Barrettscv 

+1

Even if a cyclist likes to pedal when travelling downhill at speeds above 30 mph, the percentage of time a recreational cyclist is maintaining that speed is probably less than 1%. The amount of time a recreational cyclist spends in the 3 to 30mph range is more than 99%, and gearing needs to cover that range with a 40 to 100rpm cadence.

This data shows cycling speeds up to 47.6mph. But the amount of time traveling at speeds greater than 30mph is not significant.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/356683768

LGHT

I'm really getting used to my 53 / 34 as of late. Doing a lot more riding and yesterday I finally got over the "hill of death" route I have been trying to ride for a month now. What really helped was cranking hard on the rolling hills on the down slope and shifting down to get up them quickly on the other side. This was a little standing peddling and the hills now take a lot less time and effort. Some of the steep hills I still crawl at 5mph, but I am getting stronger and noticed a slight increase to 6 / 6.5 for a couple of hills so I'm sticking with the gear set.

Barrettscv 

Constantly rolling terrain is a great application for a compact double. When speeds are constantly changing in the 10 to 33 mph range, a compact double and an 11-28 cassette is ideal. The bigger changes in cadence are welcome and tight gearing loses it's advantage when cresting a hill or beginning a climb.

Clyde1820

Nexus 8spd (SG-8R31) IGH:

Gear Ratio, total difference: 3.07
Gear Ratio 1: 0.527
Gear Ratio 2: 0.644
Gear Ratio 3: 0.748
Gear Ratio 4: 0.851
Gear Ratio 5: 1.0
Gear Ratio 6: 1.223
Gear Ratio 7: 1.419
Gear Ratio 8: 1.615

20T ring out back, on the hub.
42T chainring up front, single.


I find that it's a nice range for moderate to easier hills, sufficiently low-geared to deal with the hills (with my strength) yet sufficiently quick for the flats. Might prefer the Alfine 11spd or the Rohloff 14spd gearing, but the Nexus-8 is fine.

scarleton

so what type of grade hills do you deal with? Ever as much as 10 to 15? I ask because I am looking to build my wife a bike with either the Alpine 11 or Rohloff 14. I like the Rohloff, but it is expensive, so if the Alpine will work, that would be great.

also, do you use a chain or belt? What are the pro's and con's?

andr0id

Yep, that's almost any ride in Austin except east of town.

Climb a half mile or so at 12mph, descend at 40 mph, wash, rinse repeat.

50 tooth chainring on all the downs. 36 tooth chainring on all the ups.

MileHighMark

For folks that are interested, I wrote up my impressions of SRAM's Force 22 drivetrain, which you can read here. Currently testing the Rival 22 group, but won't have that review completely for a month or two.

andr0id

I have no idea what you mean about only being able to pedal at an inefficient cadence.

My Saturday ride was a perfect example of why big gears are needed. We road from 734 at 1431 to Andice into a headwind.

It took a little longer than expected so on the return, I told my friends I had to get home to go to my daughter's band competition. So from 2338 back to 1431 I rode at 25 - 38 except for a couple of big climbs dropping down to the low teens. I was using 11, 12, and 13 for most of that return trip. That's 15 miles of going fast where you are suggesting I should have just coasted. I'm certainly no pro racer, just an average cyclist but I can assure you my cadence was 90 +/- 10 and not inefficient.

Riding out and back into strong headwinds is a very normal condition on lots of rides and with a little effort mid 30 speeds are very achievable. I guess some people just automatically stop pedaling when they see something greater than 20 on the speedometer.

krobinson103

Depends. If I'm going to ride 300-400km in a day (as you would in a fleche etc) then no I don't pedal downhill. Simply put I need that energy later. If I'm commuting and just want to get home? Sure I'll push the big/small ring combo as fast as my legs will allow me and get home. Makes it a little safer on 6 lane roads as you are closer to the speed of the traffic.

lopek77

Tripple front 28/38/48 and 7 speed rear 12-34
Perfect combination for me. Great for going up or down hills....easy up, or speedy down lol

lopek77

300-400 km in a day on "Nothing amazing... cheap old 21 speed mtb" ? If that's true - I'm amazed and happy for you, but sadly I will call it BS. You should try Tour De France...there is no way you can't win that... You are much faster on your old 21 speed bike, than any road biker I have ever seen... Oh wait... Maybe mtb means "Motor Turbo Bicycle" in Korea?
Calculator is your friend when it comes to creating some BS stories that some may actually believe in it. I can't wait for another amazing story from you buddy.

TerraCottaGamer

I with you on this one. Total BS. To do 400km in a day one would have to average 30km an hour for 13 hours. I think even the pros would have a struggle with that.

Wilfred Laurier

He said 300-400 km in one day, not miles.

300 km is less than 200 miles, and there are plenty of non-professional people who ride 200 miles in one day. A 200 mile ride is called a 'double century'. I was having beer and wings last night with a chap who does an annual early season (in my opinion) double century ride in Southern Ontario...

https://www.tbn.ca/hairshirt

In my experience, it doesn't take a super-human amount of fitness or strength to ride super long distances - if you know how to pace yourself, the primary hurdle is saddle pain.

Wilfred Laurier

My Gearing

I have two bikes - a road/touring and a mountain bike.

My road/touring bike has an mtb crank with 44-32-22 rings and a 12-25 cassette. Very low gearing, I know, but I run wide tires and often take dirt and gravel routes on my 'road' rides.

My mtb is full rigid and I do real mtb rides on it - IMO, you can ride a rigid bike anywhere you can ride a full suspension bike, but you can't ride as fast. Accordingly, the gearing is a Shimano Alfine 8 speed hub with a 32/22 combo. Shimano recommends a 1.9:1 input ratio for the Alfine, but my gearing is a 1.4:1 IIRC, which according to x-perts on the interwebs should have my bike spitting out broken sun gears and pawls with every pedal stroke. I weigh between 240 and 260 lbs and use 180mm cranks.

TerraCottaGamer

I know guys do doubles but it is not common and this guy kind of threw it out there like it was a common thing for him to go ride 400km. I stand corrected on my timing of it as that website is listing 10 hours for 322km. So I was about 2km per hour off. Still - I was referring to 400km which means an additional 2-2.5 hours. Doable, most definitely. Casually throwing it out there as this guy did - not doable. Which was my point.

antimonysarah

Nah, he or she is talking about a fleche -- where when we say day, we mean ALL DAY -- all 24 hours. 15 kph minimums. Krobinson103 hangs out lots in the long distance forum. Most of us ride roadbikes and not hybrids like his or hers, but I've seen all sorts of bikes on rando events. There were two fixed-gear road bikes and one singlespeed rigid MTB/touring contraption on our 400k last year, all of whom finished before I did. I rode my road bike, with its usual gearing (to get back to the point of the thread): 50/34 and 10-speed 11-36, Shimano road-mountain hybridized drivetrain. Well, except that one of the bar-end shifters started to fail at about mile 200 out of 260, and I had to finish with my gearing options being the 50/34 + 15/17/19 in the back being my only options (and every shift on the back took coaxing and horribly noises and risking more mechanical issues, so I mostly left it in the 17 and shifted only the front).

Personally, I really like the double + wide range setup -- I do occasionally get chainsuck if I shift into a small-small combination (which I sometimes do coming up to a stop sign on flat or downhill ground when going fast). The 34/36 combination will let me climb almost anything when fresh, and a lot of things after riding for 12+ hours.

Wanderer

I still think that the best drivetrain is a 50-40-30, with an 11-32, or 11-34 cog...... Gears for just about any situation, and you would spend most of your time in the middle of everything..........

lopek77

Now way on the bike he said he have... 190-250 miles a day on a crappy mountain bike is plain and simple - IMPOSSIBLE

sstorkel

On a relatively flat route, 30kph (18.6mph) seems eminently doable. A professional peloton certainly moves at a much faster pace. I've averaged 24.5kph (15.1mph) for 6-8 hours/day on a 51-pound touring bike (example). While I was pretty fit at the time, I'm not an incredible athlete by any means. With a lighter bike or a flatter route, I could certainly go faster and longer.

antimonysarah

Again -- krobinson103 was talking about a fleche, which means 24 hours to go 360km, thus it's 15kph (9.3mph). Even more eminently doable.

IBOHUNT

Mid compact on the front (52/36) and whatever I need on the back. Usually it's an 11-25 for around here. It takes a whole 10 minutes to swap a cassette and make any needed changes to the B screw. Need to do a lot of climbing I'll chuck on the 28T cassette.

EDIT: And yes, I will pedal down hills

newbie101

Fantastic thread. One of my favorites, along with the pedaling efficiency thread.

I just bought a bike with a standard compact double setup: 50/34, 12 - 30.

If I convert to a triple, will I need anything else besides the following?

-triple crank 50/39/30

-left STI triple shifter

-new front derailleur

Will I need to change the chain? It's a KMC10.

Do I need to change the front derailleur? I'm guessing yes.

krobinson103

Totally doable. I did it. On an mtb with slicks. Then I rode a further 30km to get home. Call it BS if you want. I know what I did, got the cert from france and did it in 24 hours. Saddle pain and upset stomach are the only things that slowed me. You don't need a really expesnsive bike for distance. You just need the right gearing, some training, and heart. I also carried most of the spares for the team and a small battery scooter battery on the rack.

Want proof? here



I'm second in line there and enjoying it thoroughly.



Theres the cert. It is possible on just about ANY bike. Only takes willpower, fitness, and plain stubbornness. In fact, we did the last 60km of the ride uphill in less than 3 three hours after riding all day and night as one of our team members bonked so we had to pick up the pace for the last. That REALLY hurt but we did it. I'd reconsider what you call impossible.

scarleton

Which slicks? I am looking for a good set of FAST tires for my 26" bike (originally it was a mtb, but I have drops on it and only ride on the road with it, so it really isn't a mtb anymore). The best I have found is the Compass, they look great and come with a great (big) price tag of $57. I two sets, both me and my wife. I would love to find a less expensive option, if it exists. My requirements:

1. 26"
2. fast tires
3. not super expensive

I know that $57 is not super expensive, but... if there are equally good for less

P.S. I could see you riding for 24 hours to go 360km, personally. I am guessing you are not 5'2" and only 100lb, might be hard for such a small light person, lacking the muscle mass as someone like me that is 6'4"/288lb.

krobinson103

Nope, 6' 2" and closer to 200 pounds. Also ride almost every day. I just used some continental comfort contacts on that ride. Can't remember exactly as I had to sell that bike to come back to New Zealand. Riding a Soma at the moment in touring mode. Even more fun when you carry all your gear up 500m hills for a week.