MikeOK

That is my exact gearing and I occasionally need a lower gear, but I'm a clydesdale that has a lot to do with it. If I were at my racing weight of 180 I think that gearing would be perfect. And I have 172.5 cranks, wish I had 165 or even 160 to stop my hip bursitis from flaring up.

bruce19

bruce19

icyclist 

What are you expecting to happen if you get a new bike? Climbs will be easier? You'll go faster?

Losing a pound or two, if you want to spend a a lot of money on a new bike, might result is being a few seconds faster uphill if you're going all out for a mile or so.

Carbonfiberboy 

53/34? Really? Maybe count the teeth? Probably 50-34. At 72, my favorite climbing rig is a triple with 53/39/26 and a 12-27 cassette. Short cranks basically trade leverage for cadence. Out of saddle efforts become less effective, spinning in low gears becomes more effective.

Staying with a double, the easiest thing is to go 11-34 in back. I assume you have a 10 speed rig. The easiest thing for an RD is to get a NOS or used Shimano 9-speed XTR RD-M952 MTB derailleur, like this: Shimano XTR 9 Speed Rear Derailleur RD-M952 Good Condition | eBay

These RDs work with 9 or 10 speed shifters. You'd need a new RD even for 11-32, so no point in not going lower yet. The downside of staying with a double and going to a big cassette is gear spacing. Some gears will be 10 rpm apart with a big cassette. The upside is that it's lots cheaper. Anything will be lots cheaper than a new bike, which will actually do less for you than re-gearing your current bike.

berner

We are about the same size; me-5'7" and 160. I agree with FBinNY. You should change the gearing. I went to a triple for the same reason, easier climbing. I installed a Tiagra bottom bracket with a 50-39-26 chainrings. The 26 was on Barrettsvc's advice and it serves me well, especially on hills at the end of long rides. And by the way, cranks are 170. The cassette is home made with a 30T lowest gear. I can climb anything in my are, even with 25 pounds or so of touring equipment. Of course, even while hauling touring gear, I'm still under 200 pounds.

Hunterdog

Thanks for all the great advice. And in answer to questions, here are my replies:

Yes,I know hills are hard and I often pick routes with, for me anyway, steep inclines to increase climbing profiency. I can climb the hills but sometimes I fall back.

The chain rings are 50/34, cassette is 11/32. Sorry about earlier typo.

Crank arms are 160mm based on computer fitting. I switched from, I think, 172.5 crank arm length. The short crank arms have helped with hip/pelvis discomfort. I am still confused about crank arm length and whether it makes a significant difference. Some of the on-line articles say yes and some suggest not a real difference. I would try longer (165 - 170) to see if any real difference and whether hip pain returns.

New bike. What I was wondering is if an Endurance frame was a hindrance to better climbing and whether a stiffer frame would, in real life, make a difference. As we all know, where there are steep climbs there are steep descents and at times, such as cool wet days, I have wished I had disc brakes. If I were to get better climbing efficiency with new bike then that with disc brakes could encourage me to get different bike.

I have "pre-ordered" an 11/34 Ultegra cassette from my LBS and hopefully that will help enough; maybe slightly longer crank arms too.

Thanks again from an older sort of "newbie".

IK_biker

Nothing stops you from getting a CX disc fork for the current bike, and installing a disc brake (mechanical or a TRP Hy/Rd hybrid one) in the front.
My distance bike is set up this way, front disc only, and I find this a great compromise.

davester

I don't think there is any need for a new bike. You just need lower gears. I'm 63, in pretty good shape and for climbing steep hills I have a small chainring of 30 teeth and a large rear cog of 32 teeth which is comfortable on hills up to about 16%. That's a 24.7" gear, though I'm using 170 mm cranks. To compensate for your 160 mm cranks you would need about a 6% lower gear, which would be a 23" gear to have the equivalent of my lowest gear, achievable with either a 34T large cog/30T chainring or a 32T large cog/28T small chainring.

I think your best bet is to get a super compact 46-30 crankset and a cassette with a 34T large cog. The other choice is to switch to a triple with a 26 or 28T small ring, though that complicates your derailleur setup. Your currently crankset has a completely useless 120" top gear (effectively more like 126" with your 160 mm cranks) so there's absolutely no reason to keep that 50T ring. Very few people need anything greater than 100". You're just hauling around a bunch of high gears that you have no use for. A 46T large ring still gives you a 110" top gear.

jdcowboy

This may sound counterintuitive, but lowering your handlebars will make it easier to climb. I agree that the crank length is way too short. I ride a similar amount to you, weigh 175 on a thin day, and am 5'11. Oh, I'm 63. I have a racing bike with 36/52 rings an an 11/30 cassette. Almost never use the 30 tooth cassette. I like climbing in the Santa Monica mountains near my house and a 5 mile climb is almost a weekly event, sometimes longer. The best way to be good at climbing is to practice climbing! Having a 14 pound bike helps too.

ironwood

Who besides TA makes 160 mm cranks?

fietsbob

Shopping for more bikes is encouraged ! N+1 is the Math for the solution.

my Road Bike has the same sized 3 chainrings as my touring bike, but back when I was young
and weighed around 150 , I didn't need 3 when not carrying a load, .. master climbing out of the saddle..

trainsktg

You can probably install up to an 11-36 or even 11-40 mountain cassette as well. I just put an 11-40 on my 2015 TCR for the really long steep stuff. Under $100 total for the new cassette, new chain and a part to drop the RD down an inch. You may need to swap out the RD to a medium cage if yours is a short cage, but they are inexpensive too. Plenty of Youtube vids talking about this mod.

Keith

Hunterdog

Rotor makes 160 cranks and that's what I use.

Terex

This. As always, if your goal is to become a better rider, ride more and do hill repeats.