cyclezen

The LA region has quite a few 'River Trails', all going from inland/hills down to the ocean (also reverse ride). Most are MUPS, so 12-ish ft wide, and generally bypass 'hills' (follow 'river' down), so long stretches mostly straight/gentle curve, until you get to road under-crossings - those can be hairy and usually a bunch of slow speed 90 deg kinks. Many ride the trails down then use some form of transit to go back up. Some ride both ways...
I've done a few rides with friends from LA - fun, but best not to do high pace, especially on weekends - can;t imagine what they were like during and after COVID...
Don't remember if we did the Santa Ana Trail, think so... on these rides I was mostly on 'auto-pilot' and just followed the lead... safely... LOL!
https://www.traillink.com/trail/santa-ana-river-trail/
24 mph on some sections was doable, but not advised, in my mind. These rides were mostly 'fun' rides, fast guys just wanting to 'cruise' without motor vehicles around and lights/other traffic.
There were some scary encounters along the way...
Just can't imagine the nightmare now, with the proliferation of e-bikes of every kind... scary... I now avoid these ride invites... happy to stay in my neck of the woods.
Ride On
Yuri

Steve B.

Thats Pro Cycling paceline speed. I think they avg. 25 or so for 6 hrs. per day, for 3 weeks on a major tour. I'd bet there are Cat 1-2 teams in the states (and Europe) that train near that. Not something the OP wants to get involved in, not that they'd let him.

Camilo

Any cassette with a 11t small sprocket will have the same high speed characteristics as any other. The only reason to have an 11-28 instead would be if the rider is somehow ill-served by the larger jumps in, say, an 11-34. Most are not. Now, if the lower gears absolutely are not needed, go for it. But it won't be a solution for "not keeping pace", imho.

Good luck keeping up with a rider that averages 24mph on a 30 mile ride, if that is accurate "data". That is really, really fast in my book and nothing you do for equipment, including pro-grade bike, clothes and tires will get you even 10% of that difference. Your current bike is not a boat anchor, it is not limiting you that much. By all means get real road tires to either put on your existing wheels or a second set of wheels. Something in the area of 23-28mm. Also, get different clothing if it suits you. It doesn't make a HUGE difference (16 to 24mph), but baggy shorts and tops do flap in the breeze and would make a difference if you were a MPH or so lagging. I don't like the flapping, so I wear lycra shorts and tights and real cycling jerseys and jackets. Now, they aren't racer-cut tight form fitting because I'm too fat for that, but my "club cut" stuff doesn't flap very much compared to a baggy cotton T shirt or normal wind breaker.

This is true, but I don't think the geometry is affecting his concern about not keeping pace on a typical recreational road ride. The handling isn't the issue. I don't believe anything in a gravel bike - assuming road tires, etc. - keeps a person from fitting in on a group ride. A gravel bike fitted out as a road bike with good quality road tires and the high and low gearing like his currently has should be limited only by his fitness and ability to ride in a group.

Atlas Shrugged

Not sure if less trail will help the op maintain an average pace of 24 mph or affect their average speed in any way. Very few if any mainstream gravel bikes have trail north of 70mm.

prj71

Can you imagine 22.2 mph for 2 hours? This was a recent ride of mine all on public roads.

jonathanf2

Those are some fast riders. Your bike seems like it can handle a road bike conversion with an Ultegra groupset. I'd switch to some skinnier road slicks, bigger crankset and get a smaller cassette like an 11-28t. After that, I'd focus on training more. I can hang with above average roadies on my gravel bike with a GRX 46:30t setup, but you'll definitely need a bigger crankset on serious fast group rides. Even on my road bike with a 50:34t front crankset, I struggle with serious riders going at a fast pace line at around 26-30mph on the flats. I can only drop them once we hit the hills!

chaadster

Wow, I’m surprised folks think a 46/11 is sufficient for fast club rides; the gear range is not nearly tall enough, in my opinion.

seypat

Probably this one:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/categ...-238657641614/

https://www.instagram.com/thecotbr/?hl=en

mstateglfr 

46/11 at a very reasonable 80rpm is 26.7mph on 30mm tires. That may not work for everyone, but it is more than a lot of people can handle. As for it being enough for fast club rides, it may not be on downhill. On flat or uphill though?...very few fast club rides I have seen are moving faster than 27mph. I do see that speed on flat road for sure. Again though, this is at just 80rpm.

But to apply it to the OP, based on what he has said, he is not able to push 46/11 at 80rpm and ride at 27mph so that is plenty of gearing for now.

chaadster

All the more reason to have a better range at the tall end, so they can fine tune their output. Two shifts up off the 46/11 and you’ve only got 93gi to work with, and I can tell you from how I ride, that is not enough to stay on a fast bunch, and for the OP who doesn’t like to pedal above 80rpm anyway, they’re going to have trouble finding the torque load they prefer and get the speed they need. 46t is way too small for fast road work.

mstateglfr 

But if you dont shift twice then you have 112.23 gear inches to work with. Seems like a pretty easy solution to 93 gear inches not being enough to stay with a fast bunch. This is honestly a really odd complaint to even address since the solution is so obvious. A more extreme scenario is 'I ride in 50/22 and that is not enough to stay on a fast bunch, whatever should I do?' Well you should obviously shift to a smaller cog.

As for the OP not wanting to pedal above 80rpm, then why would 70 and a larger gear inch be realistic? Setting that aside, 50/11 at 70rpm is 25.44mph. Reminder, 46/11 at 80rpm is 26.71mph. So if he gets a larger chainring and pedals slower, he will ride slower.


In the end, the OP just needs to ride more and build up ability(stamina, speed, etc).