RChung

For a larger ring/cog combo, there is smaller average angular displacement conditional on the link being bent, but there are fewer links that are straight because the span between ring and cog is shorter. son_of_clyde was talking about total angular displacement.

terrymorse 

Got it, I stand corrected.

Larger cogs = longer lever arms = lower chain tension.

freetors

I'm thinking stuff like motorcycle hill climbs. Where most of the competitors literally can't get up. You're never going to be able to do anything like this on a road bike.

curbtender

Seeing you have posted in general cycling I'm going to guess you just want to get up the hill without walking. Since you don't use the 50 chainring much you may want to go to a sub compact/46-30. If you get much lower than a 42 rear, 30 front, you may as well walk. Along with gear ratio, it's also important to know when to change them. I see a lot of people struggle with getting too much torque before they try to downshift, especially with the front gears.

PeteHski

In that case you need a mountain bike with SRAM Eagle (30T chainring and 52T rear). You will be limited by traction and your own strength and skill. An adjustable travel fork helps too ie wind it down for the ultra-steeps.

superdex

He's going the wrong way

Polaris OBark

Sorry, I thought the subject was hill climbing.

As for the gearing, it would still be just as good (or bad) if the larger chainring was 53T. The gearing makes about as much sense as the 20 lb. weight. But at least it is aero. Sort of.

tomato coupe

You introduced the Emonda into the discussion and wondered why it doesn't have super low gearing for climbing. It doesn't because it's a road racing bike, and it's geared for that.

Polaris OBark

Trek sells it as their climbing bike.

I picked it out of several such examples because I was more familiar with it.

They actually made the gearing more steep on the model my kid has, the year after he bought it.

tomato coupe

I think maybe you and Trek have different ideas of the role the Emonda is designed to fill.

Polaris OBark

This conversation is even more pointless than your usual.

tomato coupe

Your point seems to be that Trek botched the gearing on the Edmonda. I think Trek would disagree.

PeteHski

Racing where there are significant climbs involved. The gearing (compact double) is pretty much par for that sort of bike. You might well want to go a bit lower for a dedicated hill climb bike, but this bike is intended for a wider use case.

wolfchild

All that OP needs to do is to change their front chain ring to something a little smaller and maybe replace a rear cassette with something that will provide lower gearing that's it...They don't need a $ 14 000 road racing bike with electronic shifting and hydro disc brakes just to climb hills....I am surprised nobody mentioned developing better climbing fitness.

Trakhak

Post #4 (among others)---

We'll apparently never know what the OP's deal is---easier climbing? Hill climbing competitions?

No one who starts a topic is obligated to follow up, but it rankles a bit when a poster starts a thread with a request for advice but never revisits it, or else at some point posts one irrelevant reply that ignores all previous posts in the thread.

Iride01 

But in the genre of Road Bikes.

Apparently the OP isn't planning on using a road based on the picture provided by the OP. Which still leaves a lot of information out and make one wonder if the OP is more interested in the trolling for conversation of any sort.

wolfchild

That's nothing new on bikeforums, it happens all the time. We've had a lot of one hit wonders over the years. Multiple pages of replies while the original poster who started the thread never actively participating in their own thread.

PeteHski

What has better fitness got to do with designing a dedicated hill climbing bike?

wolfchild

A dedicated climbing bike or some other high performance bike without a strong fitness base is useless. It's like putting a cart before the horse.

terrymorse 

Untrue, obviously.

A dedicated climbing bike will make climbing easier, independent of the cyclist's current fitness level.

Stating otherwise is essentially saying that only the most fit cyclists benefit from a high performance bike. Which is ridiculous.

PeteHski

But the question was clear. It was about designing a climbing bike, not rider fitness. The gearing is about the only thing that might change with fitness, which has already been mentioned.

wolfchild

Why does it always have to be easier ??....Personally I look at hill climbing as an exercise and I try to make it harder. Making an exercise too easy will eliminate the stimulus which is necessary to make progress and become stronger.

tomato coupe

Cool. You should try dragging cinder blocks when you climb hills.

wolfchild

Silliness at it's finest.

tomato coupe

It seemed like the only sensible way to respond to your post.