Gears ratios for climbing in the alps

n-dawg · 08-12-2009 05:46PM #1

Hi

I'm cycling 2 years now and have decide its about time I go to the alps. So have started planing a trip for this summer. Hopefully taking in Alpe d'Huez and that area. I currently cycle with a lowest gear ratio of 39-23 which i find fine on Irish hills (Well some grinding up steep bits) but I think this will be too high for the alps. I'm looking for cheep and quick ways to lower it. I have 2 main ideas

1) The new ultegra 6700 11-28 cassette, Is that compatible with my current ultegra 6600 drive chain? Is there issues with chain length?

2) I could change the change the 39T chainring for one that is 34T or 36T. Is this a tough job? Can I do it without removing the whole crankset? Again are there issues with chain length?

Any advice would be appreciated

blorg · 08-12-2009 05:54PM

The lowest you can go on a standard crankset is 38T, any lower and you need to reduce the BCD by changing the entire crankset. So effectively there is nothing you can do there other than replace the entire crankset. I wouldn't write that off mind, I got a compact specifically for European mountains (Alps, Pyrenees and the Sierra Nevada.)

If you are only doing short jaunts around the alps and are OK going around Wicklow on 39-23 then you may be OK to just change the cassette to 11-28. The new Ultegra 11-28 is officially NOT compatible with Ultegra 6600 but I know people who have used the SRAM 11-28 with that so it would probably be fine.

If you are doing longer rides in the alps you probably would get more out of it swapping out the crankset for a compact.

You may have to lengthen your chain a link or two going from 23 to 28 but it depends on the current length.

Peterx · 08-12-2009 06:02PM

I did some cycling over Alpine mountain passes (with panniers) and was very happy to have a compact (34/50) at the front and mountain bike block (12/32) on the back on the steepest sections.
Generally I never needed to go lower then second gear on the back (30 I think) but i did use the 32 once. weak I know:)

My usual wickla hills easiest gear is 39-25 though so you'd probably be happy enough to go with the 11-28 on the back assuming the compact on the front...

Happy cycling.

Freddy687 · 08-12-2009 11:53PM

As already said it depends what type of cycling you intend to do. Spending a full day to climb just the alp then you could get away with a 39, but if you intend to climb the other mountains in the region get a compact and the 11-28.
While we have hills in this country that have gradients similiar to the alps, we have nothing that matches the relentless nature of the alps. Alpe d'Huez is 14km long at 8%, if you were fresh this would be nicely under 2 hours.
Nothing wrong with having gears left over, it is a part of the world where you would spend more time in a 27 sprocket than an 11.
I know lads who did this years etape with a 34 / 29 combo and they were very glad to have it.

papac · 09-12-2009 12:03AM

Better to have too short a gear than not short enough imo. Get a compact and a 12-27 at least I would say.
You see lots more roadies on triples in Europe. They are not so macho about it.Its good to have a bail out gear- even if you only use it for a few minutes to recover a bit.

n-dawg · 09-12-2009 11:42AM

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll pick up a 11-28 cassette now as see what difference that makes. If I think I still need more gears I guess I'll have to get a new crank set. Hopefully somebody will have a good sale in the new year :-)

blorg · 09-12-2009 11:55AM

If you had 9 speed there would be the option of a MTB cassette and rear derailleur, cheaper than a new crankset, but I take it you are 10 speed.

You can get wide range 10 speed cassettes but they are expensive... Sheldon seems to suggest that a 9-speed MTB derailleur would work as a 10 speed, as indexing is in the shifter.

short circuit · 09-12-2009 12:33PM

blorg wrote: »

If you had 9 speed there would be the option of a MTB cassette and rear derailleur, cheaper than a new crankset, but I take it you are 10 speed.

You can get wide range 10 speed cassettes but they are expensive... Sheldon seems to suggest that a 9-speed MTB derailleur would work as a 10 speed, as indexing is in the shifter.

In theory you do not even need an MTB derailleur unless you are going mad cogs on the cassette. I am assuming here that standard road setup works with the 28 cog cassette currently being sold ... if that is max rating, I am sure you could get a 30 cog cassette in there without any problem. I did with an 8 speed road setup earlier and it was fine. Just be careful not to run big-big or small-small extremes.

kincsem · 09-12-2009 05:28PM

blorg wrote: »

If you had 9 speed there would be the option of a MTB cassette and rear derailleur, cheaper than a new crankset, but I take it you are 10 speed.

You can get wide range 10 speed cassettes but they are expensive... Sheldon seems to suggest that a 9-speed MTB derailleur would work as a 10 speed, as indexing is in the shifter.

If you are mixing 10 speed shifters with a 9 speed cassette you might need a Jtek Shiftmate. The owner of the business is in poor health. I bought one from Sjscycles in the UK (about £30). They have many products for mixing shifters / cassette and even Shimano / Campagnolo.
http://jtekengineering.com/

I bought a Deore 11-34 cassette and the matching long cage derailleur. I am 59 so need help even with the small hills in Wicklow. The plan is to fit it into my Shimano Ultegra triple which already has a 12-27 rear.
I bought a 9 speed chain as I guess the current 10 speed chain will not work with a 9 speed cassette.

blorg · 09-12-2009 05:42PM

kincsem wrote: »

I bought a 9 speed chain as I guess the current 10 speed chain will not work with a 9 speed cassette.

10 speed chain will work fine with a 9 speed cassette, it's the other way around that doesn't work. A 10 speed chain is just a bit narrower on the outside, same dimensions on the inside.

I've even used an 8 speed wheel as a drop-in replacement on my otherwise 10 speed bike after I broke my 10 speed wheel. It worked surprisingly well, just a hint of skipping in on gear in the middle. Not that I would recommend this other than in an emergency mind.

J-tek shiftmate is probably a better idea all right than custom 10 speed cassettes which are very expensive.

Golfanatic · 09-12-2009 07:00PM

chain length chouldnt be too bad, you could ask for a couple of extra links from where you bought it from, and generally chainrings are universal i think.

leftism · 09-12-2009 08:30PM

Another question on gear ratios for climbing...

I went up past the Hellfire Club (first time up that route) this afternoon and very quickly found myself out of gears! Spent the next 20 mins slogging away before a combination of the weather, frustration and absolute exhaustion forced me to turn back and freewheel back down into Tallaght.

I'm using an Ultegra 6600 groupset. Cassette is 12-23 and chainring is 39-52.

Over the Christmas holidays i am heading to Italy for 10 days and am planning to bring the bike over and do some climbing in the Appenine mountains which look quite a bit tougher than anything in Wicklow...

Any suggestions for a better gear ratio? Thinking of buying an ultegra 6700 11-28. Would this fit on a 6600 groupset and would i feel much of a difference?

I'm really hoping that a 28 cog gear will make a big difference on steeper sections when i really start struggling...

leftism · 09-12-2009 08:33PM

just realised that my question is almost identical to the OP's so ignore the above post... Apologies!

blorg · 09-12-2009 10:08PM

23 to 28 will make a big difference, yes.

cdaly_ · 10-12-2009 12:33PM

kincsem wrote:

If you are mixing 10 speed shifters with a 9 speed cassette you might need a Jtek Shiftmate.

You can do this just by rerouting the cable. I'm doing this with 9-sp shifter with an 8-sp cassette.

Gears ratios for climbing in the alps

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