Thanks KOTM. I will get my bike thus equipped. We have some nice steep bits and some long flat bits. I am going out to my shed to see what is currently fitted. The bike is a GT ZR2000 running Ultegra 53/42 and 13/25 So I reckon there is scope for improvement according to your numbers. Are you tuned in Moley?? You might have to go back to that nice bike shop and get some new gears along with your hipflask!
Simon Blease
Monmouth
Originally Posted by Wheeze
Thanks KOTM. I will get my bike thus equipped. We have some nice steep bits and some long flat bits. I am going out to my shed to see what is currently fitted. The bike is a GT ZR2000 running Ultegra 53/42 and 13/25 So I reckon there is scope for improvement according to your numbers. Are you tuned in Moley?? You might have to go back to that nice bike shop and get some new gears along with your hipflask!
TBH I can't see any problems with what you're running at the moment. What problems did you find with the last ride???
Hmmmm..... where do we start...
Being hugely over-charged for breakfast by Pete's Eats - and then being given most of our money back
Not all cyclists knowing when to stop cycling up Nant Peris
Unidentified floating objects in the Glaslyn (as seen in Forum photos)
Having to direct the peloton down an incredibly narrow footpath into Barmouth
Missing the England World Cup knock-out game on top of Cader
Bring too late to cycle all the way to Llanidloes on Saturday night up the monster mid-Wales hills (well, maybe not such a problem)
Having to keep my drinking ratio somewhere equivalent to Wheeze and Toffer in the pub
Bog-bashing across Plynlimon
The Mr Molehill Whiskey Tasting Challenge - with optional Moleball presentation.
The final climb onto Pen-y-Fan - ask Mark B!
Finding at the end that the pub weren't doing food and didn't really appreciate us as customers (wonder why not!)
Other than that.... no problems!
I was thinking more along the lines of the problems with the bikes & what was fitted to them - especially the gearing???
F******g great big steep hills, and there's a longer, steeper one this year ..... but I'm not scared anymore
Just been up the shed and fitted the pedals and things, also counted my gears. I have 3 big cogs at the front, biggest 52 teeth, smallest 30 teeth (and one in between). At the back I have 8 cogs, biggest 26 and smallest 12 teeth. If I can't find some way of peddling over hill and dale with that lot, then I'm the problem not the bike
Please tell me this is suitable, and yes I do need the little granny gears, because I'm a knackered old grandpa.
Don't roll with a pig in poo. You get covered in poo and the pig likes it.
Grease yer legs an' you'll be fine Moley!
AllanT, the gears were fine last year but I felt I needed a bit of a lower ratio for steeper climbs, not being a serious cyclist an' all. I could spin out the top ratio but I had to get off and push up some of the steep lanes we did. It felt like I needed a smaller ring up front. So if I went for the 39er and left the block alone, d'ya think that would be better?
Simon Blease
Monmouth
Wimps the lot of you!! Moan, moan, moan about all the hills! Get a grip!!
....or get a divorcocycle!
Warning. If you fit this gearing you will not finish! The kind of things the pro's would use on a FLAT stage. On a mtn stage most would probably use a 23 at the back (bigger for the real mountain goats). I use 39-25 or 26 in the alps and thats with no panniers (and it's still bloody hard work!). You'll need a triple or compact chainset if you're carrying.
Which may well end up thrown over the side of the Barmouth toll bridge
Don't roll with a pig in poo. You get covered in poo and the pig likes it.
F******g great big steep hills, and there's a longer, steeper one this year ..... but I'm not scared anymore
Just been up the shed and fitted the pedals and things, also counted my gears. I have 3 big cogs at the front, biggest 52 teeth, smallest 30 teeth (and one in between). At the back I have 8 cogs, biggest 26 and smallest 12 teeth. If I can't find some way of peddling over hill and dale with that lot, then I'm the problem not the bike
Please tell me this is suitable, and yes I do need the little granny gears, because I'm a knackered old grandpa.
Your gearing sounds fair enough to me, can't fault it, perhaps taking some more weight off (the bike or even better the rider - sorry not saying you're lardy but that's where the biggest weight savings can be made). Perhaps doing some work on your cardio vascular system will help & work on your spinning - small gears are not a lot of use if you also drop your cadence at the same time -you just spend longer on the hills!!! I try & push the highest gear I can manage to maintain at 90 - 120 RPM. Having said that I'm young. Climbing out of the saddle helps, though if you're a runner it should be easier for you to do than for a cyclist. In my experience a runner (on a bike) can nail most cyclists when they're riding up hills as they're strong out of the saddle.
I'm so naughty!!!!!!
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