compact double v triple? (my new bike!)

[Veronica]

Thanks for the gearing specs, now I know what to ask for on Saturday!

I don't know if you'll be able to get something that small with STI. I use friction shifters.


I have bad knees and am not a little person. With just under 21% body fat I weigh 152. But with that gearing, I have yet to meet a climb I can't do while seated. To be able to finish a double century I need to keep my HR down, which for me, means not standing on a long climb. I actually tend to stand on the flats for the butt break and the stretch.

Have fun shopping!

V.

[spokewench]

Wow, spokewench, you're really strong. I'm very impressed.

No, really just stubborn! I didn't mean to brag but was challenged by Sadie's post. Don't get me wrong, I do have to stand at the top of Diablo, I just don't wobble! I think it is stubborness and good balance! If all you've ever ridden with is a double on a road bike, you make do!

[RoadRaven]

Have fun shopping, RHG

Here are my specs too if you are interested.

On my road bike I have a compact... 50/34 in front and 27-12 (10 speeds) in back. I climb with relative ease on this bike.

On my TT bike I have an 'ordinary' double... 5053/39 on front and 26-12 (10 speeds) on back. This bike is a bit more of a grunt to climb on - but I usually ride flat courses on it.

Have fun shoppong - what ever you decide on we expect DETAILS!!!

[Veronica]

Now, Now, let's not get carried away - I can ride Diablo including the top in my regular double and I don't even wobble! So, maybe, I'll be giggling as I pass you if I ever get out there to ride diablo again!

Wow! That's great. You should sign up for the Devil Mountain Double then.

RHG hasn't been riding for twenty years like you have. I believe her post said she had not been on a bike for twenty years. So what works for a twenty year veteran is probably not best for a new rider.

What works for someone with short, sub two mile steep hills, is probably not appropriate for steep 10 - 15 mile hills either, especially not for a new rider.

Now in three months she may be coming back and saying, "Oh you were all wrong! The best way to climb a hill is on a Vespa!"

I look forward to seeing you on Tam RHG.

V.

[maillotpois]

So RHG - you are doing this with TNT? Or just under the "supervision" of a TNT coach friend? I ask because I know some of the coaches in the SF area, and was just wondering if we might have friends in common.

I'm one of the 2 head coaches (but the only one who matters because the other's my husband) for the Redwood Wine Country Death Ride team. I've been working with TNT since 1999.

I know RWC did the Marin metric as a training ride last year. Don't know if they're doing it again. I'll probably do the double, but as V mentioned, if you do the "Mt. Tam century" you'll ride basically the first half of the double course, which is very cool.

[Veronica]

Have fun shopping, RHG

Here are my specs too if you are interested.

On my road bike I have a compact... 50/34 in front and 27-12 (10 speeds) in back. I climb with relative ease on this bike.

I'm curious... how long are the rides you are doing on this? How long are the hills and how steep? I know you said you are 600 feet above sea level. But is it a mile to sea level, five or twenty?

I ask because if all your rides look like this... a double is perfectly fine. This is all short steep rollers and you can grunt your way over. But if you are doing terrain like the other profile I posted, back on page 1 I think... you're super strong and shouldn't be giving advice to new riders.

V.

[GLC1968]

RHG - I meant to include this in my earlier post...my triple is pretty standard. 52/42/30 in front and 12-27 in back. But point of note, I also have a 9-speed and new bikes now come with 10.

I've not ridden mine on a 15%+ grade yet, but it works great in the 8-12% range. I will be breaking that 15% threshold on May 5th though (at mile 85 ), so I'll let you know how it goes.

[SadieKate]

But if you are doing terrain like the other profile I posted, back on page 1 I think . . .

And doing it in the middle of a 100 mile ride as the original poster stated.

[spokewench]

Wow! That's great. You should sign up for the Devil Mountain Double then.

Now in three months she may be coming back and saying, "Oh you were all wrong! The best way to climb a hill is on a Vespa!"


V.

Veronica: I'm not into doubles, but what is the Devil Mountain Double?

Maybe I could ride it on my boss's VESPA!

[aicabsolut]

I'm curious... how long are the rides you are doing on this? How long are the hills and how steep? I know you said you are 600 feet above sea level. But is it a mile to sea level, five or twenty?

I ask because if all your rides look like this... a double is perfectly fine. This is all short steep rollers and you can grunt your way over. But if you are doing terrain like the other profile I posted, back on page 1 I think... you're super strong and shouldn't be giving advice to new riders.

V.

That graph could totally be done with a compact double. I do stuff like that all the time with a 50/36 12-27. That graph isn't nearly as bad as the earlier one in that a lot of the hard hills are only around 200ft gains. I don't get out to that terrain as often as I'd like to do 65+ mile rides, but I can hang on for 50 just fine. With a 50/34, there'd be no problem at all. My cadence doesn't go below 60rpm on a hill.

[Eden]

I did this one last year. It is one of the harder days of racing (at least available to people at my low cat) you'll find in this area - caveats abound - this is a race and most of the people who choose this race climb well.

My gearing for this race was a standard 39/53 on the front, largest on back 27. I was very tired at the end of this race, but never wobbled or fell over. I'm not going to suggest that everyone go out and buy a standard double right off the bat. Nor will I suggest that everyone would be happy with one in the long term. Just do your homework and see what kind of rider you think you will be. Of course its hard to even know until you go out and do it.

I did go the route of buying a triple on the first bike I bought in about 15 years in 2005, and then discovered racing - so I did end up replacing that bike in only a year. Coming off of my 90's vintange Trek I would have laughed out loud if you suggested that I wouldn't need a triple so it really seemed like the right thing to do. New lighter frames and the fact that I could actually buy a small enough bike made a difference I could never have imagined. Honestly I don't know if I had a compact double in the first place if I would have kept that bike or not, but swapping the triple would have been more exensive than I could have justified for that frame.

[teigyr]

Veronica,

Those look like the Aids Ride terrain charts. If so, I did it on a double but had a larger cassette in back. Also, I was in shape back then.

Everyone has far more experience than me so I'm trying to stay out. That being said, I have a compact double. I love it, it shifts better than DH's triple (and I've never lost a chain) but it does have its limitations. I'm thinking about putting a larger cassette on the back because I have a 12-25 as of now. If someone is out of shape, even a compact double will be a challenge sometimes. So...I'm not regretting the compact double whatsoever but I can see why people would ride a triple.

bowing out now

[Veronica]

This is the elevation for the Devil Mountain Double. To the top of Mt. Hamilton is 13,000 feet of elevation gain. There is another 7,000 between Hamilton and the end.

By themselves, these are all hard climbs. Diablo, I think, is actually one of the easier ones. The backside of Hamilton averages out to 8 or 9%. Sierra Rd's average is around 10%. Those sections where it flattens out to 5 or 6% are a welcome relief.



This is the chart for the Mt. Tam Double. RHG plans on doing the first 100 miles I believe. On this ride I think the worst climb is after the Santos Meadow Rest Stop. It's a very steep climb up Rte. 1. It's short and if you had not already climbed Tam, wouldn't be bad. If you didn't have 50 more miles to go (or in my case 150!) I'm sure it could be done on a standard double.



V.

[Veronica]

That graph could totally be done with a compact double. I do stuff like that all the time with a 50/36 12-27. That graph isn't nearly as bad as the earlier one in that a lot of the hard hills are only around 200ft gains. I don't get out to that terrain as often as I'd like to do 65+ mile rides, but I can hang on for 50 just fine. With a 50/34, there'd be no problem at all. My cadence doesn't go below 60rpm on a hill.

Ahhh... that's my point. The second graph is rollers, not our typical terrain. That ride was 90 minutes away from me, probably two hours away for RHG. And she plans 100 miles.

V.

[SadieKate]

All I know is I try not to make gearing recommendations for areas in which I don't live or ride. I look at the gearing used by riders that I think are my peers ability-wise (not racers, not genetic freaks, etc.) even if they are in better shape. That tells me what gear range I need to consider and then I determine what components are necessary to provide that range. And a widely spaced cassette just so you can run a double absolutely sucks on flat terrain.

If you're racing, you have a whole different rationale for choosing components.

And if you only ride 50-60 miles distance at most, I don't think you can understand what gears one may need at mile 99.