Originally Posted by laserfj (Post 15343579)

When you feel that you're mashing, are you in your lowest gear?

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15343348)

The middle to south shore of Long Island is flat
The north shore is very hilly
No mountains but many hills that are 200-300 feet for less than one mile
I can go up hills pretty easily
I just feel many times that I am pushing too hard a gear
Not going 90rpm but 10-15 less and grinding it out

Originally Posted by Sidney Porter (Post 15343629)

What about the Appalachian mountains?

Originally Posted by hamster (Post 15343325)

It is my general observation that people living east of I-35 typically don't need compacts or triples, because they don't have hills like we do. .

Originally Posted by hamster (Post 15343325)

I don't know how you manage to average 50 feet/mile of climbing on Long Island.

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15343644)

No I am not in the lowest gear

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15339839)

Want to have some easier gearing on flats to keep up cadence without losing too much on climbs and spinning too fast

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15343348)

I can go up hills pretty easily
I just feel many times that I am pushing too hard a gear
Not going 90rpm but 10-15 less and grinding it out

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15343644)

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15343725)

We do have a few hillls that take 5 minutes or so to climb. On those I can climb pretty well in a 39-21 or 25 (never go into 28)
But same thing is that I feel I am muscling to do it vs. a nice cadence (even if it is 10-15 below cadence on flats)
Can't help feeling that I climb well because I am light and push myself rather than having a nice gear to ride in
Plus on flats I am pushing too hard a gearIf this is indeed true then the big ring is not helpful and compact may be the way to go (keep up higher cadences overall)
Or could just ride in big ring with tighter cassette on flats and small ring with enough flexibility on the high side

Originally Posted by hamster (Post 15343654)

You mean the Appalachian hills?

Originally Posted by Homebrew01 (Post 15343755)

SHIFT INTO A LOWER GEAR ON THE FLATS. Changing to a compact will not make any difference if you don't actuate your shifter.

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15343907)

Do people not use all their gears then?
If for example I am in the large ring and don't use the 11 or 12 why have them?
Or if I ride in small ring with 13, 14, 15 on cassette why have big ring?

Originally Posted by svtmike (Post 15343929)

Some people do eliminate one of the front chainrings or get along with a narrow range of gears if they find they never need the full range.

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15343907)

Do people not use all their gears then?
If for example I am in the large ring and don't use the 11 or 12 why have them?
Or if I ride in small ring with 13, 14, 15 on cassette why have big ring?

Originally Posted by rm -rf (Post 15343354)

See Mike Sherman's gear calculator. Here's a link with your 11-28 cassette and 53,50,and 34 chainrings. You can compare 50 and 53 here. (Ignore the 'bookmark this page' popup--just click OK, it doesn't actually save it)

The 50 to 53 difference is about 1 mph for any given cog. See the Speed over RPM chart near the middle, with the 53 chainring speeds in blue and 50 chainring in black. You can change any setting, and the charts update on the fly.

The 50 tooth chainring has slightly closer gear speed changes from 15 mph to the low 20s. So that would probably work well for you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I run much lower gears, 50/34 chainrings and 13-29 cogs. But I don't really miss the 50-12 or 50-11 combinations. I just coast downhill if the speeds are over 33-35 mph.

I'll even use the lowest 34-29 on a 5% grade, spinning at 90-95 rpm.



I use the cadence reading on my bike computer a lot (more than I expected!), mainly to remind me to stay in the mid-90s if possible. It's easy for me to drift down into the low 80s if I'm not paying attention. If I'm doing a easy cruise, then I'll stay in the low 80s, since I'm hardly pushing the pedals.

I don't do "that" much flat road riding. There's usually at least a small grade. So I'm always shifting gears, even for a short change of grade, just a few pedal revolutions.

Good chainring and cog selection depends on what typical flat road speeds you hit, and what cadence you like. I like small gear speed differences at my cruising speeds, so I can shift into the exact cadence I want.

When you need a replacement cassette, maybe you should try a 12-27 cassette, instead of the 11-28. You would add the 16 cog. At 90 rpm, that cog is 21.9 mph on a 50 chainring, or 23.3 mph on a 53 chainring. You'd only lose some top end speed in the mid to upper 30s. (You can add the 16 cog to the Gear Calculator, showing 11 gears, to see how it might help. Add it to the end of the list, it'll be inserted in the correct spot.)




That's pretty typical for climbing. I'm often in the 70-80 rpm range, and have gone down to 32 rpm (about 1 pedal stroke per second) on very steep hills. Most riders don't have low enough gears to do 90+ rpm on real grades.

Originally Posted by 99Klein (Post 15359008)

I don't understand the compact popularity. Now I don't live in the mountains, but if I did, I would want the gearing to blast down them

Originally Posted by MetalPedaler (Post 15360457)

39 seems to be some sort of sweet spot! As a weak, new rider, I thought 39 from a triple was going to be a problem- but on my first ride on the standard, I quickly fell in love with the 39.

Originally Posted by jsutkeepspining (Post 15359183)

Also i like my 39 because when im in a flat area i can spin all day going 40kph. its pretty funny to be in the middle of a paceline just going along in your 39/14 (as you know you dont want to go to the 13 or the 12, too much chain rub).

Originally Posted by svtmike (Post 15360497)

That's probably because the 39 isn't any different from the middle ring of your old triple. The most common middle rings on triples these days are 39 and 42.

Originally Posted by MetalPedaler (Post 15340984)

I'll second that! That's been my experience, too- only going from a triple to a standard double. Didn't even think I'd be strong enough yet to ride the standard on the hills here.....but I took her out for the first time, and not only made it up all the hills...but had the best performance EVER! Going to the standard has instantly made me a better cyclist.

Originally Posted by jsutkeepspining (Post 15359268)

the only issue with compacts is that the 34 is far to small for regular riding (i.e. non mountainous riding). you're always stuck between your big ring and your small ring, where as the 39 can be ridden at much higher speeds.

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15358972)

Shimano does not have a 12-27

Originally Posted by lennyparis (Post 15358972)

Shimano does not have a 12-27