Struggle on Hills on Road Bike

[warder]

If the wind catches those ears though.......

 

[bondirob]

Get a mtb crankset, manufacturers give us totally inappropriate gearing for new riders. I'm not new and although I'm 15.5 stone and decent at climbing for my size I've recently put a 11/36 cassette on my 9 speed Sora (yes it does work with the medium cage derailleur).
Also I've got an 11/40 ready to go on my 105 once I've bought a Lindarets Road Link.
I noticed I was dropping some lighter fitter riders when I was in my previous lowest gear of 34/11 and they were grinding away with a 28 or less, so I thought I'd take it one step further and see how it goes.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Back on thread (well OT actually)

Print some of the posts from this thread off and tape them to your handlebars. Next time you're riding up a long hill challenge yourself to make one iota of sense from them

I've taken the liberty of selecting some quotes for your handlebars (age/fitness focused).

Hill climbing just gets slower as you age, no matter what gearing or how light the bike.

You're not getting 'whupped' because you are 60 and they are 36 & 17 - you are getting beat because they have a better sustainable effort level than you.

The older you are the harder it is, no matter what young whippersnappers say. I'm loads fitter (weight, heart rate, fat %) than I was 10 years ago, but I'm also slower.

from a cycling perspective - you are not loads fitter, then

err as I said - weight, heart rate, % fat: weight down 2 stone, heart rate - resting heart rate down significantly, fat % down. But I'm also 55 not 25, so I may not be fitter in absolute terms than I was at 25, but taking age into account I am.
By your reckoning cyclists wouldn't need to retire as age doesnt have anything to do with fitness

He's not saying age is irrelevant; he's saying that an old person can be fitter or just as fit as a younger person

I was the one that said I am fitter than I was when I was younger

There are lots of measures of fitness. Speed isn't the only one. It's just one.

What are the others (from a cycling perspective) ?

big difference between 'fit' and 'healthy'

Age generally makes you slower. It doesn't necessarily mean you are less fit.

younger riders are not as fit

@warder is fitter! (But slower ...)

I am 40 odd , my 20 year old self would beat me over a mile but I would beat him over a 100 miles , am I fitter or less fit now ?

Not enough data. Over what distance would your 20 year old self beat your 40+ current self?

 

[warder]

Oooh.. is this a test? 6.2km?

 

[Tin Pot]

100m

 

[chrisb1357]

Just checking to see if your both still at it debating.....

 

[nickyboy]

Just checking to see if your both still at it debating.....

I think "debating" is being a little over-generous

 

[Ajax Bay]

"debating" is being a little over-generous

'Debating' - clearly over generous: this is Cycle Chat, after all.

Just checking to see if your both still at it

'Both'? I think my set of quotes from 8 contributors suggests that we managed to get a good discussion group going. Apologies to you both for not including a quote from either of you. Please don't feel left out.

 

[jefmcg]

Please please please ... let's open a new dialectic about whether it was a debate or a discussion or .... something else.

Let's see how far we can derail a thread

 

[ColinJ]

Let's see how far we can derail a thread

Ok, I would like to discuss if there were a thread about train derailments, would it be derailing the thread to actually stay on topic?

 

[Ajax Bay]

please ... let's open a new dialectic about whether it was a debate or a discussion

Well, make a bit of an effort, then. There's a hill to climb and the sun is shining (well it is down here) and will shine tomorrow too. Don't just say 'let's climb that hill'. Turn the cranks, drop down a few gears and let's go and struggle (or not) on them there hills.

 

[Dogtrousers]

And here's an article on the original subject

http://road.cc/content/feature/2135...ower-gears-make-climbing-easier-heres-how-get

 

[Ajax Bay]

I was wondering would it be possible to change the gearing on my bike so make climbs a bit more easier for me like changing the cassette

Have a look at @bondirob 's thread shimano-medium-cage-derailleur-capacity.

 

[S-Express]

And here's an article on the original subject

http://road.cc/content/feature/2135...ower-gears-make-climbing-easier-heres-how-get

The majority of which, the OP says he already has, on page 1.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The majority of which, the OP says he already has, on page 1.

What, if anything, is that supposed to mean?
It's an article on the subject of the thread. If you don't like it - don't read it.