tomato coupe

I'll just copy and paste:

Yes, bike weight does present a bigger burden for lighter riders while climbing, but that's true regardless of whether they're standing or sitting. It's incorrect, however, to conclude that this would make lighter riders uncompetitive on climbs -- it all depends on a rider's power-to-weight ratio, where weight includes the bike and the rider.

marko_1111

Funny. I grew up in Texas and everything was a 'coke', so if you were getting the drinks and everybody in the crew wanted a 'coke', it meant you needed to know who wanted an actual coke or a dr pepper or a pepsi or a 7up or whatever

On topic and on the really steep sections of my daily, I used to be a standing grinder running 53/39 with a pine cone 13/21 seven speed. That was thirty-five years ago. Now I'm a sitting grinder on the steeps running 50/34 with an 11/28 eleven speed

And I'm ok with that

calamarichris

You had a 39 chainring living in Texas? Why? Because the 6% bridges over the freeways were too steep?
I've had the privilege of leaving Texas twice in my life (Fort F*****ing Hood, blech) and fear I will not live long enough to experience that singular thrill once more. I got hit-n-runned and another time I was in a Honda car that rolled after hitting a dead cow left in the middle of a corner in the road. Such a terrible place, and every Texan describes -the hill country" as a real purty place. Utter tish-hole.

tomato coupe

So, the cow came back to life and left the scene without reporting the accident?

calamarichris

Nope. It must've been hit by a truck and left there. My friend was driving his girlfriend's Honda and we rolled a few times after hitting the cow corpse. Between that, Dwight Loving, and the Luby's Massacre, I don't have a whole lot of positive memories of Texas. Also living in the Army barracks. It suuuuuuuucked every kind of @$$ from every conceivable angle. Oh yeah, once on a ride, a large truck rolled over a large nut-bolt assembly that FLEW UP AND HIT ME IN THE FACE. I still have a scar on my face from it. And my roommate hanged himself in the latrine with the strings of his laundrybag. The MPs wouldn't let me go to work, then when I finally got to work, my boss started processing paperwork to Article-15 me. Thankfully the lieutenant above him intervened and I was able to keep my stupid rank as a PFC.
Also I got a PI (public intoxication) ticket in Austin when I was 19. We had just seen the Circle Jerks (punk band) at Joe's Generic Bar, and the only reason my squadmates paid for me is because I was too young to drink and I was therefore their designated driver. But I was with them and designated by the Texas officers as a fellow drunk.

Yeah, not a whole lot of positive memories of F*******g texas. Except that the same weekend I got that ticket, Willie Nelson (Austin's Own Son) was arrested by the same police dept for sleeping one off in his van by the side of the road. Way to be Texas!

tomato coupe

If you hit a cow, how were you a victim of hit and run?

calamarichris

Separate incident. I got hit-n-runned by a guy in a Ford Ranger turning right into me while looking directly at me through his aviator sunglasses. He was also wearing a flightsuit. Just lost a little skin off my knee and elbow, but the dude just drove off. Classic Texas.

Just remembered: got hit another time while riding in Texas. FUBARed my front wheel, but at least the guy didn't drive off in this instance. He stuck around, but never answered the phone. So I had to pay for a new front wheel myself. When I think of texas, well... civil society are not exactly synonyms that come to mind.

marko_1111

Uh no. I grew up there but moved to Boulder, CO when I was 19. Never looked back, other than family living there

But now that you mention it I spent time in the hill country when I had relatives in Gatesville, and when my dad bought a '66 Mustang at a tiny little dealer near there in 1968 he handed me the keys when we walked out to the car and let me drive out to Ft Hood. I was 8

I'm not romantic about the place. When I think of Gatesville, I remember being dropped off with grandparents over the summer and the call of mourning doves. It's a lonely sound

You know, when I was growing up, only Texans lived in Texas. Imagine that

calamarichris

My father was stationed at Fort Hood during my childhood. Then I suffered that grave misfortune myself as an Army private. I've lived in many places since then, magnificent places like Colorado, and the Netherlands where bicycle is king. I do no fear hell, for I have lived in Fort Hood. Twice. Bring it, Satan.

Clyde1820

A "grinder," due to old injuries from way back. Have never felt comfortable being up out of the saddle, and I've rarely done "performance" cycling sufficient to find out-of-saddle climbing necessary. These days, a low gearing setup (of ~15 gear inches) allows me to grind reasonably well.

https://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=...N=MPH&DV=teeth

zymphad

Spin in the saddle, drop gears when out of the saddle.

So both.

Pantah

Spin all day. Always have been but now especially due to having torn a meniscus last fall. Additionally. as a serious and consistent runner, trail running specifically, I'm acclimated to holding a relatively high heart rate on climbs and find I perform best when I get my heartrate up to where I would normally have it while running.

chaadster

How slowly do you pedal 15gi?

Tony Marley

As a recumbent rider, definitely a spinner. I was before when doing fully loaded touring with a tendem.

Pantah

Imagine a bike with a lowest possible gear ratio resulting in 6 gear inches. Slow is the name of the game. My brother managed to pull a Jeep Wrangler across a parking lot with that ratio.

Clyde1820

A bit above 3mph would be my estimate ... at least, calculated, given ~70rpm (@gear-calculator.com). Roughly the lower limit of my ability to remain upright.

It's certainly not my normal 85-90rpm. But (with the injuries) it's about all the power I can put down on steeper inclines. Nice to have such a lower gear. If I end up needing more, it'll then be time for different drivetrain or even electric bike.

PeteHski

People often automatically assume lower gears means less power and lower speed, but once we are reduced to grinding at sub 50 cadence in a higher gear then most people produce more power in a much lower gear at 80+ rpm cadence.

Clyde1820

The way I view this is through my experience with the injury. I can only put so much power down, at any cadence/speed. But at higher RPM's (well, higher for me) I find that I can generally sustain the cadence. But the moment my RPM's tank, say down to the ~50-60 range, up that same hill I'm going to end up unable to push hard enough with the injured leg. So, for me it's a balancing act. I love that I've got a fairly low gearing. But as many have pointed out in other discussions it can become difficult to remain upright if ending up too slow. Ah, well. The realities of aging decrepitude.

Back in the mid-80s it didn't impact me nearly so much. Test-rode a Ritchey Ultra, at the time, and for the test-ride I went straight up a steep hard-packed slope while sitting down on the saddle ... and I just selected the lowest gear, kept the cadence up, and powered right up that slope. Was about ~30 degrees or more, as I recall. Easy enough, with that bike. Can't remember what the gear-inches were (at the bottom end). These days, though, even a moderate rise up an overpass road aches, on a "regularly-geared" bike, while that same incline as simple on my own low-geared bike.

Strawbunyan

Being new to cycling I have been testing both recently. I have a MTB that has ridiculous gears 34x11-42 9spd and an old touring rig that has a 53/42x11-24 6spd. I ride both long low grade hills and shorter higher grade hills.
in all cases, Uphill,downhill and on the flats I prefer the bike with the "harder" gears. I absolutely loath the feeling of my legs spinning aimlessly and my bike going nowhere while my legs do 60MPH...id rather get off and walk than spin.
I have always had fairly powerful legs, even when I am not in good fitness and they can handle much more of a besting than my lungs can but like i said, it is more the feeling of my legs turning with no resistance that i dont like. I climb faster in my 42x24 gear, feel better during the climb and feel better at the top.
yes, i have two very different bikes and one is much heavier with much more rolling resistance and I am sure that comes in to play a bit but not much because, like I said, it's the "leg feel" that gets me.
I am in the same camp going down hill pedaling, I want resistance. Sometimes even my 53x11 isn't enough and leaves me wishing I had a 9 tooth option to get into on the drops...and my 35x13 certainly is not sufficient.

M.Roshi

From SF,CA. Depends on the steepness of the hill, as I'm getting stronger I try to stay seated and not using the lowest gear as possible, using 2 or 3 to lowest to train my legs, there are some very steep hills that I have to stand grinding.

HectorStorm

Anything over 7% and I'm grinding even on my 0.8:1 gear ratio....

rsbob 

Grinding is for coffee beans - an important part of cycling.

PeteHski

Not many people would enjoy the feeling of spinning a mountain bike up a road climb with completely the wrong gear range. On the other hand a 42/24 would be pretty ugly grinding up a steep slope. I feel most comfortable climbing in a gear which allows a fairly normal cadence, usually a bit lower than I would use on the flat.

The only time I "big ring" it and grind over climbs is when they are short punchy rollers. Or if they are 20%+ grades where grinding is the only option in whatever your lowest gear is. For me that's currently a 35/33 on my road bike and ideally I would like an even lower gear for the really steep climbs.

jonathanf2

I used to be a OOS grinder due to my powerlifting background, but I've been training myself more to be a spinner while controlling my HR and watt output. I find if I focus maintaining a set HR, I can spin for a longer period of time. Also I came to a revelation that high cadence spinning can be insanely fast near max HR. The muscular lactate burning pain can be tolerated for a longer period of time, while OOS grinding will eventually lead to a blowout for me using type 2 muscles.

I'm now debating if I should experiment with a smaller chainring for my climbing bike while increasing my cadence in the process.

SpedFast

I too am/was/am a grinder. I think it comes from having been a MTBer before getting into road biking. I have been working on increasing my cadence for the last few years. It used to be around 65 and now I'm more comfortable around 75-80. But like StrawBunyun, I like the feel of taller gears, especially on flats. And you're right, even a 52/11 isn't nearly tall enough when on an even slightly downward slope or a tailwind. Lots of riders believe the old wive's tale that grinding will destroy your knee joints. At 76 my joints are just fine and I've been grinding up mountain trails for many years.