1310 ft (400 m) Vertical at 6% Grade -- What Gears and Speed?
 

I've got a, to me, very long climb nearby that I really struggle with. It starts at around 2900 ft elevation and rises about 1310 ft in 4.2 miles (around 400 m in 6.7 km). Some of the worst bits are over 10 percent grade for a few hundred feet and some are down around 3 percent. Most is pretty close to the average, though.

For those experienced roadies, what small chainring and large cog (e.g. 34T front and 28T rear, 39T and 25T, etc.) would you want to have on your bike for the climb? And what kind of time do you think you'd make going up?

I'm asking so that I can place my current fitness level in some sort of context. Like on a scale from care home = 0 to yellow jersey = 9, am I a 1 or a 1.5. :)

----- Strava Segment
Several folks asked about Strava. This is it: https://www.strava.com/segments/662526

----- Summary of Gear Replies -----
For the lazy readers of the future, I thought I'd summarize the gear responses.

[TABLE]
[TR]
[TH]Front
Chainwheel
[/TH]
[TH]Rear
Cog
[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]34 T[/TD]
[TD]25 T[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]39 T[/TD]
[TD]27 T[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] 34 T
[/TD]
[TD] 28 T
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]30 T
[/TD]
[TD] 28 T
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] 39 T
[/TD]
[TD] 23 T
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Are you on anything that you can compare to other riders? Training peaks, Strava, etc...

No. I'm using sports-tracker at the moment because I keep my phone in my jersey pocket and it has good voice feedback. I may try Strava again, buy I really like a voice only feedback system.

It does cost nothing to sign up to strava and then you can do a segment search or segment explore to see if there is a segment for that climb. That will tell you what speeds the locals are doing it at.

For me, my current 50/34 chainrings and 25 to 12 cassette would easily cover those grades. Maybe 15kmh average (hard to say on that one).

https://www.strava.com/activities/18...nts/4390848997 Sounds similar to the Kanc in NH

I used 36 ring with 11-28 but never used the 28, mostly 25 cog at a nice steady 85-90rpm (i'm a skinny climber type guy tho)

I resemble this guy more than you, I believe...
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=480820

@capsisking This is the segment on Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/662526

might want to pack the 34t then ;) looks fun to me

39x27

If you've already ridden the climb multiple times, then you know what gearing you need. At that point, who cares what others are riding? Some like to mash, some like to spin, and some would benefit from a different gear (say a 32 in the back instead of a 28) but have too much "pride" to make the switch.

The times on Strava tell more of a story. There are tons of variables at play, but on a climb like that if you ride it enough times you'll get an idea of where you stand. For what it's worth, the KOM on that segment isn't super fast. 100 riders isn't a whole lot. If that was a more popular segment I'd expect the KOM to be at least 14 mph.

I'm 55 and my best effort on a 273m climb was a VAM of 1150 so maybe a little less for your hill. That was good enough for 53 out of 700+.

I'd consider VAM over 1000 on any extended clumb to be relatively fast.

This is how you compare riders on the same or different but similar climbs.

So, 400m climb at a 1000 VAM pace would take you 400/1000 hour. That's 24 minutes.

If you can do this type of pace, a 39 25 would be fine for a 6% avg grade.

If you're not quite that fit, maybe you climb at 600 VAM. 400/600 is a 40 minute climb.

Going 4.2 miles in 40 minutes is 6.3 mph, which is just barely tolerable on a 39 25 if don't have bad knees.

i personally wouldn't like anything taller than 34x28...(which is taller than my 2 roadies)...climbing a long way is bad enough, but having it kick 10%+ in the middle without a bail out gear makes the 2nd half painful

That looks to be a tough climb. It might not be super steep, but it's relentless. Find a gear or 2 that work and grind away..

Sounds like you may want an Ebike

I'll bite. Threshold power of 4 w/kg is pretty good. (consistent with a strong Cat 3, pack Cat 2). That should put you averaging about 11 mph up that climb.

And you should be able to climb that in 39/23.

Go to an online calculator, enter your speed and the average gradient, and you'll get how many watts you're putting out. Devide that by your weight and you'll have pretty good idea of your w/kg at threshold.

Then you can take your w/kg to the notorious e-wang chart:

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...wer-Weight.gif

50/20 should do nicely.

Of course, the real answer is pin on a number. Go race; that will tell you where you stack up.

If you don't want to race; it doesn't matter where you stack up.

Yup, and there will always be someone faster no matter where you stand. More interesting to me is where I stand against myself. Getting faster vs slower or maintaining.

34-32. Never had a hill it wouldn't get me up. And Im a clyde, and not a terribly good climber.

I've only been riding a bike for 17 months. And I ride alone, so I occasionally want feedback from those with experience to keep my grounded (mentally -- gravity does a good job otherwise). To stay motivated it helps to be aware of the gains I'm made against my personal bests; but it also helps to know how much I still have to improve. Knowing what Wiggins or LeMond or Merckx did in the Alps is not relatable for me. I'm just not a natural athlete and while I admire them, it is silly to compare myself to them.

There are a boatload of people on here who range from novices to retired racers. Getting feedback from all of you helps me learn.

I live in a VERY rural area. I probably average 30-40 miles between encountering another roadie when out riding. Even counting the multiple-DUI cases with brown bags on rusty old bikes, I probably average at least 5 miles between passing any cyclists at all.

The only reason that that hill got 100 riders is because it is part of one of two organized rides in this area. With the number of rude rednecks in pickups on that road and the extremely limited shoulder area, it is not always the best ride. :(

No!!! Not that there is anything wrong with them.

I'm just trying to figure out (1) reasonable goals for training myself and (2) where I am currently at in strength and fitness compared to the rest of the road biking world. Given that I've got a somewhat toasted right knee, I'll probably never be able to hit a hill like that with a traditional 39-25 or steeper setup. But, finding out what balance between cadence and mashing actually works for a variety of people on a hill like this give me perspective and motivation.

I'm of the opinion that there's no right or wrong way to climb a hill. Big gear, small gear, double, triple, compact, sit down, stand up. Whatever gets you up the hill.

I'm currently in the "untrained" to "cat 1" area. Probably about 1.85 w/kg average. Two years ago I was in the "standing-up-is-hard" range. :)