Cassettes and cranksets - Tri bike

[Meggers]

Advice? I bought a second hand Quintana Roo Caliente - but ive been told its "geared for a very strong man". Dont know specifics, but i do spend most of my time in the small chain ring. What ratio is recommended for women racing in moderate terrain? or would just adding a granny gear to my rear cassette help enough?

[DebW]

Tell us the number of teeth in each chainring and each rear cog. What gears work for you is very individual. Some people ride a high cadence and need smaller gears, some work more efficiently at a slower cadence. Of course, the ones who go really fast ride a high cadence in big gears, but that's not most of us.

[spokewench]

Meggers - there are a lot of variables that have to do with gearing , i.e. what size chain rings are in the front? I'm assuming you just have two since it is a tri bike. Are you using this bike for racing tri, which is more or less a time trial bike. Is it set up like a tri bike, i.e. time trial type position? Is it a bike that you use just for tris or do you ride only this bike so train and ride on it?

What gearing is on your bike in the back now, i.e. how many teeth on the smallest cog and the biggest cog?

And, yes, everyone is different, that is why you will see very different answers from many people. Sometimes, it has to do with how strong you are, how long you've been riding, hills you ride regularly, what you are using the bike for, what type of rider are you, a masher, a spinner, whether you like to push yourself, if you do not, etc.

A little more info and then maybe we can give you some good advice Thanks spoke

[Meggers]

I will report back tomorrow!

[TriMom217]

uhmmm...did you happen to buy this bike recently on eBay? if you did, it might be mine. I traded it in at the LBS and they eBay'd it.

If so, PM me and I can tell you what you've got. If not, I'm betting you still got a nice smoking machine!