Lost a bit of strength / considering gear change

[meridian]

Here's my situation. Right now I have a standard double crankset and 11-21 cassette (all ultegra components on the bike) and I'm considering making the change to a compact double / 11-23 cassette.

I just starting cycling more seriously again after quite a while of un-demanding riding, and I'm noticibly weaker in the legs and knees than I was when I stopped riding seriously. Right now I find myself, much more often than I'd like, struggling with the wind and the occassional climb/wind combo in the lowest gear I have, wishing the cycling fairy would sprinkle some lower gears on my bike.

Two questions:

After a riding hiatus such as this, is it correct to think that this (hopefully temporary) change will be beneficial and worth the investment; and is there any other alternative change I should consider for this circumstance?

Second, I have an indoor trainer and an old rear wheel I plan to use on the trainer with a special tire and my 11/21 cassette. Would it be possible to interchange my 11/21 and 11/23 wheels on the fly between riding and indoor training? I'm assuming this will possible require initial derailleur adjustments and nothing else?

I plan on visiting the LBS as soon as I'm sure I want to switch to a compact double and which rear cassette, but I'd love any advise you might have before then!

[Kano]

I know I'm a rookie, and not having ever been a "serious rider" I don't have any real say so, but for what it's worth: it's okay to use weeny gears! I love my weeny gears, and you're allowed to love 'em too, cuz I say so!:D :D

Karen in Boise

[Batbike]

why go so dramatic in change, from traditional to compact, when this is a temporary start-up situation?! :confused: you have not been riding in awhile and that means your body is not at its peak and needs time to build base miles, endurance, strength, flexibility, etc. -- give it time!

as for gearing, why not take the less expensive route and chain your rear cassette to something with lower gearing, keeping your higher gearing cassette on your trainer bike ... you can eventually change cassettes depending on your development/training. Shimano makes a 12-27, which may give you the lower gearing you need right now ... just thoughts. ;)

[DebW]

Here's my situation. Right now I have a standard double crankset and 11-21 cassette (all ultegra components on the bike) and I'm considering making the change to a compact double / 11-23 cassette.

I just starting cycling more seriously again after quite a while of un-demanding riding, and I'm noticibly weaker in the legs and knees than I was when I stopped riding seriously. Right now I find myself, much more often than I'd like, struggling with the wind and the occassional climb/wind combo in the lowest gear I have, wishing the cycling fairy would sprinkle some lower gears on my bike.


An 11-21 is a seriously tight cluster that typically would be ridden only by racers or very serious high-mileage cyclists (or people who live in flat country), so don't feel bad about swapping to lower gears.



Two questions:

After a riding hiatus such as this, is it correct to think that this (hopefully temporary) change will be beneficial and worth the investment; and is there any other alternative change I should consider for this circumstance?

The health of your knees is worth the investment. And being able to ride without worrying about running out of gears is worth the investment.

You could consider not changing the crankset but going with a wider range cassette, but that leaves you with bigger gaps between gears and would likely require a new rear derailleur. But changing to a compact may require a new front derailleur (or it may not, ask your LBS) or possibly a new rear derailleur (if it can't wrap enough chain). If cost is important, you may want to look at both options. If you really like your current closely-spaced gears, you'll prefer the compact crank with 11-23. Ask you LBS about the chainline for a compact. You may be better off with a shorter BB spindle, allowing the crankset to sit closer to the frame and giving you more usable gears on the large chainring.



Second, I have an indoor trainer and an old rear wheel I plan to use on the trainer with a special tire and my 11/21 cassette. Would it be possible to interchange my 11/21 and 11/23 wheels on the fly between riding and indoor training? I'm assuming this will possible require initial derailleur adjustments and nothing else?


As long as the 2 cassettes are the same number of cogs, you should be able switch them without any adjustments. Of course, you'll want to determine that by experiment, but it should work out exactly right unless the spacing in your wheels is different.

[Triskeliongirl]

If you view this as a temporary situation, I second the idea of starting by changing your rear casette. If you ride shimano, you can go all the way to a 12/27. The advantage of this is you can swap casettes quite easily as terrain changes or you get stronger, and it involves the minimal parts swap. Yes, you *may* need a new longer cage rear derailleur, but you may not. My husband has a standard durace short cage dearailleur and I think I replaced his 11/21 with a 12/25 with not problem, except of course for needing a longer chain. Do you race? I use a long cage rear derailleur for everything on my bike, and just swap casettes for changing terrain. I personally don't find that I even notice wide gear spacing until I move to a mountain casette (11/34) and even then, its worth it if I have serious hills to climb. Another advantage of larger spacing is you need to shift between front rings less frequently, big ring for flats, small one for hilly terrain.

[ridebikeme]

I agree with everyone that a 11-23 cassette is very tight! If you should buy a Shimano compact crank and have Shimano gearing now, then you should not have to buy another front derailleur. However, to answer your question about swapping wheels between the trainer and riding outside... if you have more wear on one cassette than the other, then you could definitely run into some shifting problems. The best thing to do would be to have a chain for each bike... you can put a SRAM chain on and you will be able to install it very quickly with out tools(once the original length is determined)simply by using the quick link that they use.

Good luck!

[teigyr]

I agree with the cassette change if it's temporary. I changed my back cassette to give me two easier gears and it has made a world of difference. If you did that, you could then swap it back once you're ready to.

I can see the beauty in a compact double (I have one) but I think it depends on what type of riding you're going to do.

[meridian]

Thanks for all the advice so far. It's really helping me decide. I may start out with just the cassette change initially, but I'm leaning more and more toward a compact double and 11/23 or 12/25, even if it requires more of an outlay in cost and means repalcing additional components. Here's why.

I ride pretty flat areas, but go up against farily strong wind (18-20mph on a regular/nice day). As it stands now, I rarely find myself in the big front ring at all without experiencing knee pain unless I'm on a flat with absolutely no headwind or on a decline and hauling butt. Even then, I don't get close to using my highest gear ratios.

With the large ring on the compact being slightly smaller than the large ring I have currently, I think that will give me enough leverage to utilize my large chainring more often for the flat rides I'm doing. And the small chainring on a compact with a cassette change of 11/23 or 12/25 will give me that lower gear fall-back on the common windy days and the rare days I climb.

Overall, I think I would be more comfortable and perform better long term with a compact double because of my historic knee issues, and that would still give me the option of switching cassettes when I feel my strength returning.

[meridian]

Well, I decided to hold off on any drastic changes right this moment and ordered a 12/25 cassette this evening to try out for a couple weeks. We'll see how it goes. :)

Thanks to everyone for the responses and advice!