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Cassette for Lake Placid 70.3
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I signed up for Lake Placid 70.3 next year, and I am trying to decide on the cassette. It is between an 11-28 or a 14-28. I am intrigued by the 14-28, so I am curious about everyone's thoughts.

I ride 52-36 chainrings with a 11-25 cassette. However, I like the closer spacing, so I just switched to a 11-23 for my everyday and race setup. I rode a century on my TT bike a couple years ago with 12K feet climbing on a 11-28, so I know that the 28 is good enough for the worst of climbing. But, I do not like the spacing of the 11-28 because there are big jumps between gears. That is what makes the 14-28 intriguing... not as many big jumps at the big end of the gearing. I think that I very rarely use the 11 or 12, so I am not sure if I would be giving up much, since I usually stop pedaling at around 35 MPH down hills in an HIM.

Anyone use or consider a "junior" 14-28 cassette for a race with a lot of climbing.
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Re: Cassette for Lake Placid 70.3 [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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From a longer-term perspective: If you find yourself almost never using the 11 and 12 tooth cogs, perhaps something like a compact crank (50/34) or even a mixture of compact and mid-compact (i.e. 50/36) might be a better choice. I would seriously consider it.

Obviously not something to do for just one race but if not using the the 11, 12 very often is a trend, then yes.

For the shorter term: I've never done that race but I still suspect that 14-28 might be overkill in the "tightly-spaced-gears" department. With 52x36 yes you could get your speed up to about 35 mph but it would take a cadence burst of 120 rpm.

If you intend to stay with the same crankset up front (and admittedly changing the crank is a much bigger deal) then perhaps you should try 12-28 instead. It buys you back that 16-tooth cog which is by far the most frequently missed cog in any 11-28 setup
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Re: Cassette for Lake Placid 70.3 [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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That does sound intriguing but more for a flatter course, no? One thing that sticks out to me here is that the big descent is in the beginning-ish of the loop, I feel that I like to keep pedaling at that stage (not least to keep yourself warm as it has been really cold each time so far) downhill, nothing hard but just to keep warm. Although there is the one middle bit of the descent where it flattens out just enough that the 12 would at least be useful to keep good momentum for the last fun part. Other than that, yeah probably not too necessary. But I do think I will have to try that out for myself.

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo
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Re: Cassette for Lake Placid 70.3 [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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The tighter gearing might be helpful for all of the false flat on the LP course. There is very little actual "climbing" for as much elevation gain as there is. That said, there is a lot of descending, and especially coming down into Keene you will absolutely miss having an 11 in the back.
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Re: Cassette for Lake Placid 70.3 [g_lev] [ In reply to ]
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Hmmm... now you have me re-thinking the need for a 28T cassette at all. Initially, when I saw the claimed 4K feet of elevation, I assumed there would be some sharp climbs. But, if it is relatively mild climbing over 15-20 miles, the 25T may be fine.
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