Yeah if they go cheap I’ll give em a whack
Q rings are marketing wank arent they?
Do you race? I can hit 60kmh plus in the 53/12 why would I be in the big dog at 35kmh?
Why wouldn’t you? You’ll do 35km/h @ 100rpm on 53/19…or 39/14.
zigactly it’s maths.
though i don’t race and i ride a compact so my opinion is proabably invalid
see here for gear related mathematical bikenerdery (or what rpm = what speed with what gears)
Exactly.
And yeah Dayne, I do race. Not road bikes. I ride them lots though, does my opinion still count? Anyway, I’m bowing out of this thread, as it seems to be devolving into pointless argument. There’s a really good discussion about it somewhere on Velominati with good points from different camps. Cannae be bothered finding it though. The OP wanted advice on how to make his bike a bit easier to climb on. There are a few valid suggestions towards the beginning of the thread. Win!
find a 4 - 5 per cent near your place
repeats on it in the highest gear possible, don’t get out of the saddle
once you’ve spun out that cog (about three weeks of daily pain)
change to a higher gear, repeat
once you’ve got the legs, the spinny bit just comes naturally (i.e. just sit in the saddle and spins at a lower gear up hill as far and as high as you like)
there will be times where the gradient will force you out of the saddle - counter-intuitively, shift up when you do and let the body weight do the work, resting the quads.
alternatively, i tend to look about six feet in front, keep a steady cadence regardless of gradient (ie change gear to suit) and monitor your breathing
before you know it, the pitch’s done
the only thing i’ve done to make “the bike” climb better is a 12-30 cassette on Sram Red 10, can’t use the big ring with anything larger than 16 at the back though, even with the B adjustment screw all-in.
Biggest tip I’ve found for climbing is to use your butt! (this is assuming you don’t)
Literally. Learn to properly activate your glutes at the right point in a pedal stroke & you’ll be able to let your quads rest.
Your glutes are the biggest muscle in your body and they take a long time to fatigue (obviously not when you just start using them though), once you know how to start firing them properly it’s like having a second pair of legs, compared to not using them at all. Typically I use my quads first, and then during short pinches or surges, I’ll try and switch on the glutes to spread out the fatigue.
That’s also why when racing, during a climb, I used to be able to just sit down, pick a gear I can spin at about 90rpm, pump my glutes & sit in reasonable comfort while a lot of other people are standing and grinding and huffing and puffing (but then I got bumped up a grade so I’m typically off the back wheezing and spluttering and wishing I was somewhere else).
It’s quite interesting watching other people racing during a climb. The guys who look like they in the most pain are almost always grinding and standing.
Anyways, it’s a weird thing to try and do if you haven’t before, so just hop on the trainer & pretty much try not to use your quads at all. You’ll need to really focus on consciously firing those muscles, otherwise you’ll default to using quads because you’re so used to it.
My alter-ego Kenneth Cadence does whole river loops in the small ring! He has a cartilage vendetta.
TBH you’re not even a bad climber, maybe you’re just a little out of practice? I can show you a pedalling technique that may help next time I see you.