Road Rear Cluster Gear Combinations Help

[Imperfectstorm]

How do I choose between an 11-25, 11-30,11-32,12-23,12-26? What are the differences please?

[ehirsch83]

where do you live? what are your ride conditions like?

I "normal" combination for a pretty flat area would be able to have a lower high number, so 11-23,12-25etc.. If you have more hills you will want to go higher- into a 26,32,etc.

I would "suggest" if you don't know- go into you LBS and ask for advice! This is why they are there, go form a bond and let them help you and let them order it and put it together for you!!

Everyone is different, I live in a very very flat area and I ride an 11-21, but this is not something that most women would use. I also just ordered a 54-42 for the front for training, again not normal for a woman!!!!

So what you need to do is assess where you live, what the hills are like, what your strength level is, and what you are really looking to get out of your rides.

And to do that, the best person to help you is probably the people at your LBS because they see you and can piece it together the best.

[ilima]

How do I choose between an 11-25, 11-30,11-32,12-23,12-26? What are the differences please?

Just to add to what ehirsch83 said,

Some of those are mountain cassettes (11-30; 11-32). They might go on a touring bike. You'd need a mountain derailleur.

My bike is geared a bit different from hers, though, as it's not flat where I live. I have a 50/36 compact up front and an 12-25 cassette on the back. That's a pretty typical all-purpose set up.

[Imperfectstorm]

Thank you. I live in New England so I need to do more research. I want to learn how to repair my bike. The LBS are a good resource but $$$

[Crankin]

Hi,

I went from an 11-25 to an 11-27 a couple of years ago. And yes, I have a triple. We don't live that far away from each other, but I guess it depends where you ride. I regularly ride hills with 10-15% grades and I am not getting any younger. I considered getting a compact double right before I made the switch to the 11-27, and now I am glad I didn't because I now live on a huge hill. I would not get the mtb gearing on my road bike, but if I was touring with a load, I would. Of course, after getting a touring bike!

[tulip]

The smallest cog on the cassette is a harder gear to pedal. The largest cog is the easiest gear to pedal.

On the front chainring, it's the opposite: the small chainring is easier to pedal and the large one is harder to pedal.

When you combine the small cog in the back with the large chainring in the front, that's the hardest gear (and may skip because it puts the most stress on the chain). When you combine the large cog in the back with the small chainring in the front, it's the easiest gear.

Sheldon Brown has alot of very useful information. www.sheldonbrown.com

[Thorn]

I don't have much more to add, but also look at the gears you normally ride on your current bike. Do you find yourself wanting "one more" lower gear when climbing a hill? How often do you use the big ring with the little rear gear?

As ehirsch said, everyone is different. If I rode her gears my knees would ache and I wouldn't want to get back on the bike; if she rode my travel bike, she'd probably find that her legs don't spin fast enough to keep it going at the speeds she needs.

When I picked out my gearing, I realized that I rarely used the big chain ring, let alone the 11. However, when doing long mountain climbs when the gradient skips up to 8%, I'd really like one more gear. So I put a 13-29 on the back and a 30-39-50 on the front. But, that's me and that's for the terrain I ride.

Look to see what you're currently riding and adjust (or not) based on that.

[wildeny]

I live in New England so I need to do more research. I want to learn how to repair my bike. The LBS are a good resource but $$$

Imperfectstorm, You can go to Sheldon's site to print out the gain ratio table for your current bike. (Note that this gain ration doesn't take the tire's surface condition & the total weight into account. But for a road bike, it's not a problem.)

As others have pointed out, what gear combination you need depends on your physical condition and your surroundings.

Besides the choices of the cassettes, you also need to consider the crank set. When I was considering buying a road bike, I had consider whether I needed a triple or a compact. At first, I was inclined to a triple, since I usually ride in hilly areas. Later I was convinced that a compact would work for me but I needed to change the 11-25 cassettes to 11-28 one. That 28-T is a life-saver in the hills.

Here is the chart I made for "Standard (D 53-39 with 11-23T cassettes) vs Compact (CT 50-34 with 11-28T* cassettes) vs Triple (T 50-39-30 with with 12-27T** cassettes).


* This is not common in the complete-bike market. Usually they put the 11-25T cassettes with a compact.

[Imperfectstorm]

Wow, I'm impressed will all of the knowledge, thank you. I have some thinking to do.

[hilldweller]

It sets out nicely that the reason I'm struggling with hills on my new bike isn't entirely lack of fitness, though I definitely do need to re-build my hill legs LOL.

Happy decision-making imperfectstorm. Looks like you've got quite a range to choose from. With my previous bike I found the amount of weight I was carrying (in panniers, not on my body) made a big difference in terms of gearing requirements.