Originally Posted by
Ollie62
I find as I near the top of larger hills I am in the lowest gear and wonder how I will be able to do steeper climbs. Until this season I lived in a relatively flat area so this is my first year of climbing. I have started a Zwift training program (live in a northern climate) so I'm hoping this will increase my fitness level. My riding this year was probably 70/30 road/gravel but am retiring next year and hope to get away to areas with more gravel. My tires are Schwalbe g-one allround 700x35 and the wheels are Bontrager Paradigm Comp that list as 1900g. Once again thanks for any advice.
Thanks for clarifying the issue- since it's running out of gears, Changing the cassette and/or crank to make a wider range driveteain will help.
Something to consider with gearing and gravel/wide tires- the wider the tire, the more difficult gearing effectively becomes. So a bailout gearing if 34-34 with a 28mm tire will feel more difficult with a 35mm tire and feel even more difficult with a 43mm tire.
Add in the fact that unpaved surfaces are more difficult to climb than paved, and you can see why an easier drivetrain with a wider range may be needed for gravel.
If someone can climb a paved 10% road that lasts .5mi in 34/28 on a 28mm tire road bike, they may need 34/34 to climb a 10% gravel road that lasts .5mi on a 43mm gravel tire since tire size changes gear inches and unpaved surfaces take more energy.
Zwift will help for sure. Really any indoor miles will help during the winter, but Zwift is popular for a reason- it keeps people more engaged so they ride longer.
I looked up your wheel weight yesterdayand stated 1600g, but apparently I pulled up the rim brake version.
If these are your wheels, then they weight 1800g and you could look into a different wheelset that would drop 200g or so. It wont be inexpensice to drop that weight though and if the wheels you have feel good and have been reliable then it may not be worth the swap.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/e...wheel/p/34503/