ds81

Hey all,

So after a couple years of riding around on a comfort bike, I've decided to purchase a new road bike. The trek 2300 https://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/road/2300.jsp is the one I've decided on.

Because I'm something of a beginner, I ordered the bike with the crankset of 52/42/30. However, apparently the bike is likely not going to be manufactured any time soon for my size with that setup, and so they had to locate a 53/39 for me. (Pardon me if I'm using the terminology like an idiot, again, I'm new.)

Originally, I had wanted the "granny gear" (as I understand it's called) because I'm a little nervous to start climing hills without being in great shape (read decent shape). However, the gentleman at the bike store said that even with the 53/39 things shouldn't be a problem for me. What do y'all think? For someone in decent shape, will the difference be significant?

Also, this bike has a cassette that is listed as Shimano Ultegra 12-25, 9 speed. What does the 12-25 mean? Does this 9 speed mean there are 9 different "rings" by the rear tire? So, my bike could be said to be an 18 speed? Had I been able to get the 52/42/30, would the bike be a 27 speed?

Thanks for your help.

Laggard

39 teeth on your front chainring and a 25 on the back will be sufficient.

9 speed does indeed mean that there are nine rings on your freewheel. So yes, there are 18 gears, though some will overlap.

borneo_cyclist

go for fixed gear ! It will solve all your problem ! And you will get a strong and nice looking leg in return.

MacMan

39/25 may be fine. It really depends on the hills and your condition. If you find that this set-up is still too hard, you can always swap out the rear cassette to a 12-27, which will be much cheaper than changing your crankset (say to something like the FSA compact crank).

Stubacca

I run a 53-39 double crank with a 12-27 9-speed cassette. I find this to be plenty of gears - it puts me within about 3 gears of a 12-25 equipped triple (52-42-30). I may be lacking the fine-tuning ability of a triple, but I've not found this to be an issue at all. I test rode both doubles and triples, and found it slightly more comfortable to ride the narrower cranks of a double. I've done a couple of small climbs with this gearing and had no problems. The bike came with a 12-23, and as I get fitter I'm considering swapping it back for a while and keeping the 12-27 for days in the mountains.

Dutchy

It all depends on how hilly your area is. I live in a very hilly area, where the hills are short but steep, 10% gradient is pretty common. The bike store in town (which is on the flat) keeps telling me that no-one needs a 25 cog Blah, Blah, Blah. They are obviously talking about flat rides. When I tell them where I ride, they just look blankly and think me and my mates are mad. Most of my riding group have a 23 cog but are thinking about getting a 25, a few have gone for a 25 already. The fastest guy in our group has a 29 cog. If you are new to cycling and the hills are relentless, get a 27 cog or go for a triple. If you want to race then a double is fine, because if you have to use a triple in a race, then you are about to get dropped.

CHEERS.

Mark

rmwun54

Just something to consider, most road bike riders who ride consistantly uses 53/39. So if you are considering riding more like most riders then you might look at a triple with 53/39/30 to maintain a similar ratio on main two chainring of the crank. If you are just going to ride casual and some touring then go for the 52/42/30, because then it would not be a big thing. I know that the only 53/39/30 is a Dura Ace which cost too much but you can get a FSA triple that will have this setup (About $150) that's what I use on one of my bikes. As for the cassette 12-27 is what I prefer, it's easier on the knees on tough hills.

geebee

My first road bike has a double but I wish it were a triple as I live in an extremely hilly area, I am getting stronger but I suspect it will be a long time before I can tackle any route without considering the hills! But if where you ride is reasonably flat low hills etc. go for the double,they do ride/shift nice.

redfooj

i consider myself a pretty avid biker but i cant say that ive never had to use the granny... i do consider myself very improved from when i first started biking ... and have used the 39-25 (42-25, actually) very infrequently. however, there is always a time and a place when it comes in handy.....

my personal belief is that i would never get rid of the triple on my current bike, but if i were to buy a new bike, it would have a double

ds81

Thanks for all the responses.

Another question: Correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears I have two options: Should I feel the bike is too advanced for me, I can either change the cassette to something higher like a 12-27 or 12-29, or I can change the crank from a double to a triple. It is possible to do either one, right? In other words, the bike isn't specifically set up by the manufacturer such that I could never change the crank from a double to a triple? If I wanted to modify it safely, I could, correct?

My area is a mix of flat and hilly road, but they are mostly short, steep hills. In a way, I'm kind of excited to get the double because I think it will give me something to work harder for -- something to strive for. However, I don't want to be overwhelmed because I can't make it up the hill. Apparently the bike is very light, so that should help a little.

ronyex

You can always change parts in your bike its just a question of $$$.
A new ultegra crankset is ~200$ just so you should know.
A year ago I was very much not in shape and started to train with my 21speed MTB.
It has a 22x32x44 crankset and a 14-28 cassette, so you can see that it has plenty of low gears
and I needed them all.(I live in a very hilly area).
Now I ride a road bike w/double chain rings but there's no way I could have climbed those hills then with this bike, not even if I had a 29t cog in the back.

RonH

My old road bike has a triple in the front and a 12-25 cassette in the rear. I've only used the granny gear a few times in the 5 years I've had it, so the small chainring is a waste.
My newer road bike has a double in the front and a 11-23 cassette in the rear. I've used all 18 gears at one time or another. If you look at my location you'll see that I live and ride in a very hilly area.
Keep the double (53-39) and go with the 12-25 cassette. You won't be overwhelmed and you'll be surprised how much you like it and how easy the hills will become after only a short time riding.
BTW: I'm 59 years old.


Since you're a newbie, here is a good website with lots of bike information.
https://sheldonbrown.com/glossary.html


Have fun with the bike and let us know how you like it.

redfooj

yeah, you can replace the rear cassette easily and for cheap

Brillig

You can do either, although changing the cassette is the much cheaper route (around $40 if you do it yourself)

Give it a ride when you get it. Actually, give it a month or two of riding and see how you feel. Depending on how severe the hills are in your area, you might be fine with what you have. If you feel like you just wish you had a little more then switch to a 12-17. If you're really still feeling like you're not even close to being able to get up those hills you might think about switching to a triple. (around $130 if you do it yourself).

dexmax

hello ds81,

i see you are very concerned about the gearing of your roadie.. That's good, but the question is, how steep are the hills you'll be riding on.
I am overweight, and can handle 20% grades w/ me 52/42 - 12/23. But I had to replace my rear w/ a 12-27 so I can spin more and save my knees.
I say, give it a try..

Pat

Well, here is a short explanation on bicycle gearing. There are basically 2 gears in use at any time: the front chain ring (yeah all chain rings are on the front but I used redundancy for clarity) and the rear cog. In your case, you had a choice of a bike with 2 chain rings a: 53 and a 39 or 3 chain rings: a 52, 42, and a 30. The bigger the front ring the bigger the gear, the smaller the front ring the smaller the gear.

In your case, there are 9 gears on the rear cluster. People talk about 12-25 which means the cogs go from a 12 for the smallest to a 25 for the largest probabably something like this: 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25.

If you divide the rear cog you are using into the front ring you are using, you can get the number of revolutions of the rear wheel you will get for one pedal revolution. So if you are using a 53 chain ring with a 12 rear cog, the rear wheel will turn 4.417 times per pedal revolution. If you are using the 39 chain ring with the 25 rear cog, the rear wheel will turn 1.56 times per pedal revolution.

Gears combinations often were referred to in chain inches. This was taking the chain ring divided by the rear cog times 27 (rear wheel diameter in inches). A big gear is anything over 90 and a low gear is anything less then 40. The 53-12 is a 119 inch gear. The 39-25 is a 42 inch gear. Notice the triple chain ring set up gives you a 30-25 or a 32 inch gear which is considerably lower then the double chain ring set up. By the way, a 100 inch gear at 100 rpm will drive you at approx. 30 mph. If you know your cadence, you can easily use this to calculate your cruising speed in any gear once you know its chain inches.

So do you need a triple chain ring for your local hills? Well that depends on the hills, their steepness, their length, your strength and your riding style.

Here in central Florida, I can climb anything without any particular problem with a 53/39 and a 13-25 rear cluster. I use the 13 small cog because I run a high RPM and I have no use for a 12 tooth gear, I would never ever use the silly thing. I seldom use a 13. However, when I go to areas with really long, somewhat steep climbs like Colorado, I use a triple. I generally climb seated at a high rpm. I also run a higher rpm then most people so I favor lower gearing then many people. Gearing is a matter of personal style. People who like standing up and going uphill at a low cadence will favor a set up with higher gearing then people who favor sitting and spinning.

About 40 years ago, cyclists gave considerable attention to gearing because bikes back then had 10 total gearing combinations and you could not afford to have a nonfunctional combination if you could avoid it. Nowadays, having optimized gearing is not that important because with 18 combinations well who cares if there are some you will not use?

NW NJ Biker

Ds81,

Take your current bike up hills that are in your area. Which gear do you use to get up the hills? If you need the small chainring and the lowest of your gears in the back (assuming you have a triple now), you will likely want to have a triple on your new bike. If you can make it up the hills in your middle ring, then you should be fine with a double.

I just made the change from a comfort bike to road bike myself, and I live in a hilly area. All of the hills that I needed my small chainring on the comfort bike, I still need the small chainring now (the road bike is much faster, but the amount of effort is the same).

Fat Hack

At the risk of sounding like a hero......I like to have an 11 tooth cog with a 52 or 53
chain ring. If you're riding with a very strong wind, on a slight decline, and/or you're riding in a big bunch with a big tail wind, you can easily run of gears with a 12. I see guys all the time spinning and bouncing when the tempo gets above about 33, 34mph, and if it gets above 38mph, you're kinda screwed.

I know ds81 is just starting out, but it's nice to know the "big one" is down there

Brillig

I've done 45 mph easily with a 52-13. If you're bouncing at 35 mph with a 53-12 you seriously need to either adjust your saddle height or work on your spinning.

Fat Hack

Come on! Someone help me out here. 52 X 13?? Jeez!! That's a 108 inch gear, in the old. 45 mph is pretty fast for a 108' gear. That would give you a flying 200m time of ~9.94 seconds.....quite fast.

I can't be bothered working out the cadence required, but I'd say you'd be more likely to maintain the high speed if you were pedalling in the 'normal' cadence range.

MacMan

I don't know. I got the F35 up to over 41 the other day on a downhill section. I was in the 53/12 and still had plenty of room to pedal faster. Never had the chance though ... the downhills in Illinois run out rather fast

Fat Hack

Well i don't wanna clutch at straws, but 53/12 is much bigger than 52/13.

Maybe I'm just a big fat grinder.

Brillig

It's about 140 rpm IIRC from my computer (although it's hard to look down at that speed).

Granted, it's not optimal. I'm just saying that you should be able to handle mid-thirties easily with those gears. Probably around 100 rpm.

Fat Hack

Yeah, yeah; that's what i meant. ( )

What if you had to sustain the speed for 10 miles?

Brillig

Not to belabor this, but we were talking about riding downhill or with a tailwind.

"If you're riding with a very strong wind, on a slight decline, and/or you're riding in a big bunch with a big tail wind, you can easily run of gears with a 12."