GaryPitts

I'm still a rookie at this, 2.5 years in, plus I'm older, 58. I recently got my first drop bar bike and joined my local cycling club and between the two my average speed has gone up from around 14.5 to 16.5 MPH. Onward and upward, right?! This is my first bike with a 50/34 front and 11/28 rear. Next closest I have is 50/34 and 11/32.

Riding a metric last weekend with a few serious hills, I was straining to get up a few of them with a pretty low cadence which got me wondering... Should I just suck it up and keep developing my skills or would it beneficial to replace the rear sprocket with a 12/30 or better 12/32 to help with the big hills as I continue to develop? Would appreciate hearing what others that have been though this may offer. Thanks!

MegaTom

What kind of rear derailleur do you have? You might already be at its upper limit with the 28.

Bah Humbug

If you're straining but making it, can you work hard and consistently to get your power up some? You shouldn't need worlds more power to get the cadence up to a more comfortable level. If 34/28 is too hard, you're talking either a mid-cage and 12-32 or switching to a triple.

hamster

There's absolutely no good reason to "suck it up", there's nothing to be gained by forcing yourself to work at suboptimal cadence. The only reason not to do it is if your remaining hardware won't support it. Do you have Domane 5.9 with Ultegra Di2? I have Di2 as well (though on a Cannondale) and it works fine with a 11-32 cassette.

jrhz06

12/30 works fine with Shimano 105 standard length rear derailleur. I have two wheelsets, one with 11/28 and the other with 12/30 and switch between them based on what I will be riding on any given day and how I'm feeling. Not much difference but it does help that little bit on tough climbs and at 59 some days I need that little extra help.

robbyville

+1 on the above, no reason to suck it up if you can enjoy your ride with a lower gear to finish the climb with a sense of accomplishment. I did a century today where people were talking about the hard climbs, I feel like poop right now but not because of the climbs where a nice low gear allowed me to plod along happily. I'm sure you will feel less fatigue climbing in the right gear for you so that you can ride longer and stronger each ride after!

chaadster

I agree.

znomit

Early on I got told to suck it up by the kind folks down at the LBS. They pointed me at the 2nd nastiest hill around (the first is a doozy). Now I spin past those pinch points and remember my former self wheezing on the side of the road.

OP if you're still seeing improvements 28 should be all you need long term.

bianchi10

If you think you could honestly suck it up, then by all means. most the time for me, I find that it is mind over matter and I just have to muscle my way up, especially on those days where I just aint feeling it. BUT when you go on rides and always feel defeated it can make you lose interest and not want to ride. Not riding as much means you aren't going to get stronger. If you feel that you cannot physically make it with what you have then make adjustments and then again when/if you get stronger.

Shimagnolo

"Sucking it up" resulted knee problems that sent me to the doctor and tooks months to resolve.
If your gearing isn't low enough to keep you above 60rpm on the hills you ride, then you need lower gears.

GaryPitts

Yes, the Domane with Di2. I've seen videos and articles online showing 11/32 will work if you reverse the B limit screw. If I decided to do it, would the SRAM PG-1070 work OK? Would something else be better?

hamster

SRAM PG-1070 is the one I use.

megalowmatt

I believe riding should be fun and as pain-free as possible. In my area you can't ride 20 miles without hitting some decent hills so I ride a compact with 12-32 on the back.

There's no shame in spinning!

*edit* - also to add - I prefer to "front load" my rides with hills but sometimes you can't avoid it and need to climb towards the end of a ride. Quite often I'll take advantage of the 32 when I'm completely spent where otherwise I may not do it. It's a good bailout.

JohnDFW

I kludged together a 12-34 8sp cassette to get a 1:1 low gear ratio. Had to install a mountain bike derailleur and longer chain to go with it. Best upgrade I've made so far, and I wish I'd done it sooner. Cycling is so much more fun knowing "granny" is there if I need her.

I don't care about the weight penalty or how ridiculous this setup looks on a road bike. YMMV

StanSeven

^This. Too many people think they should maintain their cadence from the flats all the time, especially on steep climbs. Hills mean standing some and powering up at a lower, more moderate cadence.

Keeping cadence the same ensures you go up but at a very, very slow pace. You know you are going slow when a little old lady in a walker yells "on your left"

rubic

If a route contains steep enough hills to require a 30 or a 32, then the downhill portion of the ride will require an 11 since you will spin out in a 12. An 11 - 30 or 11 - 32 would work but the intermediate intervals could prove problematic. It would be best to strenghthen yourself and use an 11 - 28.

digibud

+1 to not hurting yourself if sucking it up means stress on your knees. If you just have a few small hills that are a challenge, suck it up. If you have a 7mi hill that makes you weave back and forth across the hill you're probably not helping yourself to get in better shape and may also be doing harm. Your call. If you change to a bigger cassette in the rear it's not like you can't swap back. If you can afford it, try a bigger cassette and see how it goes.

aramis

Just make sure you can do the shift from the small big to big big without tearing things apart. I would run the longest chain you can.

I took a bunch of pictures of when I swapped the cage on my Ultegra DI2 derailleur, I should post up the how to since there aren't any I can find online. I'm running the SRAM 11-32 cassette and I like to keep my cadence above 70 on hills, usually closer to 90 if it's possible.

megalowmatt

I know this will sound blasphemous here in the road forum but I don't care about spinning out on a downhill. Mid to high 30s (mph) is fine with me.

ppg677

This. I just put a 12-30 on my stock 105 bike with 34/50 compact. The 30t makes a huge compared to the 27t I had before.

sfrider 

Once the grades get to 9-10% and I seriously lose cadence (34/27t) I just go with it and continue at the lower cadence. I know I'd be faster with gearing that let me spin, but I don't particularly care how fast I am up a 10% grade since they don't make up that much of my riding. I sometimes also switch to a taller gear and ride at a lower cadence on lesser grades just to change things up a little bit. It's just pedaling up a hill... not piloting a moon rocket.

Bah Humbug

You and I may be the only ones. Just doesn't bother me at all.

Bah Humbug

How, exactly, does cadence factor into climbing speed? Power and weight.

hamster

Around here we have a few hills with 400+ foot climbs averaging 13-15%. I can get to the top of one of those in 34/32, but I have to pedal out of the saddle and they are serious leg killers. I can ride up the same hill in 28/32 while seated most of the time. It's less exhausting and more efficient.

I just did one of those hills a couple of weeks ago and managed to improve my time on the Strava segment from my previous best of 8:16 to 7:10. Almost the same weight, maybe a bit higher aerobic fitness level. The only major difference was the low gear: 28/32 vs. my old 34/32.

alexaschwanden

Better gearing then train on it.