Having the correct gears.
I am buying my first Triathlon bike, Giant Trinity 2. It has a SRAM PG 950 11/26, 9-speed cassette on the back and a FSA Vero, 39/53 on the front with 700 wheels. I see in the wiki a recommendation for 50/34 and 25-12 ($$$) or 53/39 and 25-12 or 27-12. I hate to be ignorant, but will the gears I have work, or do I need to change? Thanks for any advice.
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Marc, I'm not much of a tech head when it comes to bikes, but what they are recommending is a ten speed cassette, with a compact crank. So you will get an extra cog on the rear, and smaller rings up front for a better opportunity to get a higher cadence on flats and especially climbing. I already had the cassette, and bought a very cheap compact crank for this season and will never switch it out. I may spin out earlier on a downhill, but thats it. I also live in a hillier part of NY so it was worth the investment for the energy savings over 56/112 miles for me.
Dan
Rode a 12/27 with standard crank 53/39 for IMWI. Used all my gears and was wishing for more! Gonna put compact on for IMLP for sure. So, like Jennifer said, if u r racing with hills, the mo gears the better
Thanks all....we'll see how it goes.
Was I foolish to have my LBS swapout/upgrade my compact 50/34 to a 50/39/30 Ultegra? Currently have a 12-26 9 speed cassette. With the 50/34 I always wanted more gears at both top and bottom - the new triple feels better to me, but that could be 'cause I'm not real strong on the bike.
Run Strong
@Jim. Will be no problem for LP
I just reread my last post and realized I oops'ed. The triple is a 52/39/30 not 50/39/30.....
Yeah I do like it. Just felt funny reading lots of posts about running a compact 50/34. As soon as I get my watts out of the single digits I might be able to use all the gears
@Jim:
I think you'll be fine with the 8 speed. LP is not as bad as the profile makes it look. As Rich has mentioned in a few posts around here, LP is easy to figure out. You're either descending for extended periods, climbing for extended periods, or in the flat-to-short rollers.
This is opposed to say, Wisconsin, where you're constantly shifting and trying to find the "right" gear due to the relentless rollers and turns. It's much easier to be in a difficult gear at the wrong time on the Moo course than it is on the LP course.
My only advice for LP is that you need to make sure you have a good bailout gear for the Cherries and the Bears on the back side of the course. Although you'll be generally climbing at relatively shallow grades for extended periods, the Cherries and the Bears on the back side of the course can really spike your watts if you're under-geared. What I mean is that when you're climbing the back side of the course, you don't want to be relegated to your easiest gear all the time, because when you hit those hills, you'll get short, but intense up-grades, and if you have no other gears, it'll hurt.
Do you know what your w/kg at FTP are? if they are comparable to everyone else, then I personally wouldn't worry that you need extra super duper lower gears compared to everyone else.
That said, hardly anyone ever complains about having too low of gears... (but they do complain about gear gaps)
no question that you want more than a 25, I will likely have my 11-26 on the bike for LP and have more watts/less kg than you do. 11-25 is the least I would go. If I were you I might buy a 12-27 as you will not need the 11 and the ratio's are a tad closer. 34-27 should be enough to get you up those hills under your wattage limits. If it isn't than 28 is not really going to help much.
Jonathan,
I did LP in 2004 with a 53/38 12-25 at 196 lbs or so (could have been closer to 200 by race day) and needed more gears. I did all LSD training and went long and slow on the bike. I did not have power at the time so I can't compare to IMC last year. All I know is I made a classic LP mistake, feeling good and hammered the hill out of town on the second lap. Even the first lap there were a couple climbs that I could have used more gearing. Oh yes I was running an 8 speed with 650 wheels.
The gaps are an issue but I really did not have many problem even with my 8 speed. I found back then that I could comfortable ride at 85-95 and even 80-100 was maintainable for periods of time. Just make sure you train in a varied cadence range and you will adapt. Another option would be to make a franken cassette on the back tightening up the gear you normally ride in. The problem I see with that is a really windy day could force you out of that range really quickly.
If you want to look at gearing and try to cover it off the best you can go to this page at Sheldon Brown's website:
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/
Gordon
@Jonathan. I'm similarly sized (6'4", 220-225) and have done LP 2x with bike splits b/t 6-6:30. First time I had 39x27 lowest gear and second time 34x26. Used the lowest gear multiple times in both instances, but didnt feel like I was over-geared.
Fully agree with the prior posters on top-end -- once you hit the big descent you'll spin out no matter what (I've hit 55+ on that thing) ... but you'll want the extra gears for the uphills.
Also, FWIW, the 3 bears are not the hardest hills on the course. There are at least 3 others that stick in my mind as harder/steeper: (1) the first climb on the way out of town (esp on 2nd loop); (2) the climb immediately after the left in Wilmington en route to Jay (straight and steep and you see the whole thing laid out in front of you after you've slowed for the corner = potentially demoralizing); and (3) heading in or out of the turn around on the out and back.
Trust me, you're not going to be on the hills at USA, in your 28t and thinking "damn EN, Rich, ChrisG and others for making me bring this 28t! This sucks!!" :-) You'll be glad to have it. As for any cadence gap, it is what it is. You'll have one relatively long flat and fast section, from the left in Keene to the left in Jay, heading towards Wilmington. Anyone's guess as to what speed and cadence you'll be in and what your comfort with that cadence will be but spinning high cadence on the IM bike is not really a bad thing and you'll want as many gears as possible on the other climbs.