I was checking out some bike manufacturer websites and looking at the gearing that they are spec-ing bikes with and wonder what does it all mean in a practical sense. Can some of you more experienced in bike-ology explain it to a simpleton? Why a 53/39/30 triple vs. 52/42/30? What is the advantage of one over the other? Is there a “better” cassette gearing that suits one or the other? Thanks in advance.
Tom
The macho men on this forum will tell you that they run a 58/46 with an 11-21 and still spin up the hills. And if you live in a flat area such as Florida then you absolutely must have a 10 sp. rear cassette.
But seriously, it depends upon the hilliness of the area in which you live that determines your appropriate gear ratios. The two ways to do this are with front chain rings and rear cassettes. For your average AG cyclist on a 700 wheel a 53/39 with an 11/23 is fairly normal if you live in a flat area. If you live in a hilly area change the rear cassette to a 12/25 or even 12/27. In a really hilly area consider a 50/34 compact crank or a triple for the front.
To answer your original question, either a 53/39/30 or 52/42/30 triple will give you lots of gear choices for a wide range of terrains.
Do a quick search through the archives for a thread posted by Julian regarding gear ratios for Ironman. It’s probably the most useful article I’ve ever read on real world application of gear selection.
His approach is from the point of view of selecting gears based on the average cyclist’s ability, rather than, as cerveloguy says, the manly man’s selection.
In my case, I have found that the 53 is good only for areas where there are lots of big downhills. Otherwise, spinning the 52 on flats gives me a greater range of gears to choose, depending on how I am riding on any particular day. But I am not a very manly man.
Florida is flat? not were i live,