can someone explain

8119tm

i have started to try and understand my gears i counted the teeth on the front 2 chain rings the large one has 52 and the small one 42

the back has 7 cogs starting at 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24.

can someone tell me the gear ratio and how good is this set up for a K cycle in Italy
thanks

blorg

To get the ratio simply divide the front by the back. If you want it in "gear inches" which is commonly used for comparison, multiply that by 27.

The gearing you have is pretty tough to say the least.

What is a K cycle in Italy?

If it is hilly you could have issues.

8119tm

8119tm wrote: »

i have started to try and understand my gears i counted the teeth on the front 2 chain rings the large one has 52 and the small one 42

the back has 7 cogs starting at 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24.

can someone tell me the gear ratio and how good is this set up for a K cycle in Italy
thanks

k ment to read 500k

8119tm

thanks blorg

the rough we will be doing will have some moderate climbs on it i don't know what that means exactly could you recommend a gear set that would suit moderate climbs

thanks

blorg

OK cool, how many days is that over?

What you have is basically an old racing set, the pros even have easier gears for racing these days.

Your best bet is probably to see if you can get a cassette on the back that gives you up to say 27 or 28- you probably want a cassette although it is possible you need a screw on freewheel depending on the age of the bike.

You MIGHT be able to change the small ring at the front down to 39 but that might require a new front derailleur if it didn't have capacity.

What is the bike and the components on it if you know? Any pictures of the components in question?

8119tm

the cycle is over 5 days it's my first cycle doing it for crumlin

the bike is about 8 years old belong to my brother in law who did the crumlin cycle in the stats

the brand of bike is a barracuda (squadra)
new wheels put on in jan brand is quando

the front draler is shimano 105
back one reads 591 sunrace don't know if thats shimano are these the components you are looking for will try to put pic up

gear shifters are old ones on the frame

training cycle so far up to 45k taking aprox 1HR 45min on a Sunday
10k 4 evenings a week

i find the Sunday ride fairly ok some hills i try to maintain speed of 20k up and 25/30 on the flats

blorg

I'd say it would probably take a wider range 7 speed cassette. The cheapest way to get easier gears would be that way. To be honest I'd probably think you are best taking it to a local shop and explaining you want easier gearing as with this level of information it would be easy to recommend incompatible components.

8119tm

thanks blorg for the help

on a new note can anyone tell me what kind of training i should do for a (500k cycle over 5 days)
so far i cycle up to approx 45k taking approx 1HR 45 Min on a Sunday
and 10k 4/5 evenings a week

i find the Sunday ride fairly ok some hills i try to maintain speed of 20k up and 25/30 on the flats

blorg

I'd try to up it towards the daily distance (100km) and then start trying a few back to back where you do 100km on a Saturday and again on a Sunday. If you are having no major difficulty right now cycling the 45k at what seems quite a decent pace I don't think you'll have any problem when the event comes around.

Up it gradually, don't necessarily jump into doing 200km next weekend. 10% a week is a general rule of thumb with a rest week every fourth week but figure out what you need to do working backwards from the event date. You can probably push it up a little bit quicker with something like cycling compared to running as it is non-load bearing. But do it too fast and you do risk injury, it has happened to most of us myself included. If you are consistent with the increases you will get up to your target distance in no time.

CoinOperated

Hi all, long time lurker here.

Sorry for jumping in on this but I'm also training for a 500km cycle in September. I received my training program in the post there this morning and found that it said I should aim to peak at 290km/week the week before I'm due to depart. I've never done anything like this before but that strikes me as being rather short of the 500k that will be required the following week? Is this normal or should I be aiming for the full 500 before I head off??

Cheers!

uberwolf

a few questions. and an observation.

what format is the cycle? group or solo, how many days, rest days, etc.

more generally, I would never recommend peaking your training for something the week before it. I would have at least one week where you have tapered down the volume to recover from your training and restock your energy levels.

CoinOperated

It's a group cycle over 9 days. I think there's a rest day in the middle of that but it hasn't been confirmed.
Yeah tapering, they have that in the training plan but it's two weeks of tapering then one week's peaking then depart for challenge. I could just switch those weeks around though. It's a long way off yet so I'm sure I'll have more of a clue as to what I'm doing by then, but thanks!