terrymorse 

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Then I'd guess your legs are just getting fatigued when standing. It takes training to build up fatigue resistance in your quads.

Standing drills should help: Stand for 10 revolutions, sit for 30, repeat. Eventually you should be able to stand for 30 revolutions without fatigue.

Symox

good points
i don’t think triples will come back in vogue until granularity of gear changes and fast switching of large gear steps is valued.

if I could get a 52 30 crank with a 10-30 cassette I might be happy with a double. Although the flat gear granularity would probably bug me.

I like having one road bike geared for hills and flats

Koyote

A 52-10 would get you nearly 45mph at a very reasonable 110rpm cadence.

So, are you really a faster sprinter than Mark Cavendish?

big john

I have a 52x11 on one of my bikes. It's useful on some descents and big rollers when I'm trying to make the little climbers work. Doesn't happen much anymore though.

big john

That explains why you're such a goat. I didn't hear how you did on that hill climb?

​​​​​​​A few years ago I was climbing with 2 ladies and one was right at 2 pounds per inch and the other one complained she was 5 pounds over. I mentioned to them that I was 55 pounds over that mark.

Lombard

Thanks! I'll have to try this. I would think all the hill climbing I do would build up my quads, but I always climb seated and get super winded if I climb standing.

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Lombard

Right now, I'm around 2.5 pounds per inch. I'm 5' 10" and 175 pounds. At best, I can get down to around 165 pounds which would be 2.35 pounds per inch.

2 pounds per inch is 144 pounds for someone who is 6 feet tall! I think I know one person like that.

big john

I know a few guys like that but I think it's easier for women. One friend is 6 feet and always around 140-145. 30 years ago he was one of the fastest climbers in our club. Small upper body, small shoulders, I think he can wear a little boy's tee shirt.

A new guy joined our club recently. He's maybe 35 years old, 6'3" or so and 215 pounds. He climbs very well for a guy over 200 but will never be able to climb with the little climbers.

On the topic of the thread, I see a few people in the clubs I ride with who use single chainring set-ups but they are not common. I have a 1x on my mountain bike and it's fine because if I'm going fast I'm probably coasting. When I've ridden it on the road I notice the gaps in the gearing and I spin out easily on slight downhills or even flat ground.

Lombard

While I am pretty good at hill climbing, what you say here is one reason I will never be aero. I have wide shoulders not to mention spinal issues prevent me from ever riding in a race position.

terrymorse 

I got sick somewhere along the way out to St. George, didn't do the race.

Symox

no, but I like to pedal sometimes going downhill at 90 rpm max

t2p

almost 138 gear inches ... smh ...

t2p

52x11 is around 125 gear inches

52x10 is around 138 gear inches

big john

Bummer. Back to normal now I hope?

big john

Guess I'd better start looking for a 10 tooth cog.

SoSmellyAir

I am so far above this threshold that it is a miracle my frame does not assplode when I stand to pedal out of the saddle (or when I sit back down).

But seriously, I really do not see the point of going 1x on a drop bar bike.

big john

I don't either, but some people seem to like them. The only cyclists I ride regularly with who have 1x set ups are on e-bikes.

Carbonfiberboy 

Climbing. What sort of climbing? There's your short roller, your substantial roller, your several hundred foot climb, and your multi-thousand foot climb. Above the "substantial roller" level, the most desired thing to have is close ratio low gears. If one is on a short ride, say less than a century, one can power over the first two categories. On the real climbs though, most mortals sit. Pantani on drugs was an exception, but there aren't too many like him.

That said, there's a local long distance record holder. He was on a ride of mine that involved a 500' steep climb and he was on a new tandem. Somehow he started in the big ring and then discovered that of course he was stuck in that ring. Tandems are like that. So he just did the whole climb in the big ring. That's legendary around here.

Me, I've been a triple rider ever since triples were invented. My current setup on my most-used single has the lowest 2 gears only 4 gear-inches apart. The thing is, when you're seated, you'll have a favorite cadence for long climbs. The closer one can come to that favorite cadence, the faster you'll be up the climb. There's a reason after all that you even have a favorite climbing cadence. 1X is therefore the worst of all possible choices for a climbing bike. Even Pantani would have hated it. He used 180mm cranks in the mountains BTW and he was short.

The best climber I every rode with was 6'1" and weighed 145. Back in his 20s, he ran a 4:17 mile. Yeah, he was just gone. In the saddle of course.

Trakhak

I'm a little climber, and it always amused me when big guys tried to get away on descents. The faster they pedal downhill, the easier it is to sit in behind them and coast.

big john

True, I couldn't get away but I just wanted to work them a little, if I could. Surprise attacks, catch them napping maybe. When riding with traffic lights if someone can get going and sprint then everyone will chase back on. This could tax them a little, too.

Actually, the best I could hope for is that the climbers would wear each other down making it easier for me to stay in their same zip code later in the ride.

GhostRider62

I did all of Paris Brest Paris on the big ring. Fortunately, I had taken the 56 off and mounted a 53. The BB failed and I could not shift onto the small ring. Good thing I was on a recumbent that year.

In my early 20's, the brother of a friend wanted to take up racing. He was a Sr in HS and state 2 mile champ or 2nd place, I forget. His first race was a crit riding an old schwinn with bobbly wheels, I tell him to stay with the pack. He goes off the front immediately and solos. He was a Cat 2 by Summer. First time we climbed together, I was at threshold and he was yacking my ear off. Depressing.

PeteHski

I'm 6 foot tall and weigh around 175 lbs, so 2.4 lbs/inch. i can get down to 165 lbs for specific climbing events, so that's 2.3 lbs/in, lol. I'm a pretty steady climber and can handle the big alpine epics, but the little guys leave me for dead. I'm much more competitive on rolling terrain at my weight. I would happily run a modern 1x road setup for climbing. Probably with a 42T chainring and the largest range cassette I could find. Campag Ekar looks good for that kind of thing. My current setup is a 2x SRAM e-tap with 48/35 chainset and 10-33T cassette. It's not bad, but would prefer a 46/33 chainset and 10-36T cassette for pure climbing, especially if steep and long.

SoSmellyAir

That is because an electric motor has a broad powerband such that less gear ratios are needed. That is why most EVs do not even have a transmission which offers multiple gear ratios (other than forward and reverse).

PeteHski

Looking at it from another perspective, what's the point in a 2x when you may have 12 or even 13 cassette ratios available? It's at the point now where it's a pretty close call either way. I still ride a 2x road bike and it works well enough, but as a mountain biker I've long been a fan of 1x setups. For a pure climbing bike 1x makes even more sense.

big john

The two who I ride with do ride with their motors off part of the time, especially her. She rides very well on her regular bike and doesn't need the e-bike to do the rides we do but her husband needs the motor at times.

I get what you're saying about the motor having torque over a wide range of rpm. I was an electric car certified mechanic for the last 10 years on the job. The difference is the motor in the car supplies all of the power and the e-bikes, at least the Turbo Creos, only supplement the rider's power, so they can't just leave it in one gear. Still have to shift down for hills, etc.

I have chatted briefly with other riders with 1by gearing on road bikes but these have typically been riders who are much younger and more fit than I am.
I'm sure I could set one up with a low enough gear for the climbing I do but wonder if there would be gaps in the gearing. I'd be curious to try one but I'm not sold on them for road bikes.