I regularly see short pitches that hit 12%, and a couple of roads our club rides during the summer hit 15 - 17%. On those rides I'm generally riding my lightweight go-fast with a 34/29 low gear and no more load than a couple of tubes and a Clif bar. Anything much past 10% is a bit of a slog, but manageable because the steepest grades are short. I went to the 34 after trying to ride a road with 15% pitches in a 39/29. The 34 is just low enough to let me keep moving.
Climbing Jamison Creek Road (in the hills above Santa Cruz, CA - 1500 feet in 3 miles, and increasingly steeper towards the top) on my heavier steel rando-ish bike with 650b Fatty Rumpkins and a large front bag, the 24/32 low wasn't enough to keep me moving on the steepest stretches. On a fully loaded tourer, forget it! Bill On Jan 15, 1:48 pm, Ken Freeman <kenfreeman...@gmail.com> wrote: > Are any of you regularly dealing with 12% grades? How is it? > > > > > > On Sat, Jan 15, 2011 at 4:38 PM, Phil Bickford <phi...@sonic.net> wrote: > > I agree with Steve - you can only ride so slow. Balance and steering > > quirkiness was my experience with riding a 24x34 (18.3") up steep > > stuff at around 4.25 MPH. Charlie: if you are concerned with your > > knees, as we all should after the age of ~55, the ole "heel/toe" gear > > might be safer and besides it let's you stretch out those muscles in > > the back of your legs. > > > Say - Patrick - I'm surprised to see you going for the lower end > > gearing, particularly after your career of fixed riding. How's that > > Fargo project going? What chainrings are you planning on using? > > > I never ride with much of a load so I doubt my present gearing is > > relevant but 50-40-24 with a 12-23 in the rear works well for me > > around, about and up most places in Sonoma County. > > > YMMV - > > Phil B > > > On Jan 15, 11:47 am, charlie <charles_v...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > > If rested and on short rides I'd probably never use it but I carry a > > > full "touring load" all the time and in spite of my efforts to reduce > > > by riding, I only drop 20 pounds at the peak of the riding season. > > > Grants recent writing clued me into the compensation eating that I > > > know I do so I am trying some things different this year. Using lower > > > overall gearing has preserved my knees. I wonder if a Deore rear > > > derailleur will shift to the 36 tooth cog? > > > > On Jan 15, 5:09 am, Steve Palincsar <palin...@his.com> wrote: > > > > > On Sat, 2011-01-15 at 02:30 -0800, charlie wrote: > > > > > I've been flirting with the idea also. Right now I am using a > > 44x32x22 > > > > > and 7 speed 12-32 but wondered if a really low, low might be handy. > > > > > Last time I looked, a 22 front 32 rear already gave a really low low > > > > (18.6"). Going to a 36T would bring that down to 16". > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<rbw-owners-bunch%2Bunsubscribe...@googlegroups.com> > > . > > For more options, visit this group at > >http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- > Ken Freeman > Ann Arbor, MI USA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
