Originally Posted by
CAT7RDR
I switched to an Ultegra GS RDR and 11-34 cassette (previously 11-28) mated with a 50/34 crankset on my 17 lbs road bike for a trip up to the Eastern Sierra a few years ago. I was heavy for road cycling standards at that time at 6'2" 220 lbs.
The differences were two fold. First, I could ride longer because I was no longer mashing and tiring on long climbs nearly as fast.
Secondly, I could find a suitable rhythm without going into zone 4.
I no longer feared mountains as an embarrassment as I was quickly passed by more fit and lighter cyclists.
The downsides? Fine tuning the RDR adjustment became a chore because of the increased jumps in cog teeth.
Unlike you LA guys, I have a meager and narrow power band, so a 11-34 cassette would not work. With a 12-25 cassette, I can always be in the right gear (at least on my regular routes). As for being passed by fitter and lighter cyclists when going uphill, that is just physics; cannot fight it. I think the outside temperature has a bigger effect on my HR zone than my cassette or my route.
Originally Posted by
oris
As for the climbing conversation, I've had good luck with 50/34 chainrings and a 11-32 cassette. You have a decent granny gear for those 10%+ sections and the spacing isn't all that bad overall. I do find going from 28t to 32t to be weird at times since 4 teeth is a big jump in cadence and power. It takes time to find your climbing legs but there's tons of great places to ride and explore; sometimes we're too buried in the suffering to appreciate what's going on.
I actually started with a 11-32 but I often felt I need to be in between two adjacent gears, and the 16T to 14T jump was almost always too big to sustain. If the 11-28 works out, I think the biggest cassette for me (when using 50/34 chain rings) would be a 11-30.