Double Chain Ring...yikes

[rij73]

Violette, you have standard gearing. If you are hurting, first thing to try is a 12-28 cassette in the rear. If you are still hurting after riding that for a while, you can look into getting a 50/34 compact crankset. That's my 2 cents from thinking about gears a lot.

[violette]

Ok but would this make it a lot easier to go uphill?

[Andrea]

It depends on your definition of "easier"- with lower gears, you will feel less resistance on the pedals, but you'll either have to turn them faster to maintain the same speed, or just slow down, meaning that you will be going uphill for a longer time. It's a trade-off, and you just have to decide which one you'd rather have. Most women opt for the lower/slower route.

[alpinerabbit]

It will make it closer to what it used to be like on the triple-chainring Giant you had before. Not identical but closer.

[sundial]

Ok but would this make it a lot easier to go uphill?

Yes and no. You will be spinning like the dickens while traveling a shorter distance with a granny gear. Your heart rate will go up because you are spinning faster because of less resistance. However, because of less resistance, your legs won't poop out as fast in the long run and you may finish your ride feeling strong.

I'm curious, have you had any time off the bike to recuperate? Sometimes overtraining will sneak up on you and zap you when it's least convenient.

By the way, I keep reading Double Chin Ring, lol!

[violette]

I live in Canada!! This has only been my second long ride. We had snow here until April. We hibernate like bears...

[sundial]

I live in Canada!! This has only been my second long ride. We had snow here until April. We hibernate like bears...

Ahhhh, me thinks you did too much too soon. You didn't give your body time to work up to the nasty hills. Just my 2 cents and it won't even buy you a cup of coffee.

[Andrea]

I agree w/sundial- if you've just made a switch to some harder gears then go for a long ride after winter hibernation, you're bound to feel pretty lousy afterwards!

Chances are, if you start slower/shorter and work your way up, you'll be fine with just changing cassettes to something like a 12-27 or 12-28.

[violette]

You're probably right. I sometimes push myself and suffer after. I'm 5'6" and weight 120lbs, my husband says I have chicken legs (which is true), so my leg strenght isn't the greatest. But I will go to my LBS and see what he suggests.

[sundial]

Chances are, if you start slower/shorter and work your way up, you'll be fine with just changing cassettes to something like a 12-27 or 12-28.

Last summer when I was starting to ride hills, it took me about a month to get acclimated going from a triple to double (for 1200 ft of climbing). I noticed yesterday when I was on some pretty steep hills that I don't have my road legs quite yet and may need to break out the triple bike again until I'm in shape.

[aicabsolut]

Here are my thoughts.

You can get a SRAM cassette that goes up to a 28T cog without compromising the rear derailleur capacity for, max, $100, depending on where you buy it from.

My compact crankset retails for $350, though it's now available on closeout at some places for $200, and that's about the cheapest of any crankset at Ultegra level or higher (including FSA like mine, SRAM, Ritchey, etc.) that I've seen ON SALE anywhere so far.

A 28t cog in back would be roughly the same as having a 26 on the 53/39. That may not be enough. So then you have to decide if the extra investment in a crankset is worth it. The point everyone is making is that you cannot just swap out your rings. You will need a different crankset, because the spider will not be compatible. That means new rings, spider, and crankarms.

If you have a 25 in back now, I think that'll be plenty easy with a 50/34. My lowest gear is a 36/27, which is roughly the same as a 34/23. I think a 34/25 is a good steep climbing gear.

Now if you want to go back to a triple, that will be the most expensive, because you'd have to buy almost a total new group (new derailleurs, new crankset, new shifters).

New cassette is cheapest change, within your derailleur's capacity. Moving to a new crankset is the next best move (excelsports.com has some good sales if your shop wants to charge you a lot).

Have you looked to see what your cassette is on your new bike?