Jayson17

It’s the Ultegra 8050 Di2 SS. It says max is 30T.

genejockey 

My first serious road bike, purchased in 1997, had a 12-23. I've since upgraded it from 8 to 10 speeds, and from the 12-23 to a 12-30. After all, I was only 40 when I bought it, and I'm now 63!

tomato coupe

Ride your current bike for a few weeks without using the two easiest gears. If that works for you, then the gearing on the new bike probably will work for you.

noodle soup

Road bikes intended for road racing, are still set up that way. Recreational riders buy the vast majority of road bikes, so now they are speced for noodlers.

shelbyfv

Yep. I'd guess actual racers are less than 10% of even what we'd call enthusiast cyclists.

sean.hwy

Do this ^^^^^^^


If you don't need the two easiest gears then enjoy buying your new shinny bike :-)

If you do need the easy gear the rear cassettes can usually be purchased for like 50 to 100 dollars then you need the some cheap tools. Maybe another $50 worth of tools.

The front can be cheap or very expense to replace. If you are lucky you can just replace the change ring if it is a common bolt pattern. My system six I was not lucky. It uses a spider ring and I had to order one from England if I wanted to do lower gears. I injured my knees in motorcycle accident. My knees where not happy grinding up the steep hills ( by my standard strava #2 ). I used to be front 36 / rear 30. I am now front 30 / rear 30. I am slow going up but my knees are a lot happier.

79pmooney

My race bike came with 54-44 X 13-21. I immediately put on a 42 ring and a 13-19. Raced that FW or a 12-17 for flat races and a 14-23 for Smuggler's Notch in VT. (19777)

That said, the gearing on a new bike would not be a deciding factor for me. The fit (no compromised there!), the ride, what it can do. If the gearing isn't right for my intentions, I;d see if the shop can swap parts at a discount at sale but if not, they would just be parts to swap out to make it "my" bike.

Now I fully expect to ride my bikes far longer than the original gearing is going to last. (Actually yes and no. My good geared bike has a Campuy 9-speed and enough cogs for three cassettes on two wheels. Everything is still going strong at 14,000 miles. My fix gear has cogs from 12 to 24 teeth. I replace the 16,17 and 18 when new chians feel funkty on them but the rest will probably go the rest of my life. I am coming up on chainring time since I only use two, 42 and 43.

Since all my bikes were acquired as frames, picking and choosing drivetrains has been easy. But if I were buying new, I'd just look at the package savings of buying a whole bike as a start to investing in the gearing that would make that bike "mine".

Cranksets - I'm aging, What used to work doesn't anymore. I no longer need a 52, 50-12, even 50-13 is now OK. I will only rider triples because I still love the old racing narrow gearing choices but big hills and 42-19 is now an ancient memory. My bikes are evolving to 50-38-24 with a 28 in back. I have a 9% average 2.4 mile climb I love with steep stretches well into the mid-teens. (I cannot see my computer when I stand so I never get to see the toughest parts.) I want gears that allow me to do that hill "just because I feel like it".

Ben

genejockey 

I'm curious, though, how many in the pro peloton still ride 53/39 and 11 or 12-23. I mean, I KNOW they're not riding 52/36 x 11-34 like me, but still.

redcon1

On some of the steepest climbs at both the Giro and Vuelta this year the commentators mentioned some were riding 34/34... exactly like my Roubaix. I was surprised.

jaxgtr

I'm not if the incline is 12 miles long and 8 or 10 avg with peaks of 15-17.

Racing Dan

If you need 34/34 at present, you'll still need it when you get a new bike. Lots of different options to get lower gearing, but it does add cost and sometimes headaches.

Leinster

The SRAM sponsored teams (Trek and Movistar) at the Tour this year were riding 52-39 cranks, even though SRAM don’t offer that size in AXS gearing. Trek even went so far as to block off the 10t on their 12-speed cassettes to run as a standard 11-30 11 speed.

It wouldn’t be unusual for pros to ride 1:1 ratio gears in the big mountain stages, especially the heavier sprinters who know they only have to make the time cut every day.

It must be said, that for the flat days, they can switch out their wheels for a straight through block if they want. Tadej Pogacar got a 14-29 cassette just for the final climb of the final TT of this year’s Tour. Rode it once, for 3km uphill. It won him the Tour, so obviously it was worth it.