nicocyclo

When it comes to climbing, I am using ROUVY. For me, if I compere it to other apps it simulates the feeling of it the best.

Start with routes that have moderate inclines and then gradually progress to steeper gradients. This progressive approach will help you build strength and endurance. Incorporate interval training into your climbing sessions. Alternate between periods of intense climbing efforts and periods of lower intensity or rest. This mimics the nature of outdoor climbs and improves your ability to push through tough sections. Don't underestimate the importance of rest and recovery. Your muscles need time to recover and grow stronger after intense training sessions. Make sure to include adequate rest and recovery days in your training routine. Hope this will help you

Broctoon

Jen, from that picture, your fit and position on the bike doesn't look bad, except in one area: it's possible that your seat is too high. Hard to say for sure, but it looks like your left knee is almost fully extended, and the pedal isn't all the way at the bottom. Maybe you already know this: if you don't still have a bit of flex in your knee with the pedal at six o'clock, you're sitting too high. If it's an illusion, disregard.

As for gearing, you should be able to put on a cassette that goes bigger. You have a long cage derailleur that can handle at least 32 or even 34 teeth. It looks like 8-speed (maybe 9?). Cassettes in that range are plentiful and not expensive. They're easy to replace, and then you might need just a minor derailleur adjustment, maybe a new chain (also not expensive).

PeteHski

I noticed that too, but hard to say from a single photo. Worth a check for sure.

Iride01 

I thought the leg looked like the saddle was a tad low! Although I don't like formulas for setting a position on a bike. I do find that 109% of my inseam when measured from the top of the pedal at the bottom of it's stroke to the top of the saddle works well for me during times I'm riding into hard efforts. When I slow down and do less riding in my off season, I'll drop it to 106% of my inseam. And maybe coincidentally, putting my heal on the pedal and stretching my leg out straight gets me somewhere between the two.

IMO, legs should be almost straight when viewed from the side. And no rocking of the hips. Maybe for some they need more of a bend to keep from rocking the hips. Whether or not you change your foot angle as you go through the pedal stroke might change that too.

VegasJen

[UPDATE]
Thought I would just bump this thread for reference rather than starting all new.

Based on my rear derailleur, I've decided to dedicate my Specialized Roubiax as my climbing bike. I think it's the only bike in my collection that will accommodate a larger cassette. So given the tooth count of the original wheel, I bought a new cassette with a 11-30 gears. I mounted the cassette on the hub yesterday and took a picture with the chain on the 30t rear and front middle chain ring. Haven't ridden it yet but I just want to see if anybody thinks I'm going to have any mechanical issues with clearance or whatever.


See post 175 for pic of original set up.

genejockey 

Post another pic with it in the big chainring and the biggest cog. I suspect your chain may be too short.

VegasJen

I suspect you're correct. If you look at post 134, I did just that with the original 27tooth cog and that derailleur is pretty well stretched out. I've also been told (here in this thread IIRC) that running that way is a poor idea. Never meant to run big on big. I can see a scenario where I might shift onto that big cog while on the middle chainring though.

choddo

You have three chain rings? I had a triple road bike and the 30 up front was a lifesaver on hills. I assume you have that small a chainring already though.

The b screw in your photo could come in a little I think and agree the chain is probably a bit short.

t2p

don’t know if this will assist - bikes are different (and this bike prob has longer chainstay than typ road bike ?) - and rear derailleurs and cranks / rings are different

11-30 cassette on the back with 6800 GS RD - 6800 46/34 crank on the front

top pic - small / small

bottom pic - big / big

VegasJen

What is the "b screw"?
I didn't take a pick with big/small, but the photo posted is big/medium. If I went big/small, I would probably have a bit more slack in the rear derailleur. But I do agree I could probably stand for the chain to be a touch longer. But since I want to be able to swap wheels out depending on the route I'm riding, I don't want to put a chain on that's too long.

SoSmellyAir

VegasJen In addition to the high and low limit screws, most rear derailleurs have a third adjustment screw -- the B screw in Shimano terminology -- which adjusts the distance between the guide (i.e., top) pulley and the cassette.

VegasJen

Oooooh. Gotcha. I know exactly which screw you're talking about. I just didn't know what it was called.

choddo

Yeah and you can see in t2p’s photos how close the top pulley wheel is to the cassette, kind of wrappping the chain around the cog more, and in yours it’s quite a bit larger gap.

Of course if you do swap wheel to one with a different gear range you’ll want to check it’s still positioned ok.

rm -rf

Too long chain
Years ago, my old bike came from the bike store with a slightly too long chain. In the small front - small rear cross chain, the chain returning from the front chainring touched the chain that wrapped around the top pulley. I think there was barely enough rear derailleur arm tension to keep the returning chain from drooping down while cross chained. I didn't notice for a while, the bike rode okay! I removed a couple of links to fix the chain length.

Too short derailleur arm
I've also ridden a bike with a short cage derailleur and a cassette that was bigger than the derailleur recommended range. In the big chainring - biggest cog cross chain, the derailleur arm was quite straight, with the chain having a pretty small angle through the derailleur pulleys. This worked reasonably well, no shifting problems. The chain seemed to last quite long, too.

A correctly sized derailleur arm for the cassette and chainring sizes is likely better overall.

VegasJen

I took the bike out today for a test ride with the new cassette. I had zero problems with shifting. What I feel with this new cassette is the new 8 gear is roughly equivalent to the previous 9 gear, so when I shift into that new 9 gear, I do have that extra little bit of gear range. I think overall it will help me when I do Santa Barbara again later this year.

But I was very displeased with the wheel set. When I first bought this bike (used), it had a pair of ALX 298s on it. I thought they were decent wheels when I bought the bike because I didn't know any better, but I never really liked the way the bike rode. It just never felt good. At the time, I didn't know why it didn't feel good. I just knew I didn't like it, so I rarely rode the bike.

Then, about a year ago, I stumbled across a Xero XR-1 wheelset at a local Goodwill store for $50. There was no evidence they had ever been used, but they had a Campy hub. I ended up putting a Campy 9-speed cassette on it and it worked flawlessly despite everything else being Shimano. With the Xero wheelset, the bike actually felt really good and I got to where I really liked riding it again. But for this test, I put the new cassette on the old ALX wheels and today was the first time I rode the bike with those wheels in over a year. I'm back to hating those wheels. Absolute garbage.

So now I need to find a decent 9-speed wheelset. <sight>

6thElement

You don't need to look for a 9-speed wheelset necessarily, you can fit a 9 speed cassette onto an 11 speed freehub, it might just need a small spacer behind the cassette when you install it.

See this page and the compatibility tables:
https://www.lightbicycle.com/newslet...ty-Manual.html

aliasfox

1. Technically, you wouldn't need a whole new wheelset (meaning front and rear wheels), but just a new rear wheel
2. Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist are good places to find lightly used or take-off wheels (ie, someone buys the bike and immediately upgrades the wheels). If you're lucky, you may be able to score a really good deal
3. Technically speaking, a chain that's long enough for your biggest cassette will do fine for a smaller cassette, so as long as you have enough chain wrap to cover whatever your biggest gear is (50T front, 34T back), you can use that chain for a smaller cassette as well
4. If you end up with multiple rear wheels that you like, you may want to fit a tight-ratio cassette to your deeper-dish, more aero wheel, and a wider "climber's" cassette to your lightest wheel. That way, you have a faster wheel for your hometown flats, and a more optimized wheel for climbing when you go to Santa Barbara. If the rims are the same width, you wouldn't even have to adjust your brake pads.

choddo

9speed Shimano cassette and Campy freehub though

VegasJen

While appreciate the reply, I'm not sure where you're coming from. I put a good Campy cassette on the Xero wheels and I like them. But to get a steeper gear for the hills, I bought a different cassette for the old ALX wheels running Shimano. So far as I'm concerned, the gearing issue has been resolved. I think there's enough chain with what I have now. When that chain wears out, I might replace it with one a bit longer, but I don't think it's a game stopper right now.

The problem is just that I believe the ALX wheels are garbage. I enjoy riding this bike with the Xero wheel set on it, but when I switch back to the ALX wheels with the steeper gear, it just feels terrible. Has nothing to do with the gearing, just the way the bike rides. Can't quite explain it, but I guess I would say the wheels feel "mushy". Like I can't tell what the bike is doing under me. Don't know if that makes sense.

I do have a set of old Race Lites that are worn out, but still true. I don't want to run them regularly because the brake strip is worn past tolerance, but kept them as trainer wheels. I'm probably going to put that new cassette on the Race Lites to at least confirm it's those ALX wheels I hate so much.

6thElement

You stated you needed a 9-speed wheelset to replace the ALX wheels. I was merely pointing out that you didn't need to confine yourself to an older 9-speed wheelset, when any modern 11 speed wheelset can be used with a 9-speed cassette and appropriate spacer if applicable.

VegasJen

Ahhh, gotcha. I didn't really know 9-speed wheel sets were not so current. Of course, I haven't really been shopping for new wheels much either. But when I do start, I will certainly keep that in mind.