Look at the gearing of 90% of age groupers and they are way overgeared. Most guys are worring about “spinning out on downhills” where the time gains are inconsequential for most age groupers.
Yesterday Garzelli won on Plan de Corones:
“It’s incredible to win today. This is one of the mythic stages at the Giro, I still cannot believe I won,” said Garzelli, who rode a 34×28 low gear
I looked around the 45-49 rack at Wildflower. I had a 34x25 and I did not have enough gears for Beach and Nasty grade riding at 4W per kilo. Lots of guys running 39x23 as their small gears cranking at 50 RPM going no where.
It’s almost like people have an aversion to lower gears…if Garzelli can “stoop to using a 34x28” it can’t be that bad for age groupers doing hilly races :-). On the Mooseman thread their were multiple guys saying they plan to tackle the 20% grade climb with 39x25…
Honestly I think it has nothing to do with “being a hero.”
You realize that when your average age grouper triathlete goes to the LBS to buy a new cassette, they have no idea what the difference between an 11-23 and a 12-27 is, right? Or What a “compact” is.
For most age groupers with much lower watts per kilo than UCI pro, even a mildly hilly course is pretty well the equivalent of a UCI pro doing this Giro TT. To name a few that I am aware of, Wildflower, St.Croix, Timberman, IM France, IMLP, Mooseman, Zofingen…they’d all fall into the “need lower gears” category of races. Heck, even Palani in Kona is worth a bigger cassette for many age groupers (even Kona qualifiers).
When most people buy bikes today, a 53/39 x 11/23 is what is the most common setup sold. What sold me on a compact was riding IMCDA with a powermeter. I had a standard setup and could not physically ride up the hills any easier due to the gearing and my power was huge compared to what I was intending on riding. If you don’t have power, you don’t really know that you are riding THAT hard.
i think one of the other posters hit it on the head, unless you’re a “gearhead” many people who are inexperienced cyclists don’t realize how easy it is to change a cassette and ride lower gears. i worked at a shop in college and i have no doubt that many people who buy bikes think that whatever gearing comes with the bike is the “correct set up”.
fwiw, i’m with you. i have a compact on my road bike (how often can i spin out a 50x11 anyway?) and i ride standard cranks on my tri bike but since i roll on 650c wheels, it’s effectively the same as a compact. plus now that i’m, ahem, a more “mature” athlete, my knees that have been at this for over 20 years really appreciate the lower gears.
When most people buy bikes today, a 53/39 x 11/23 is what is the most common setup sold. What sold me on a compact was riding IMCDA with a powermeter. I had a standard setup and could not physically ride up the hills any easier due to the gearing and my power was huge compared to what I was intending on riding. If you don’t have power, you don’t really know that you are riding THAT hard.
Not to be argumentative, but looking through two local shops, more than 1/2 of their setups were fitted with 12/25s.
I did have to try three shops before I found a 10sp 12-27, though. Performance had it - and it was actually cheapest there.
I actually gave Steven Harad some hell for spec’ing 12-23 cassettes on Kestrel Tri bikes! It’s not like every course is Eagleman, IM Florida or Clearwater (and even then you can use your compact with a 12-25 and ride fast)!!!
Yep, nothing to do with Manhood and everything to do with bike spec. I’m working with 7 athletes right now; two happened to have bought a bike with compact cranks off the floor, one is OK with standard gearing and I have sent 4 back to the LBS for a compact crank. High-end bikes just aren’t spec’d with compact cranks. Perhaps it’s up to the LBS to inform the customer and somehow swap out the cranks. I know…easier said than done.
I used a triple in the alps or on the cote de la redoute or some other cycling classics hills. But I have not yet seen a tri course even close to this. I tried some of the most hilly races in my area, and I came over every hill with a 42*25. Unfortunately most races are on extremely easy courses. The kind of mountain or hill that can split up a pro cycling pack is just much steeper then anything triathletes like riding over. Those things called hills on tri courses would just be an elevation done on the big ring during cycling classics. Not a hill at all.
Also, on short course it does pay off for good triathletes to push the short steep hills pretty hard on a big gear. It is not a long course strategy for most though.
I do not know the wildflower or mooseman course though. Maybe those courses are worth the triple/compact.
And yes, you can make up some time by pushing a bigger gear on a downhill! More then you lose by taking a triple instead of a compact.
And at some point you have to stop thinking watts and cadence, and just push to keep going and go in the hurt zone big time. This movie is very refreshing pro tour cycling reference for this. I do not see many of the world class cyclists going over 50 rpm there.
Could not agree more…I’e been given a little ribbing by a cyclist for running a 50/34, 12-28 combo, but my mantra is “I gotta run a good bit after I ride, so why not?” Plus I’m not switching out chain rings often and I run this set up on course like Lake Placid and Eagleman.
The TT was pure uphill. There were no downhills. Had there been any then the question would have become what is the lowest gear they can use while still being able to shift into an even moderately high gear?
On the Zoncolan stage (which did have downhills) many riders were using 11t small cogs and 52/34s up front. It must be nice having teams of mechanics working all night to make set-ups like that function but most of don’t have that luxury.
I do agree most are overgeared but comparing AGers in triathlons to pro cyclists doing savage uphill TTs with limitless resources is completely unrealistic. Most recreational athletes just can’t justify a specific cassette and chainring combination for every race they do (plus, for most people, the attendant trip to the shop to get it installed and have the chain adjusted). They may have a “hilly” cassette of 12-27 on the shelf and make a totally rational choice that finishing a few minutes faster is not worth a total outlay of say $200 on an even hillier version that may never get used again. THat was me for AmZof last week - told everyone they should use a 27 at least but then balked myself and rode a 25 (but then I am very manly).
It will be interesting to see how it plays out @ Mooseman…I think a lot of people will be walking if they are pushing 39x23 when they hit the 15% stretches the second time up the big climb, which gains ~1000’ in 3.5 miles, but it looks like the middle 2 miles of the climb avg 7.5%. JoeO mentioned he was standing near the top in 34x25.
