What cranks & cassette to go for?

[freiston]

Hi freiston I did wonder I'm a Hertfordshire resident but I have family in Fishtoft .l have memories of cycling from home to Boston and being in the granny ring on my audax bike and unable to keep to 10 mph.

As a schoolboy, I had an errandsboy job (think Granville from Open All Hours ) with a local grocer and used to cycle from Boston to Fishtoft to make one of my weekly deliveries.

 

[ColinJ]

Aaargh... nightmare headwinds ripping across flat terrain... yes, maybe NOT a singlespeed then!

My amended vote is for 50/34 and 11-28.

 

[Tigerbiten]

I'd actually be inclined to shrink the chainrings by around 10% and go for an alpine double, 46/30 or even a 44/28.
It's around 15-16 mph that air resistance starts to ramp up badly and you have to work a lot harder to go not that much faster.
You need to spin around a 70" gear at around 70-80 rpm to be in that speed range.
50/19 is that ~70" gear
But on a 11-28 10 speed block the 19 sprocket is almost 2/3 way up the block.
By dropping the chainring by 10% you shift the 70" to the 17 sprocket.
By dropping the very top gear, which you're probably not going to use that often, it gives you one more gear down before you need to change to the inner ring.

YMMV ...............

 

[RidingBSOisnotacrime]

I use 52/42 11/25 on an old steel bike. My average speed varies between 22-24 kph so I am far from being a pro. I am on 52 while descending or strong downwind riding or on some flats with no wind. I am on 42/21 for gentle climbs 42/23 for average climbs say 4 or 5 percent and no significant wind and my last one 42/25 is my "FFS when is it gonna finish?" gear and beyond that I don't want to cycle because the speed is not significantly different than walking so I prefer to walk and push the bike.

 

[Twilkes]

I use 52/42 11/25 on an old steel bike. My average speed varies between 22-24 kph so I am far from being a pro. I am on 52 while descending or strong downwind riding or on some flats with no wind. I am on 42/21 for gentle climbs 42/23 for average climbs say 4 or 5 percent and no significant wind and my last one 42/25 is my "FFS when is it gonna finish?" gear and beyond that I don't want to cycle because the speed is not significantly different than walking so I prefer to walk and push the bike.

???

42/25 at 80 rpm is 10.5mph, probably three times walking pace up a hill, why would you not want a lower gear than that?

 

[Mike Ayling]

Rohloff.
Raven Tourer that's the best for you.
I think I saw one for sale on this site. Worth a look. And I don't live to far from you!

Actually the Thorn Mercury with Rohloff is more of a flat bar roadie than the Raven which is a light tourer.

With a Rohloff you can gear high for speed (crank/sprocket combination) and don't get a very low gear or gear low for hills and don't get a very high gear.
I really like my Rohloff.

Mike

 

[DSK]

52/36 - 11/28 is the trend. Trends do not mean that its what one needs.

Basically as a new road cyclist, you will be fine with either of your stated options and changing a chain-set further down the line should be no problem as you grow into cycling.

I have 2 bikes now, 50/34-11-28 (Giant Propel) and 52/36-11/28 (modified Giant TCR).

I started off with 50/34-11/28 (Trek Alpha). Its fine and the good thing is, should you find yourself screwing up like totally running out of energy or, taking a route with a surprise of a hill greets you, the 50/34-11/28 gives you some (what I like to call) get out of jail free gears. I now have this on a standard Giant Propel aero bike and its my go-to machine. I have only ever once needed to use the lowest of gears on a 50/34-11/28 once where I oddly felt terrible 1/2 way through my usual ride and on the climb, had I not had those gears I'd have probably stopped. However, I used the lowest gears to tackle the climb and then stopped.

As I have grown stronger with cycling (better understanding my cycling strengths and weaknesses), my training is mainly an equal amount of flat and climbs, I have no issues with the 52/36-11/28 and prefer it for the flats but, I take the 50/34-11-28 Propel as its tangibly a beast of a bike. So the Propel is getting a DI2 conversion with a 52/36 or 53/39-11/28 when it needs new cables.

 

[RidingBSOisnotacrime]

???

42/25 at 80 rpm is 10.5mph, probably three times walking pace up a hill, why would you not want a lower gear than that?

I drop below 60 rpm before I stop. That doesn't happen very often. I remember last year I walked during two climbs while riding 110km. One of them was in Royston Hospital Road I was at 80km and tried and wind was strong.

 

[nickyboy]

Gears like 34/28 are going to be unused in Cambridgeshire, regardless of how windy it is

I'm fine with the idea of a 50/34 compact on the front. There will be some mad windy days when the 34 is needed. But absolutely no need for a cassette to go further than 25 tooth.

 

[CXRAndy]

I have a 50/12 top gear and there are times when I wish it was 53/12 or 50/11 - yes you can freewheel down a hill but it's so much more fun when you pedal. I tend to prefer a slightly lower cadence on a fast downhill too, feels calmer and more in control than trying to keep up 100rpm+, so do make use of the larger gears.

I agree, but those occasions are quite rare. Ive descended mountains, easily exceeding 40 mph freewheeling. My fastest was 53 mph with a cadence of 146rpm with 48*11 gearing.

Personally I dont need to go much faster

 

[CXRAndy]

My gearing on my Sportive, mountain touring. 50/36/26. 11-40 cass.

I usually use 36 chainring and upto 35t cass cog.

But there are occasions where, I
just want to dial it back on a multi-hour climbs and recover whilst still pedalling forward.

That is where I can drop onto the 26 chainring and spin, drop my HR into zone 2.

Also I can get up gradients into the 30 percents whilst seated, when needed

 

[gavroche]

Gears like 34/28 are going to be unused in Cambridgeshire, regardless of how windy it is

I'm fine with the idea of a 50/34 compact on the front. There will be some mad windy days when the 34 is needed. But absolutely no need for a cassette to go further than 25 tooth.

You wouldn't go very far up a hill up my way with a 25 cassette.

 

[GilesM]

I would suggest the 50x34 & 11x28, however, if you have a choice I would recommend a 13 to 28 or even 14 to 28 cassette, having the close ratio gears in the middle is much more useful than an 11 sprocket, unless you are very fit and regularly travel at 25mph on the flat you will virtually never use the 11, and the best way to go faster down hill is usually not to brake. Most bikes are sold with gears way to big, 52 x 11 is the sort of thing you'd need leading out Cav.
I have just changed my chainset and cassette to 46/30 with a 15 to 27 11 speed, it's a fantastic set up.

 

[cambsno]

Thanks all - I think for me the difference between the ones I am looking at is minimal, and other factors about the bike are more important. Most are 50x34 anyway.