32 tooth cog on road bike rear cassette

[Banjo]

My lbs are doing a custom build on a nice looking Cervelo road bike for a customer.

Its fitted with a Sram rear cassette with a 32 tooth cog and a compact chainset 50/34 I think. seems like seriously low gears for a road bike with no luggage carrying capability.

Nice for spinning up big hills with tired legs but seemed a bit OTT to me.

 

[GrasB]

the SRAM 12-32 & 12-28 setup looks really nice, you get a tightish 9spd cassette plus a bailout gear if it all goes horribly wrong.

 

[HLaB]

I went on a cycling Holiday a few years back and one old fella there had a 30 on the back with a 30 on the front, it seems incredibly low but give his due (albeit not fast) he got up the mountain in Southern Spain and could hold an OK ish pace on the flat; he was a terrific descender (compared to me anyway). I hope I'm that fit when I'm his age and if a stupidly low gear helps, I don't mind ;-)

 

[User6179]

My lbs are doing a custom build on a nice looking Cervelo road bike for a customer.

Its fitted with a Sram rear cassette with a 32 tooth cog and a compact chainset 50/34 I think. seems like seriously low gears for a road bike with no luggage carrying capability.

Nice for spinning up big hills with tired legs but seemed a bit OTT to me.

I had a triple chainset with a 32 tooth cog on the back and i think i could quite possibly have cycled up ben nevis with that set up but i found my gears were to far apart when i was spinning on the flat,i would be in to hard a gear and click down to find the gear below to low.

Imo this set up only works if you have very steep hills and not much flat to ride,perhaps the customer is going to be doing a very hilly ride and needs this set up.

Im now on a standardish double with a 28-12 cog and i found my fitness has improved as i dont have the luxury of sitting down and spinning uphills,I now have no option but to stand up and go for it.

 

[GrasB]

Eddy, I'd have a look at the SRAM 12-32 it's rather different than the classical 11-32 setup:
12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-32 - SRAM
11-12-14-16-18-20-22-25-28-32 - shimano

 

[Jerry Atrik]

My new Spesh Tricross has a rear 32 which is neat as there's nothing but hills round here .

 

[rb58]

My Thorn Audax has a 11 to 32 cassette, with a 26-36-48 triple on the front as standard. I don't think I've ever needed to use the 26 x 32, but it's wonderfully conforting knowing it's there especially when I'm going up a steep one at the end of a very long ride. IIRC they even offer a 22 granny ring.

 

[jig-sore]

im sure they covered this in the cycle mags recently. something about this new set up being aimed at replacing a triple set up. the general idea was to avoid people being put off a road bike with a triple but still give them a sensible set of gear ratios.

it seems the testers like it !!!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

spot on jig-sore, the spread of a triple without the look, bulk, or q factor. anything that makes good bikes accessible to more people has to be a good thing.

 

[Garz]

I'm fine with it. Rather have that set-up than the triple.

When unfit I have found cross chaining creeping in without realising it happens. When on my older bike with a 23 cassette there are certain terrain areas where I want to stay in the 50 ring. My newer bike has a 27 on the cassette and makes a difference. It all changes when I'm in good shape as I know I can climb having the 23-34 so it's just tinkering with what gears work best for you.

On a side note the buddy I cycle with for events and meetups is way more of a grinder than me and we still cruise at the same speeds. He could have a standard double on one of his bikes so our gearing is off but we climb the same stuff and don't have to wait for one another. I would say how a person climbs (comfort) and their fitness makes more of a difference than gear selection at times.

 

[Davidc]

.

 

[Cubist]

What a lot of CCers tend to forget is that their idea of hilly depends on where they live. My Boardman has a 11-32 and 50-36 compact. I live at 1400 feet or so above sea level, and am absolutely surrounded by geet big hills. I find the 36f 32r to be tough enough on some climbs, but tried a 34 chainring, only to discover huge gaps in the gearing necessitating triple shifts on the long 6 or 7% drag on the way home. Even now I am sometinmes tempted to push up the last 15-20%er! Without putting too fine a point on it my next bike will be a triple!

 

[GrasB]

..discover huge gaps in the gearing necessitating triple shifts...

Pardon my stupidity but with a chainring & cassette setup how can you triple shift? You only have 2 gear selectors!

 

[andrew_s]

triple shift = up one at the front, down two at the back

 

[numbnuts]

What a lot of CCers tend to forget is that their idea of hilly depends on where they live

...and old farts like me I'm running 11-32 with 26-36-48 triple and I'm only just coping with the hills in my area I'm thinking of going to 11-34 with 22-36-48 the same as my MTB