Thanks for the video. As a 61 year old I still love the big hills, years ago in my twenties when I did Audax events, I used to pass many club cyclists on the hills in my low geared touring bike. I could spin away forever. Until very recently I found it impossible to replicate my old bikes gears. Thanks to your video I now know what to do.
This is the best RUclips channel with detailed information about cycling , brilliant production and crystal clear detail about a very broad range of topics , makes me proud to be an Aussie 👍👍🏽👍🏿🇦🇺 big shout out from Port Macquarie NSW Australia.
Very excellent video and informative. I too am making some adjustments on my bike by using an 11-34 on my compact and 11-32 on my standard. I am a heavy rider so I need the lower gears to climb long steep hills. I'm a subscriber now 🖒
Great video! I've often wondered why everyone was spending so much time worrying about bike weight while ignoring gearing. With big gears you can climb anything. Sure you may start out near the middle or back of the pack but once you hit 7-8-12% grades you move up quite quickly!
Excellent, well explained video, I recently changed from compact with 11/28 cluster to 39/53 with same cluster, recently did a major hill climb, absolutely stuffed, its all about close comfortable gear ratios., not to mention the motor driving the cranks. Thanks for the information.
Excellent video..fun, simple and informative. Looking at a new bike at the moment..I do miss the compact I had from a couple of old bikes I had a few years ago when I started out. I thought I was just getting old but my very hilly rides in the Scottish highlands have been killing me with a 52/36. Back to fun I go!
Great video, really appreciate the tips! I never cottoned on to the derailleur extension before, that will save me changing from short to long cage derailleur. Thanks
This is the true educational video that I have been searching for years and all serious riders should take notes on. So happy I finally find this video…. It would be much better if I learned about this a lot earlier
Its always a pleasure to watch your videos. Its funny and a lot of tricks to keep our passion.... Road bike riding..... yeah! Thanks, Ralf/ Frankfurt/ Germany. ;-)
Your videos are refreshingly positive. No side drama, foul language and creepiness that some look that named himself after a tropical fruit exemplifies. Thx for the valuable tutorials and the good healthy energy. Happy riding and be safe out there...looking forward to your next video as I just subscribed. Aloha
Great job man. Very understandable for a guy like me who’s mechanically challenged. I also appreciate your humility. I’m planning on doing the Mt Washington Auto Road Hill Climb (New Hampshire, USA) 7.6 miles 12% gradient. Hope my 50-34t, 34-12t will work. Ha we will see.
Thank you Uncle OZ, the compact chainset has made a big difference to my bike, and all the gears feel more natural now. Much better...and they were a bit lighter! Great video.
Thanks for this great video. My all purpose bike is a crossbike with a 1x11 setup. I love riding it but I didn’t understand what exactly the advantages are. Now I do.
Very well made video! Indeed! I do agree on that about getting up from saddle, relax back and legs! I have a bike road flat bar, steel, from 1990, still with original 7 speed material, shimano 100GS. I now have 11-13-15-17-19-21-24- and 28 out of range. Still not decided, if just swap rear shifter with one 8s, to recover the 28T on my 8s cassete, for very steep climes. if just the 8 speed flat bar shifters availabe were not ugly with gears display, and would be nice one 10S up to 30T. Can't decide myself, since only affects rare steep climes where going seated and at very low speed is not also the best...
Great Information Video - having Compact Chainset (50 / 34) fitted tomorrow (to work the local hills) working with a 12 - 28 Cassette. Hope it helps !!!
Complete process done...and found this valuable in regard to the sitting as you climb..Had an 11/28 and swapped it out for 11/32 just to allow the uphill spin option, but surprisingly recalling the 11/28, I just had to be more focused on the climb. Age factor was big reason for the 11/32 change. At 65 I want to keep cycling, and not tire as easily..Thanks, this was a useful video
I'm 28 with an FTP of 285 and wouldn't ever change from an 11/32. I rarely use the lowest gear but when it kicks to over 10% you need them. Also on some hills even in the lowest gear and only doing around 70rpm out the saddle i still struggle to keep the watts below 300 - could still do with a lower gear.
I cycle in mostly low rolling hills for my daily 35-mile training rides (56 km). There aren't any long climbs but one of the short ones hits an 18% grade. I'll do several centuries each year (100 mile or 161 km) and some routes hit longer climbs but they never exceed 10%. Cycling these routes I found that I hadn't used the small chainring of my 50-34t compact chainset for a couple of years. So I switched to a 1x drivetrain at the beginning of 2016. After two seasons on a 1x with a 50t chainring at the front and an 11-28t cassette at the back, I haven't felt the need for a 2x chainset at all. I plan to switch to an 11x32t cassette next year so I can handle steeper climbs (if I ever travel to a location with them) but I've been very happy with the 1x setup. I'll be 61 years old in a few months and, according to my power meter, I can still hold a modest 400 watts uphill for a fair distance, especially if I'm pulling the pedals, and haven't had any trouble holding a cadence of 80 or better up any of the hills in my area. I rarely get out of the saddle and stay in an aero tuck position resting my arms on aerobars most of the time -- even uphill (there is a lot of wind here). Because of my forward-leaning position, I'm using a 165 mm crank arm length even though I'm 6' 2" tall (188 cm). I've heard a lot of comments from "critics" about the steps between cogs being too big on an 11-32t or larger cassette. However, I've never experienced that. Most of the time, I find myself jumping two cogs at a time whenever I shift. I remember back in the mid 1980's, my steel-frame road bike had a 2 x 6 drivetrain with much bigger jumps in gear ratios and I never had trouble with it. I still have that bike and ride it occasionally today. No problem with the steps between cogs. So I think the "too large" step complaint, though valid for some cyclists, is exaggerated for most -- especially on an 11-cog cassette. I wouldn't recommend a 1x drivetrain for everybody. But I just wanted to add a different perspective on this discussion because I think they will become increasingly popular in the future for cyclists who aren't climbing mountains.
D.Eldon , I ride an 11-32T and I think it is the ideal. The issue of missing intermediate ratios might be applicable to those planning on reaching top 10 in races, because at that level, the game is won or lost on optimization.
excellent parabens explanation, I really wanted to change my group, but here in Brazil the parts are very expensive, I'm fifty-two years old and I need to make modifications on my bike.
i have a 40 tooth casette paired with a compact on my road bike. Shifts amazing and i can go up mountains. The tricky part was finding a mechanic that knows how to calculate the length of the chain and index the gears properly (which is what i didn’t know how to do, i tried and failed). The only downside on my my bike is the rear wheel doesn’t come of easily. I highly recommend this set up for new to the sport folks until you build strength. Credits are due to Durianrider.
Good One OZ!, here is my gear ratio; I use an old crankset of 53-42 (And I love that crank) and the casette is 11t-30t. Here in Colombia we have reallly steep and long hills and never ran out of gears, even the 42t-30t is rarery used. I'm even looking for a 55 chainring for downhill stages.
As an older rider who has not ridden for many years I use a 1X 7 speed with 38T chainwheel and 12-32T chainwheel which gives me lots of low gears and I just freewheel downhill to catch my breath.....nice easy riding...I never have to get out of the saddle. Years ago I used to have very close ratio high gearing which I now recognise as a mistake for casual ridiing.
Not young anymore but I ride a lot. The most important thing is to avoid an injury which might put me off the bike for months. So I go a lot further than a compact crank. A triple set with ratios from 53:11 down to 22:34 . Crazy you might say but I can keep my normal cadence on a mountain climb no matter what the grade.
smitajky I will try that~ I live here in North Italy 🇮🇹 near Piancavallo and use those areas for training~ Very steep with large sections of flats as well~
I always used triples back in the day,I see no reason not to use em now. The new shimano triple Ive got shifts great,,bam bam can drop it onto the inner 26 hard it never jumps off.It came with a 30 inner ring...... On my x-country mt bike Ive gone to an 11/40 cassette and will finagle at least a 24 on the front 2x10 crankset. We do rides where everybody ends up pushing its so steep,Id rather pedal.
Good video. As long as you are not riding with the TDF, you can do a lot of experiments with your road bike. Anyhow when you are 50 up you need these gears. It's just a matter of choice and saving your knees.
Compact is great as it is difficult to find triples,however i used a triple on zoncolan and mortirolo and found my times were better,but the kicker is that i didnt burn all my glycogen ,so you can do several mountains in one day.thank you for the info on the adapter. Your chanel has made a huge positive difference to my cycling. A compact is good for heavy riders like myself you can put the torque from a 39 to a 34 and really fly with less injury.there is no way a 39 will work on a climb like mortirolo even contador used a 34-30 and he won ! Spin to win!
06:30, Parkinson's? 😕 My father's hands do that same thing. The more he tries to do something, the worse it gets, especially if it requires some moderate dexterity such as writing. It's similar to a stutter (dementia is another matter). Nevermind 😟 I've found this tutorial very useful. I have watched a few of your other tutorials on seating choices and such like. I like the way you take time to carefully and calmly explain things in detail. It's a favourable style for me and it's what I need at this time. I recently received a road bike a Colnago Master Extra Light, 9 speed that has Shimano Dura Ace mechanicals from an eBay seller based in the Netherlands. I have always wanted that particular bike. When I saw it, I had to get it. I'm really looking forward to riding it. I received my MET helmet yesterday, now waiting on peddles and various security accessories lighting security locks and chains. All those matters have taken much research before I had made my decisions and purchases. Having said that, I'm not keen on the idea of leaving it anywhere in my absence, no matter how much security I apply to it. The last road bike I had was a 3 speed Raleigh some 40 years ago. I've only been riding a purpose designed static bike in more recent years a Ketler Racer for fitness with a view to at some point riding an actual road bike. I'm trying to learn as much as possible so I can get the most out of the Colnago. Once my confidence and familiarity is where I feel it needs to be, I'll be joining a cycling club. Since I'm based in south London, maybe Kingston Wheelers. I shall decide nearer the time. Keep up the good spirit. Thanks.
Great video as always, wish I have seen it before spending money to buy a new medium cage 105 rear derailleur & retire a working Ultegra short cage one to go up from 28 to 34 at the back:)
Some hills need more than extra gears they need more power in the legs , I tend to come up out of the saddle athe start of a hill and then sit down once the speed has been built , I run a 53/39. And 11/32. But with 160 cranks due to my shorter leg stroke . The large spread of the gears gives me the ability to climb the steepest hills and enable a 70kph top speed without issues
Back in the Dark Ages (1970s), we called them "granny gears." The early mountain bike folks used three chain rings with large cogs in back (only five or six of them!), and they tended to blast by most of the hard core roadies with their 42-52/12-23 combos. What a wake up! Thanks for the great videos!
Round my way the climbs are short and steep, tho its mostly flat so i ride a 41/53 - 13-14-15-16-17-18-20-23-25-27 tho i can get to serious hills/mtns and I'll put a 39/50 on. Spinning is winning 👌 Love the Oz Cycling channel 😋
5 Years later i use 46/30 cranksets on both the gravel/touring and roadbike, with 11-36 and 11-40 cassettes in the rear. top gear is still enough, especially on the fat tired gravelbike, and the low gears make it possible to basically spin up every climb with the same power and cadence i would use on the flats. the only small gripe is the 11-12-13-15 jump on the road bike where i would sometimes like a 14 in between. i still have the tighter spaced 11-30 cassette floating around but to be honest i couldnt be bothered to switch lately.
I took my bike for a first hills ride today, 50-34 and 11-32 and I used all of them. 34-32 not too often, but a couple of times when I needed a break. 2018 standard setup for many manufacturers seems to be 52-36 and 11-30. Based on today, for my needs, I think I'll get the shop to swap the semi on my planned upgrade bike for a proper compact set of chain rings. I don't want or need higher top end speed, but I definitely appreciate having easier gears available when climbing. Stronger riders would probably be fine, but I'm not a strong rider :-)
Yup depends how strong you are a lot of the time. 20 years ago when I was racing and training like a maniac, a 39 x 28 was more than small enough. Now that I've been off the bike for 20 years and have no legs and excess weight, I'm even having trouble with the 34 x 32 on a lot of hills lol. It's just amazing the difference the legs make, 25 kph is pacey on the flat now, but in the old days I didn't even go that slow on easy recovery rides on the flat.
Free Man Agreed, but a stronger rider is able to spin bigger gears than a weaker rider, that is what is meant. For example 20 years ago I could go up hill with 90 rpm with say a 39/23 or even bigger gear, whereas now the equivalent for going up the same hill at 90 rpm would probably be with a 34/32 or worse. On my new road endurance bike (Giant Contend) I've just put 46/30 on the front and 11/42 on the back, all for very cheap. And working excellently! Didn't even need to change any deraileurs or cranks from the stock ones! The 46/30 sub-compact chainrings have 110 BCD and costs $50, and the cassette cost $30. Plus a Roadlink which cost about $35. How's that, a cheap 110 BCD 30-tooth chainring?! I was struggling to even push the 34/32, this 30/42 is really great for me. Anyway I always want to spin, so have to get gears to fit my strength, which is weak due to illness. I refuse to grind up hill if it's within my power to lower the gearing on the bike. And who but race-speed riders need anything bigger than a 46/11 eh? That's plenty big enough for 90% of commuter road riders and is usable range. For most commuters a 50/11 is just superfluous and barely if ever used. Just not needed. But if I was racing even D and E-grade level I'd definitely need a 50/11. Probably even go with a 52 for D and E grade, but could get by with a 50. For B and C-grade you'll definitely need a 52 on the front. A-grade level you need at least 52 and preferably 53. When I was riding A-grade I had a 52 but on occasions wished for a 53 as the 52 spun out in races, and I was only an average A-grader. But I was too lazy and not serious enough to do the conversion haha. But now I suffer too much on the hills to not warrant converting to lower gears than the stock 34/32. Who would think a 34/32 on the road is too big? But for some it really is, I'm so slow I grind even with that gear. I'm bloody loving my 30/42!
@@alantaylor6691 nice read! That's an impressive range of gearing. My old bicycle has 52/40 and 28/14 and is only 12 speed lol. On the flat I'm on the 3rd cog and big ring but uphill its not easy even on lowest gears, I haven't cycled for years so that won't help. I can only imagine how slick your drivetrain must feel especially uphills!
@@TheRealD4 About a year or two ago I was speaking to someone who was running a triple chainring, with low gear being 20 on the front and 46 on the back! You may ask how do you get a 20T chainring? Well as you may know, 22 is usually the lowest gear you can get on stock triples. However you can actually buy 20T chainrings on ebay that can replace the stock 22T small ring. Then he got the back up to 46. I think that's something like an 11 inch gear. He does fireroad riding and says he uses it for that, with gravel bike type tyres of about 42mm.
i personally think its all about the style of the rider. ive seen huge chain rings just killing it in uphills against high cadence riders with compact gearing.
Thanks for this video! For a while I had been fantasizing about upgrading to an 11 speed groupset that would cost an arm! Now I'm just going to replace the cassette for next to nothing and give my bike a new life.
11 speed is OVERKILL IMHO. Best stick with 8,9 or 10sp. Once you go PAST 10sp. The 11 sp. Cogs and Chain are TOO THIN and the Chainline is TOO Stretched so You end up REPLACING both TWICE as much and that gets WAY TOO Expensive Compared to 8, 9 and 10 sp. My Favorite is 8 Sp. A 12-34t Cassette with a Compact 34/50t is ALL you NEED and the Gear Spread is SUFFICIENT w/o TOO Huge Gear Jumps: 12, 14,16,18,21,24,28,34t is Good Enough!
Compact 50/34 with 11/28 works well for most recreational riders I should think. If you want to stand up gear up and stand up. You still have choice. Downside is it limits speeds on descents but my fear/sanity factor limits that too so no problem most of the time. I don't live in the mountains though.
I have been very happy with that common compact setup for some years now. I can take on a lot of crazy climbs with what seems to me negligible top speed disadvantage. I can only think of one practical situation where my top speed gear was slightly lacking, a long, straight descent. Even then, most amateur cyclists would find this plenty fast, and working hard to push too much faster than terminal velocity downhill can be significant effort for not that much more speed gain. I have found it nice to push for whatever top speed I can handle partway down the descent, tuck in to as aero a position as possible, and save up a bit of reserves to burst up the next climb that might be ahead.
I use a 52-36 and an 11-34 for my casual rides or mountainous races. I can roll up a 20% grade at around 70 rpm, which is much better than the 40-50 rpm I was getting on my old 53-39 and 12-25
@@cordero852 Lol they were different bikes. The 53/39 was part of a 9-speed group on an old bike, and the 52/36 was on a newer bike with an 11-speed group.
that's cause Denmarks highest hill is 170m :D. remarkably flat country. Come to Austria and the Alps and you'll see that a compact crank is a good idea. to be fair a 36-32 is a good bottom gear if you don't weigh that much
My current route is 42km XC on an old 26"HT. Track is the N.E Tassie Railtrail, a repurposed abandoned train track, thus minimal gradings. Bike is originally shod with a 3 x 9 drivetrain. 28-48T crankset + 11-36 cassette. Now that I'm fitter, I only drop to 2nd (38T) on the crank...and no longer use 1st and 2nd on the cassette. In order to create a more effective cadence for this particular track, of which I'll be riding for a long time, as the plan is to hit the 52km station before the year is out (track continues all the way to Derby)...I'll be changing crankset to 2 x 9 or 10, with top chainring at 44T, and the cassette will be 11-25\28, depending on availability. Currently, on the inclines, a gear between 3rd and 4th would be better, thus a tighter cassette is the way to go...and a 48 chainring is simply too big for XC on the declines. A tighter cassette willl provide a more efficient cadence choice, as currently I'm only using gears 3-6 on the cassette for the bulk of my ride. PS: appreciate you for your content. Learnt how to wax my chain from you.
I did a couple of time, put a MTB cassette on my road bike. As its a 30T not need for an extra hanger. Work flawlessly. I actually have a 53/39 crankset.
I run Shimano 105 11 speed 11-32 and 50/34 feels nice to me maybe a bit to hard since i live in Austria and my commute to work is 2600 Meters with 9 Meters ascent but back home its 130 Meters ascent 108 alone for the last 900 Meters. I do like my Fatbike much more 9-46 and 32 with 4.8x26 rubber.
I might be old fashioned but, in our day a Standard chainset was 52/42 not 52/39... I used to climb the 1:3 Honister Pass in the former ratio of 52/42, with whatever we used to use on the 'block' on the 42 ring, typically a maximum 23. Don't ask me how I did it but I did :) We used to call that 'fresh air'... My God, I must be getting old LOL What is that, 1:3... 30%? It was short, but my God, it was steep!! Coming out of Borrowdale via Newlands was just as steep but longer... Over the top, and down into the valley beyond.... The scenery is truly stunning!
My Canyon Endurace came with a 52/36, but the website said it comes with a 50/34. I contacted them and they said they will send me the correct chainring, so good on them. I'll be excited to do some more climbing when it gets here.
Loving your videos. Well done. I've ridden since the 70's (as I imagine you have), when 52/42 and 13-21 or 13-23 were the norm - I can recall wondering if my chain was going to snap due to each pedal stroke being like a leg press on steep hills. Since then, the 53/39 standard seemed to be a big improvement with 11-23 or 11-25 being the norm. After riding on the newer 50/34 with 11-28 setup, I've settled on 52/36 and 11-27. A little more standing in the steepest sections, but all in all the sweet spot for me.
Good idea to try out the low gear, my biggest gripe is the 11t small sprocket. With a 53t chainring it's such a big gear it's unusable for most riders. A 34t or 32t to 14t would be much more practical with closer gear spacings but alas not available anywhere. It probably easier to switch to a compact crank for a better range of usable gears.
I hit 63 mph on my standard triple a few years back. It was a beautiful downhill near Graeagle Ca. Got a $375.00 ticket from CHP for that one! 63 in a 35.
standard crankset is really good if you do a lot of flat . i think that s not only about the max speed but also about the ration for each gear . that being said you will always be faster on a compact uphill.
Thanks for the video. As a 61 year old I still love the big hills, years ago in my twenties when I did Audax events, I used to pass many club cyclists on the hills in my low geared touring bike. I could spin away forever. Until very recently I found it impossible to replicate my old bikes gears. Thanks to your video I now know what to do.
This guy gets the job done spot on with precise evaulation charts. What a gem. Very underrated. You're the best sir ✋🏻
I understand u
This is the best RUclips channel with detailed information about cycling , brilliant production and crystal clear detail about a very broad range of topics , makes me proud to be an Aussie 👍👍🏽👍🏿🇦🇺 big shout out from Port Macquarie NSW Australia.
Very excellent video and informative. I too am making some adjustments on my bike by using an 11-34 on my compact and 11-32 on my standard. I am a heavy rider so I need the lower gears to climb long steep hills. I'm a subscriber now 🖒
Raising the bar so high with these useful hacks, yet making them look like oh so easy! Thank you for all the wonderful videos.
always nice to have the option of going down a gear when you are tired. I have a compact crankset plus a 11/32 cassette, never found wanting yet.
Great video! I've often wondered why everyone was spending so much time worrying about bike weight while ignoring gearing. With big gears you can climb anything. Sure you may start out near the middle or back of the pack but once you hit 7-8-12% grades you move up quite quickly!
Excellent, well explained video, I recently changed from compact with 11/28 cluster to 39/53 with same cluster, recently did a major hill climb, absolutely stuffed, its all about close comfortable gear ratios., not to mention the motor driving the cranks. Thanks for the information.
Excellent video..fun, simple and informative. Looking at a new bike at the moment..I do miss the compact I had from a couple of old bikes I had a few years ago when I started out. I thought I was just getting old but my very hilly rides in the Scottish highlands have been killing me with a 52/36. Back to fun I go!
Great video, really appreciate the tips! I never cottoned on to the derailleur extension before, that will save me changing from short to long cage derailleur. Thanks
Another superb vid from you Oz. Informative and enjoyable. Thank you.
Man I love your energy. So informative as well.
Helpful video for the leisure/keen rider wishing to try before buying. Enthusiastically presented. Nicely done sir.
This is the true educational video that I have been searching for years and all serious riders should take notes on.
So happy I finally find this video…. It would be much better if I learned about this a lot earlier
Its always a pleasure to watch your videos. Its funny and a lot of tricks to keep our passion.... Road bike riding..... yeah! Thanks, Ralf/ Frankfurt/ Germany. ;-)
Thanx Ralf....will try to keep them entertaining 😎
Your videos are refreshingly positive. No side drama, foul language and creepiness that some look that named himself after a tropical fruit exemplifies. Thx for the valuable tutorials and the good healthy energy. Happy riding and be safe out there...looking forward to your next video as I just subscribed. Aloha
Thanx. Im a bit older than "the tropical fruit" guy . Married n had kids so sorta passed a lot of that sort of thing.
Great job man. Very understandable for a guy like me who’s mechanically challenged. I also appreciate your humility.
I’m planning on doing the Mt Washington Auto Road Hill Climb (New Hampshire, USA) 7.6 miles 12% gradient. Hope my 50-34t, 34-12t will work. Ha we will see.
Ive been waiting quit a while to see an informative gear ratio video like this one.Thx
Thank you Uncle OZ, the compact chainset has made a big difference to my bike, and all the gears feel more natural now. Much better...and they were a bit lighter! Great video.
Excellent clinic. I'm going to use that gearing for my next sportif with steep climbing.
Im glad i found your channel 😊 nice informative and well explained
Many thanks. The hanger extension has now cured my problem since changing the cassette 👍
Thanks for this great video. My all purpose bike is a crossbike with a 1x11 setup. I love riding it but I didn’t understand what exactly the advantages are. Now I do.
My drive train is worn so I will be getting compact gears soon. Thanks for the informative video
The derailleur extension is cool never seen that before. Saves from having to buy a whole new rear mech!
"...and the guy next to you is sitting on his saddle and he's spinning faster than you are grinding away. Why?" Because I'm fat and he's not.
I disagree i can probably overtake you whilst clearly being fatter than you
@@pascccccaaaalllljear But lacking in humour
because he's in shape and I'm not
@@pascccccaaaalllljear I doubt you're fatter than me
Am at 278 pounds and I like it
Said no person ever
loved the bit where you were demonstrating riding up hill great moves lol
And thats how the 1x system started !
And also how convinient to have same speed bicycles , you can always have a donor !
Nice Video , thanks.
I went ahead and sprung for an XT rear mech when I replaced my little corncob with a wider range cogset. Many miles later, it's worked a treat.
Very well made video! Indeed! I do agree on that about getting up from saddle, relax back and legs!
I have a bike road flat bar, steel, from 1990, still with original 7 speed material, shimano 100GS. I now have 11-13-15-17-19-21-24- and 28 out of range.
Still not decided, if just swap rear shifter with one 8s, to recover the 28T on my 8s cassete, for very steep climes.
if just the 8 speed flat bar shifters availabe were not ugly with gears display, and would be nice one 10S up to 30T. Can't decide myself, since only affects rare steep climes where going seated and at very low speed is not also the best...
I love the conversations, all positive
Good lad! Brilliantly explained. Best from UK
This is what im lookin for, a complete
Information thanks much sir!! More power sir.
Great Information Video - having Compact Chainset (50 / 34) fitted tomorrow (to work the local hills) working with a 12 - 28 Cassette. Hope it helps !!!
Spot on 👍 great efforts for making videos….always.
This is the absolute best representation of this ever
It is so 😊
Complete process done...and found this valuable in regard to the sitting as you climb..Had an 11/28 and swapped it out for 11/32 just to allow the uphill spin option, but surprisingly recalling the 11/28, I just had to be more focused on the climb. Age factor was big reason for the 11/32 change. At 65 I want to keep cycling, and not tire as easily..Thanks, this was a useful video
I'm 28 with an FTP of 285 and wouldn't ever change from an 11/32. I rarely use the lowest gear but when it kicks to over 10% you need them. Also on some hills even in the lowest gear and only doing around 70rpm out the saddle i still struggle to keep the watts below 300 - could still do with a lower gear.
Outstanding presentation. Thank you!
wow! great information. thank you for this great video.
Very informative as always!
I cycle in mostly low rolling hills for my daily 35-mile training rides (56 km). There aren't any long climbs but one of the short ones hits an 18% grade. I'll do several centuries each year (100 mile or 161 km) and some routes hit longer climbs but they never exceed 10%. Cycling these routes I found that I hadn't used the small chainring of my 50-34t compact chainset for a couple of years. So I switched to a 1x drivetrain at the beginning of 2016. After two seasons on a 1x with a 50t chainring at the front and an 11-28t cassette at the back, I haven't felt the need for a 2x chainset at all. I plan to switch to an 11x32t cassette next year so I can handle steeper climbs (if I ever travel to a location with them) but I've been very happy with the 1x setup.
I'll be 61 years old in a few months and, according to my power meter, I can still hold a modest 400 watts uphill for a fair distance, especially if I'm pulling the pedals, and haven't had any trouble holding a cadence of 80 or better up any of the hills in my area. I rarely get out of the saddle and stay in an aero tuck position resting my arms on aerobars most of the time -- even uphill (there is a lot of wind here). Because of my forward-leaning position, I'm using a 165 mm crank arm length even though I'm 6' 2" tall (188 cm).
I've heard a lot of comments from "critics" about the steps between cogs being too big on an 11-32t or larger cassette. However, I've never experienced that. Most of the time, I find myself jumping two cogs at a time whenever I shift. I remember back in the mid 1980's, my steel-frame road bike had a 2 x 6 drivetrain with much bigger jumps in gear ratios and I never had trouble with it. I still have that bike and ride it occasionally today. No problem with the steps between cogs. So I think the "too large" step complaint, though valid for some cyclists, is exaggerated for most -- especially on an 11-cog cassette.
I wouldn't recommend a 1x drivetrain for everybody. But I just wanted to add a different perspective on this discussion because I think they will become increasingly popular in the future for cyclists who aren't climbing mountains.
D.Eldon , I ride an 11-32T and I think it is the ideal. The issue of missing intermediate ratios might be applicable to those planning on reaching top 10 in races, because at that level, the game is won or lost on optimization.
excellent parabens explanation, I really wanted to change my group, but here in Brazil the parts are very expensive, I'm fifty-two years old and I need to make modifications on my bike.
Sometimes its cheaper in the long run to buy a complete bike,Carlos.
Thanks for the sugestion
400 watts !! That's impressive.
i have a 40 tooth casette paired with a compact on my road bike. Shifts amazing and i can go up mountains. The tricky part was finding a mechanic that knows how to calculate the length of the chain and index the gears properly (which is what i didn’t know how to do, i tried and failed). The only downside on my my bike is the rear wheel doesn’t come of easily. I highly recommend this set up for new to the sport folks until you build strength. Credits are due to Durianrider.
Nice experiment! May it try myself. Many thanks!
Love the sound of that freewheel
Very detailed video. Thanks for sharing.
Good One OZ!, here is my gear ratio; I use an old crankset of 53-42 (And I love that crank) and the casette is 11t-30t. Here in Colombia we have reallly steep and long hills and never ran out of gears, even the 42t-30t is rarery used. I'm even looking for a 55 chainring for downhill stages.
Thanx for relating your experience Geass
As an older rider who has not ridden for many years I use a 1X 7 speed with 38T chainwheel and 12-32T chainwheel which gives me lots of low gears and I just freewheel downhill to catch my breath.....nice easy riding...I never have to get out of the saddle. Years ago I used to have very close ratio high gearing which I now recognise as a mistake for casual ridiing.
That extension piece is just what I need, I didn’t know about it.
Not young anymore but I ride a lot. The most important thing is to avoid an injury which might put me off the bike for months.
So I go a lot further than a compact crank. A triple set with ratios from 53:11 down to 22:34 .
Crazy you might say but I can keep my normal cadence on a mountain climb no matter what the grade.
+smitajky Nice to hear youre still riding no matter age. Agree, avoid injuries...not worth any risks.
You could climb a flight of stairs with a granny gear like that!
That bottom gear is lower than on any of my mountain bikes. Top gears past 44:11 are very rarely useful with mountain bike tyres.
smitajky I will try that~ I live here in North Italy 🇮🇹 near Piancavallo and use those areas for training~ Very steep with large sections of flats as well~
I always used triples back in the day,I see no reason not to use em now. The new shimano triple Ive got shifts great,,bam bam can drop it onto the inner 26 hard it never jumps off.It came with a 30 inner ring...... On my x-country mt bike Ive gone to an 11/40 cassette and will finagle at least a 24 on the front 2x10 crankset. We do rides where everybody ends up pushing its so steep,Id rather pedal.
Good video. As long as you are not riding with the TDF, you can do a lot of experiments with your road bike. Anyhow when you are 50 up you need these gears. It's just a matter of choice and saving your knees.
Compact is great as it is difficult to find triples,however i used a triple on zoncolan and mortirolo and found my times were better,but the kicker is that i didnt burn all my glycogen ,so you can do several mountains in one day.thank you for the info on the adapter. Your chanel has made a huge positive difference to my cycling. A compact is good for heavy riders like myself you can put the torque from a 39 to a 34 and really fly with less injury.there is no way a 39 will work on a climb like mortirolo even contador used a 34-30 and he won ! Spin to win!
Finally gonna adapt my knee breaker setup in this fashion 😅 thnx for tutorial
what a beautiful road bike..Sir..safe ride Always..
Having a 34D-24-34. Never had a problem climbing up, except when I drink too much, then the doors locked 🔒
I live in hilly area, with some climbs up to 25%. I feel happy with Ultegra compact and 11-34 cassette. I found the steps between gears adequate.
06:30, Parkinson's? 😕
My father's hands do that same thing. The more he tries to do something, the worse it gets, especially if it requires some moderate dexterity such as writing. It's similar to a stutter (dementia is another matter). Nevermind 😟
I've found this tutorial very useful. I have watched a few of your other tutorials on seating choices and such like. I like the way you take time to carefully and calmly explain things in detail. It's a favourable style for me and it's what I need at this time.
I recently received a road bike a Colnago Master Extra Light, 9 speed that has Shimano Dura Ace mechanicals from an eBay seller based in the Netherlands. I have always wanted that particular bike. When I saw it, I had to get it. I'm really looking forward to riding it.
I received my MET helmet yesterday, now waiting on peddles and various security accessories lighting security locks and chains. All those matters have taken much research before I had made my decisions and purchases. Having said that, I'm not keen on the idea of leaving it anywhere in my absence, no matter how much security I apply to it.
The last road bike I had was a 3 speed Raleigh some 40 years ago. I've only been riding a purpose designed static bike in more recent years a Ketler Racer for fitness with a view to at some point riding an actual road bike.
I'm trying to learn as much as possible so I can get the most out of the Colnago. Once my confidence and familiarity is where I feel it needs to be, I'll be joining a cycling club. Since I'm based in south London, maybe Kingston Wheelers. I shall decide nearer the time.
Keep up the good spirit. Thanks.
Great video as always, wish I have seen it before spending money to buy a new medium cage 105 rear derailleur & retire a working Ultegra short cage one to go up from 28 to 34 at the back:)
Some hills need more than extra gears they need more power in the legs , I tend to come up out of the saddle athe start of a hill and then sit down once the speed has been built , I run a 53/39. And 11/32. But with 160 cranks due to my shorter leg stroke . The large spread of the gears gives me the ability to climb the steepest hills and enable a 70kph top speed without issues
Back in the Dark Ages (1970s), we called them "granny gears." The early mountain bike folks used three chain rings with large cogs in back (only five or six of them!), and they tended to blast by most of the hard core roadies with their 42-52/12-23 combos. What a wake up! Thanks for the great videos!
i dont dont abandon my triples for nothing my bike not fear the mountains the ultegra 53-39-30 rules here! on 11-34
Really awesome...nowhere else would I find this info easily, I thought 32 was max.
NICE VIDEO ... GREAT INFORMATION!!!
Round my way the climbs are short and steep, tho its mostly flat so i ride a 41/53 - 13-14-15-16-17-18-20-23-25-27 tho i can get to serious hills/mtns and I'll put a 39/50 on. Spinning is winning 👌 Love the Oz Cycling channel 😋
+lee a dorney Sounds like you need 2 seperate bikes Lee :)
I really enjoyed this!
Thank you...excellent! You really are the best!
5 Years later i use 46/30 cranksets on both the gravel/touring and roadbike, with 11-36 and 11-40 cassettes in the rear. top gear is still enough, especially on the fat tired gravelbike, and the low gears make it possible to basically spin up every climb with the same power and cadence i would use on the flats. the only small gripe is the 11-12-13-15 jump on the road bike where i would sometimes like a 14 in between. i still have the tighter spaced 11-30 cassette floating around but to be honest i couldnt be bothered to switch lately.
Great video. Thanks for the science.
I took my bike for a first hills ride today, 50-34 and 11-32 and I used all of them. 34-32 not too often, but a couple of times when I needed a break.
2018 standard setup for many manufacturers seems to be 52-36 and 11-30. Based on today, for my needs, I think I'll get the shop to swap the semi on my planned upgrade bike for a proper compact set of chain rings. I don't want or need higher top end speed, but I definitely appreciate having easier gears available when climbing. Stronger riders would probably be fine, but I'm not a strong rider :-)
Yup depends how strong you are a lot of the time. 20 years ago when I was racing and training like a maniac, a 39 x 28 was more than small enough. Now that I've been off the bike for 20 years and have no legs and excess weight, I'm even having trouble with the 34 x 32 on a lot of hills lol. It's just amazing the difference the legs make, 25 kph is pacey on the flat now, but in the old days I didn't even go that slow on easy recovery rides on the flat.
strong or not, spinning > grinding
Free Man
Agreed, but a stronger rider is able to spin bigger gears than a weaker rider, that is what is meant. For example 20 years ago I could go up hill with 90 rpm with say a 39/23 or even bigger gear, whereas now the equivalent for going up the same hill at 90 rpm would probably be with a 34/32 or worse.
On my new road endurance bike (Giant Contend) I've just put 46/30 on the front and 11/42 on the back, all for very cheap. And working excellently! Didn't even need to change any deraileurs or cranks from the stock ones! The 46/30 sub-compact chainrings have 110 BCD and costs $50, and the cassette cost $30. Plus a Roadlink which cost about $35. How's that, a cheap 110 BCD 30-tooth chainring?!
I was struggling to even push the 34/32, this 30/42 is really great for me.
Anyway I always want to spin, so have to get gears to fit my strength, which is weak due to illness. I refuse to grind up hill if it's within my power to lower the gearing on the bike. And who but race-speed riders need anything bigger than a 46/11 eh? That's plenty big enough for 90% of commuter road riders and is usable range. For most commuters a 50/11 is just superfluous and barely if ever used. Just not needed.
But if I was racing even D and E-grade level I'd definitely need a 50/11. Probably even go with a 52 for D and E grade, but could get by with a 50. For B and C-grade you'll definitely need a 52 on the front. A-grade level you need at least 52 and preferably 53. When I was riding A-grade I had a 52 but on occasions wished for a 53 as the 52 spun out in races, and I was only an average A-grader. But I was too lazy and not serious enough to do the conversion haha. But now I suffer too much on the hills to not warrant converting to lower gears than the stock 34/32.
Who would think a 34/32 on the road is too big? But for some it really is, I'm so slow I grind even with that gear. I'm bloody loving my 30/42!
@@alantaylor6691 nice read! That's an impressive range of gearing. My old bicycle has 52/40 and 28/14 and is only 12 speed lol. On the flat I'm on the 3rd cog and big ring but uphill its not easy even on lowest gears, I haven't cycled for years so that won't help. I can only imagine how slick your drivetrain must feel especially uphills!
@@TheRealD4
About a year or two ago I was speaking to someone who was running a triple chainring, with low gear being 20 on the front and 46 on the back!
You may ask how do you get a 20T chainring? Well as you may know, 22 is usually the lowest gear you can get on stock triples. However you can actually buy 20T chainrings on ebay that can replace the stock 22T small ring.
Then he got the back up to 46. I think that's something like an 11 inch gear. He does fireroad riding and says he uses it for that, with gravel bike type tyres of about 42mm.
i personally think its all about the style of the rider. ive seen huge chain rings just killing it in uphills against high cadence riders with compact gearing.
Depends on how long the "uphill" is ! You're not climbing a mountain pass in the Alps with a "huge chain ring" !
@@Peakabike you don't know me then 😂😂
Pushing big gears uphill at slow cadence will destroy your knees..... eventually.
Excellent video, thanks.
Thanks for this video! For a while I had been fantasizing about upgrading to an 11 speed groupset that would cost an arm! Now I'm just going to replace the cassette for next to nothing and give my bike a new life.
11 speed is OVERKILL IMHO. Best stick with 8,9 or 10sp. Once you go PAST 10sp. The 11 sp. Cogs and Chain are TOO THIN and the Chainline is TOO Stretched so You end up REPLACING both TWICE as much and that gets WAY TOO Expensive Compared to 8, 9 and 10 sp. My Favorite is 8 Sp. A 12-34t Cassette with a Compact 34/50t is ALL you NEED and the Gear Spread is SUFFICIENT w/o TOO Huge Gear Jumps: 12, 14,16,18,21,24,28,34t is Good Enough!
Compact 50/34 with 11/28 works well for most recreational riders I should think. If you want to stand up gear up and stand up. You still have choice. Downside is it limits speeds on descents but my fear/sanity factor limits that too so no problem most of the time. I don't live in the mountains though.
I have been very happy with that common compact setup for some years now. I can take on a lot of crazy climbs with what seems to me negligible top speed disadvantage. I can only think of one practical situation where my top speed gear was slightly lacking, a long, straight descent. Even then, most amateur cyclists would find this plenty fast, and working hard to push too much faster than terminal velocity downhill can be significant effort for not that much more speed gain. I have found it nice to push for whatever top speed I can handle partway down the descent, tuck in to as aero a position as possible, and save up a bit of reserves to burst up the next climb that might be ahead.
I use a 52-36 and an 11-34 for my casual rides or mountainous races. I can roll up a 20% grade at around 70 rpm, which is much better than the 40-50 rpm I was getting on my old 53-39 and 12-25
Just what I am looking for
Why didn't you put the 11-34 on the 53/39?
@@cordero852 Lol they were different bikes. The 53/39 was part of a 9-speed group on an old bike, and the 52/36 was on a newer bike with an 11-speed group.
I'm on a semi-compact 52-36 and 11-32. Here in Denmark, i have never run out of gears.
+Christopher Bøgh Andersen Thanx Christopher,nice to hear. I too have a bike with mid-compact and its my prefered geared bike.
that's cause Denmarks highest hill is 170m :D. remarkably flat country. Come to Austria and the Alps and you'll see that a compact crank is a good idea. to be fair a 36-32 is a good bottom gear if you don't weigh that much
sunrace cassette
When you're on a 10% climb for an hour, you're grateful for a 34/34. That's 190-280W in 60-90rpm for a 70kg rider.
+Patrik Beno Gosh....thats a long climb Patrik.
Great explanation!
cheers really helpful from the UK
Thanks for your excellent information
Good video !! Greattings from colombia
Thanks, I learned a new trick.
My current route is 42km XC on an old 26"HT.
Track is the N.E Tassie Railtrail, a repurposed abandoned train track, thus minimal gradings. Bike is originally shod with a 3 x 9 drivetrain. 28-48T crankset + 11-36 cassette.
Now that I'm fitter, I only drop to 2nd (38T) on the crank...and no longer use 1st and 2nd on the cassette.
In order to create a more effective cadence for this particular track, of which I'll be riding for a long time, as the plan is to hit the 52km station before the year is out (track continues all the way to Derby)...I'll be changing crankset to 2 x 9 or 10, with top chainring at 44T, and the cassette will be 11-25\28, depending on availability.
Currently, on the inclines, a gear between 3rd and 4th would be better, thus a tighter cassette is the way to go...and a 48 chainring is simply too big for XC on the declines.
A tighter cassette willl provide a more efficient cadence choice, as currently I'm only using gears 3-6 on the cassette for the bulk of my ride.
PS: appreciate you for your content. Learnt how to wax my chain from you.
That's helpful especially in our swiss mountains.
I did a couple of time, put a MTB cassette on my road bike. As its a 30T not need for an extra hanger. Work flawlessly. I actually have a 53/39 crankset.
I'm running a 52-32T front, 11-34T rear. I still have my top end.
Is it okay if my chainring is 53-39T and my cassette is 11-32T?
@@LLYANonWHEELS yup.
I run Shimano 105 11 speed 11-32 and 50/34 feels nice to me maybe a bit to hard since i live in Austria and my commute to work is 2600 Meters with 9 Meters ascent but back home its 130 Meters ascent 108 alone for the last 900 Meters.
I do like my Fatbike much more 9-46 and 32 with 4.8x26 rubber.
Great video...thanks mate👍🏼
Thank you! This is very helpful!
Thanks for the tips!
I might be old fashioned but, in our day a Standard chainset was 52/42 not 52/39... I used to climb the 1:3 Honister Pass in the former ratio of 52/42, with whatever we used to use on the 'block' on the 42 ring, typically a maximum 23. Don't ask me how I did it but I did :) We used to call that 'fresh air'... My God, I must be getting old LOL
What is that, 1:3... 30%? It was short, but my God, it was steep!!
Coming out of Borrowdale via Newlands was just as steep but longer... Over the top, and down into the valley beyond.... The scenery is truly stunning!
My Canyon Endurace came with a 52/36, but the website said it comes with a 50/34. I contacted them and they said they will send me the correct chainring, so good on them. I'll be excited to do some more climbing when it gets here.
Nice service from Canyon 😁
Loving your videos. Well done.
I've ridden since the 70's (as I imagine you have), when 52/42 and 13-21 or 13-23 were the norm - I can recall wondering if my chain was going to snap due to each pedal stroke being like a leg press on steep hills.
Since then, the 53/39 standard seemed to be a big improvement with 11-23 or 11-25 being the norm.
After riding on the newer 50/34 with 11-28 setup, I've settled on 52/36 and 11-27. A little more standing in the steepest sections, but all in all the sweet spot for me.
Yes I remember and still have some of my old clusters....13-23 and 13-18 for flats. You are right,grinding up the hills! Much better now hey?
greats videos man !
Low cadence on hills means high torque and more injury risk...especially in the knees.
Also harder on the drivetrain too.
Unless you're a pirate. Then you run a 54/44 crank with a nine speed 11-23 cassette.
@@FLMKane R.I.P. Marco.
Yep get ready for that knee surgery.
Good idea to try out the low gear, my biggest gripe is the 11t small sprocket. With a 53t chainring it's such a big gear it's unusable for most riders.
A 34t or 32t to 14t would be much more practical with closer gear spacings but alas not available anywhere. It probably easier to switch to a compact crank for a better range of usable gears.
Great hack. Made my decision to get a compact setup.
I hit 63 mph on my standard triple a few years back. It was a beautiful downhill near Graeagle Ca. Got a $375.00 ticket from CHP for that one! 63 in a 35.
I hope you kept that ticket! That is a TOP speed!
I got up to 55 MPH on a 50 dollar Montgomery ward 27 inch 10 speed with a speedometer. I was 13 yrs old. Downhill in a subdivision.
that new bike I've just ordered comes with 52/36 11-30. I'm used to 50/34 11-34. I aint never gonna get up them hills.
love the videos,
standard crankset is really good if you do a lot of flat . i think that s not only about the max speed but also about the ration for each gear .
that being said you will always be faster on a compact uphill.
Useful video. The WT roadlink that you used, is that the direct mount one? And do you have a short or medium cage rear derailleur?
WOW! Very nice.
That's a pretty clever piece of hardware!
+Psyk078 Yup...altho the idea first came from the states and the Chinese copied it,of course :)
Gracias my friend!!! Great data