Ageing legs and long rides in the Alps

[gbs]

Next year i would like to tackle longer rides in the Alps and am considering regearing the bike. I have experience only of Campag and this year a compact Centaur with lowest gear of 34:30 was suitable for Ventoux for 3 days or so when I was fresh. After 4 days this ratio was daunting so what are my options?

• Sram Apex that will permit 34:32
• Shimano...
• something else - please propose.

PS triples are too difficult to maintain IMO

 

[matiz]

Nothing wrong with triples I've had Tiagra on my Trek for 5 years over many thousands of miles, never needed adjusting and never misses a change.

 

[StuAff]

Shimano are also doing 11-speed rear derailleurs in 105 & Ultegra that can handle 32-tooth sprockets. If you want a lower bottom end gear than that you'd have to go triple & 10 speed with Shimano (Tiagra still available with triple crank, or older 105/Ultegra parts). You couldn't mix Shimano road shifters with mountain bike rear derailleur (for 36 tooth sprocket, say) as the cable actuations are different. SRAM 10 speed MTB derailleurs are fully compatible with their 10 speed road shifters, so you could mix Apex shifters & front mech with X9 rear mech (say) and have 34:36. You might be able to get smaller chainrings too depending on BCD, derailleur capacity etc. I agree, you might want to look at the triple options too....

 

[ufkacbln]

Slightly OT

I certainly have ageing knees (and hips)

I find that the issue is not what you do, but how you are the next day


I can manage several consecutive days of moderate cycling

However a heavy day and my knees / hips are a bit like members of the RMT and effectively don'T work in protest

 

[gbs]

StuAff, thanks for comment re mix and match on SRAM, Is your experience or is it company advice? Is SRAM kit reliable? I seem to remember a disc brake fiasco a few years ago.

 

[steveindenmark]

I dont have a bike that isnt a triple. I have no idea about the mechanics but keep the whole system clean and lubricated and it works fine.

 

[StuAff]

StuAff, thanks for comment re mix and match on SRAM, Is your experience or is it company advice? Is SRAM kit reliable? I seem to remember a disc brake fiasco a few years ago.

Neither- Leonard Zinn (fount of much bike knowledge) and various other sources (I know, for example, David Milar used a SRAM XX mountain mech on the Giro for certain stages a few years ago). Nothing much wrong with their derailleur setups....

 

[phantasmagoriana]

Shimano are also doing 11-speed rear derailleurs in 105 & Ultegra that can handle 32-tooth sprockets. If you want a lower bottom end gear than that you'd have to go triple & 10 speed with Shimano (Tiagra still available with triple crank, or older 105/Ultegra parts).

Or get one of the new (4700) Tiagra cassettes and rear derailleurs - they go up to 34 teeth on the rear now! Coupled with a triple crank that would be a very low gear indeed...

 

[StuAff]

Or get one of the new (4700) Tiagra cassettes and rear derailleurs - they go up to 34 teeth on the rear now! Coupled with a triple crank that would be a very low gear indeed...

That too!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I dont have a bike that isnt a triple. I have no idea about the mechanics but keep the whole system clean and lubricated and it works fine.

I think the dodgy triple FD is urban myth.

Having run half a dozen triple FD's on MTB's over the years (different iterations of XT/XTR) the shifting was flawless.

Like you I kept them clean and lubed and they were spot on.

 

[gbs]

I think the dodgy triple FD is urban myth.

Having run half a dozen triple FD's on MTB's over the years (different iterations of XT/XTR) the shifting was flawless.

Like you I kept them clean and lubed and they were spot on.

Unfortunately my problem is not quite so easy of remedy. I cannot shift to the granny ring unless (1) under nearly nil load, obviously not useful when granny is needed, or (2) if I am on one of the three biggest cogs - this of course is manageable but leads to "mad hampster in a wheel cage" moments when riding in the steep sided valleys of the Chilterns and elsewhere.

This groupset is a triple Campag Centuar on my winter/wet weather bike and it may be that after approx 20,000k some parts need replacement.