Help - Triple vs. Compact & loads of hills

[RolliePollie]

No, there are plenty of compacts on the Death Ride. I just don't use one.

We have folks on our team who do have compacts. Our racer boys don't need anything else with them, but we have some folks who use the compact with a shimano XTR or XT mountain bike rear derailleur and big cassette. That seems to be the best option. However, you do lose your big power gear if you use that. (Which I do.) Most of our people have triples.

Good for you for setting a big goal for yourself. It is a very doable ride if you prepare, pace yourself, and keep your sense of humor throughout the day.

I would hate to lose my big power gear...I love to pedal away at high speeds on downhills. So...it's looking like I'm a triple kind of gal.

Thanks everyone for your quick responses and advice!!!

-sara

[Triskeliongirl]

But you wouldn't lose your high gear if you put an 11/34 on in back. 50/11 isn't very different from 52/12. What you lose are the tight increments between gears, or in other words the gaps between gears would be larger. But the advantage is you cover a wider range of gears in a single ring, avoiding front shifts on changing terrain.

But it sounds like you love your triple, so probably this isn't the bike for you unless the shop would be willing to swap out the components for what you want.

[Triskeliongirl]

I just ran the numbers. A 50/11 is a higher gear (119.5)than a 52/12 (113.9)!! You can run the numbers easily yourself here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
I assumed you are running 700c x 23 tires.

52 50
11 124.2 119.5

12 113.9 109.5

[RolliePollie]

I just ran the numbers. A 50/11 is a higher gear (119.5)than a 52/12 (113.9)!! You can run the numbers easily yourself here: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
I assumed you are running 700c x 23 tires.

52 50
11 124.2 119.5

12 113.9 109.5

Great link! Thanks!

[violette]

I would change to a triple. I bought a Roubaix comp and had to change the cassette. Hills or even rolling hills were almost impossible and I was getting discouraged. I had a triple before and I could do big hills with no problems.

[Pedal Wench]

Talk to your shop. When I bought my first road bike, they were willing to swap out whatever I needed. (I think it came as a triple, they put on a compact for me to try, then we went back to the triple.) To make the sale, they might be willing to do whatever you want -- they probably swap components all the time. Can't hurt to ask. Worse case, just take the triple and whatever else you need off your current bike and put it on the new one.

[NadiaMac]

I used a compact on the death ride, with a sram 12-28 cassette on the back. And saw plenty of compact cranks on the DR, many equipped with a similarly large cog in the rear!

This got me to within one gear inch of my granny gear on the triple with my old bike and I needed every gear inch towards the end of my death ride. That said, I lost the gear increments in the rear, as the cassette goes from 25 to 28. So if you like having incrementally close gear options (25, 26, 27, 28 in the rear), I'd say stick with your triple.

Regarding use of Mt bike bogs in the rear- this only works if the bike has shimano components. Campy and sram will not accomodate the larger cogs. It's pretty expensive to convert to a triple and many frames will not permit the conversion. If you want a triple, it's probably a better idea to buy a bike that comes with a triple.
good luck! the felt sounds sweet!