing and the occasional panicked downshift under load, I've yet to drop the chain on mine (50/34) or have trouble shifting in either direction.

a large factor is also your fitness level, which is something nobody can tell you.

No incredibly long climbs like where you are....but some of my routes have some rather steep pitches, particularly when I ride in the Berkshires in MA. A typical "longer" climb around here would be a mile or two....three is stretching it a bit, but all the riding around here is basically up and down....nothing really flat, so it's constant.

Although I did manage to find a road in MA (Rte. 20) that basically climbs mostly for about 25 miles. I went down it. It was a lot of fun.

I have a 50-34 with a 12-27 and really did not lose anything in climbing power from my triple.

- Take apart your 12-25 cassette
- Find an 11-32 LX MTB cassette
- Use the lockring, 11t, and 28t cogs to replace
the lockring, 12t, and 14t on the 12-25.
- Now you have an 11-28, 11,13,15,17,19,21,23,25,28.

I'm using this cassette with a 50/36 and it allows me to stay in the big ring for 90%+ of my regular 40mile, 3000 vertical feet ride. The 50/13,15,17,19 combos are what I'm using the majority of the time but I can go to the 21 and 23 from the big ring without a problem. Using the 50/36 gives me less of a drastic change in gear inches when going between big and small rings.

How's the jump from 25 to 28? Seems kind of like an extreme jump given the situations that you'd be using the 28.

I haven't really needed to use the 28 much. When I do need it, I _really_ need it so it's a big relief. It's only one tooth more than 27, but mine goes to 28 .
I find having the lower gears earlier on saves me pushing too tall a gear too long.

A 25 to 28 jump isn't bad. Shimano 12-27 cassettes have a 24 to 27 jump. Campy 12-26 cassettes have a 23 to 26 jump. All those jumps are comparable, with the 25 to 28 jump being (marginally) the smallest. Looked at another way, a 25 to 28 jump is smaller as a percentage than a 15 to 17 jump.

What would annoy me more are the 11 to 13 and 13 to 15 jumps. Personally, I'd rather just a standard 12-27 cassette. But to each his own.

I haven't missed the 14 and rarely need to use anything taller than the 13 (I actually still have the 12 on there but I have the 11 for when I need a higher top end). I like being able to stay in the 50 all the way to 21 or 23 without cross-chaining. A lot of what you're comfortable with depends on the terrain you're riding.

Exactly. Terrain, rider strength, and preferred cadence dictate gearing.

xx