Need some gearing advice from the forum experts.
My normal TT set up is a 54/42 on the front and an 11-23 cassette on the rear.
I plan to race a 40km TT course in a few weeks that is a long steady 20km uphill on the outbound (average 2-3%), with a turnaround then a long fast 20km descent to the finish.
The caveat is that there is a steep 10% kicker for approx 750m just before the turnaround. After 20km hard work on the outbound, I need to be really sure I have suitable gearing for the kicker as by this stage the legs will be very tired!
I really want to stick with a big chainring (ideally the 54 tooth, but I do have a 52 that I could use) to give me plenty of legs on the long, fast descent. To get me up the kicker at the turnaround I will switch to an 11-28 cassette on the rear, but I will still need a smaller gear on the front, but prefer to keep the 54 tooth big ring for the fast descent - is it possible to go with a 34 tooth small ring on the front???? If 54/34 with 11/28 will not work, what small ring options do I realistically have to pair with the 54 big ring??
Advice appreciated......
My normal TT set up is a 54/42 on the front and an 11-23 cassette on the rear.
I plan to race a 40km TT course in a few weeks that is a long steady 20km uphill on the outbound (average 2-3%), with a turnaround then a long fast 20km descent to the finish.
The caveat is that there is a steep 10% kicker for approx 750m just before the turnaround. After 20km hard work on the outbound, I need to be really sure I have suitable gearing for the kicker as by this stage the legs will be very tired!
I really want to stick with a big chainring (ideally the 54 tooth, but I do have a 52 that I could use) to give me plenty of legs on the long, fast descent. To get me up the kicker at the turnaround I will switch to an 11-28 cassette on the rear, but I will still need a smaller gear on the front, but prefer to keep the 54 tooth big ring for the fast descent - is it possible to go with a 34 tooth small ring on the front???? If 54/34 with 11/28 will not work, what small ring options do I realistically have to pair with the 54 big ring??
Advice appreciated......