chainsets - bike experts please
Blurredgirl
Posts: 292
in General Chat
Whilst I am sat on the sofa, struggling to feel human again - a question:
I know there's been a similar thread on chainsets - but mine is slightly different.
All the treefrogs on here will of course shoot me down in flames. But I have a triple chainset currently, deliberately chosen for my upgrade/theft replacement last year, mostly because it was what I was used to, and also because I do an awful lot of big climbing in my leisure time. I like to climb mountains (I do Ventoux when I can) and am also blessed with a pile of stones in a very deep gorge, which we like to climb out of regularly (8-9% climbs typically over 6-8km).
Oh, and I'm a girl.
Question is: can I purchase a compact chainset for training/racing and switch back to my triple for trips to France to do those daft mountains? How feasible/easy would that be to do?
Many thanks in advance
blurredgirl
I know there's been a similar thread on chainsets - but mine is slightly different.
All the treefrogs on here will of course shoot me down in flames. But I have a triple chainset currently, deliberately chosen for my upgrade/theft replacement last year, mostly because it was what I was used to, and also because I do an awful lot of big climbing in my leisure time. I like to climb mountains (I do Ventoux when I can) and am also blessed with a pile of stones in a very deep gorge, which we like to climb out of regularly (8-9% climbs typically over 6-8km).
Oh, and I'm a girl.
Question is: can I purchase a compact chainset for training/racing and switch back to my triple for trips to France to do those daft mountains? How feasible/easy would that be to do?
Many thanks in advance
blurredgirl
0
Comments
You mean there's more than one treefrog? Oh, bloody hell!
Anyway, not sure what the advantage might be in going to a compact compared to your existing triple. After all, I would expect that the lowest and highest gears on a compact set-up would be within the ranges of your triple.
You might save a bit of weight. You may also bring the gears closer together and save yourself the time penalty of so much chain ring shifting but it really depends on what ratios you've currently got.
So... homework time, Ms. Blurredgirl, what are your current front and rear cogs? You should find some small numbers stamped onto the back of the chain rings and probably somewhere on the front faces of the cogs in your cassette. You may need to rub some of the old oil off with a rag.
It's a six month old bike owned by a fanatic who showers the bike before herself remember. What old oil?!
Many thanks. Off to check out my ratios.
blurredgirl
While you can change, it will be such a bore that you won't do it more than once. It's not just the palaver of changing it, it's indexing all the gears and getting everything set up nice and smoothly.
Work out what the ratios are of the gears that you use, and see how things fit in on your compact. There will be a huge overlap, and I doubt that the lowest gear will be that much lower. As you get a bit fitter, you don't need the vast choice of gears... until you reach the elite level of TT racing when you may want to vary by the finest amount to ensure that your power output/cadence etc. are always optimal.
I very rarely use the granny ring round here and never when training or rcing - but I do love it for the extra range on the big long climbs.
thanks people, what a great forum this is for just chewing things over.
blurredgirl (not visited the little girl's room for almost an hour now - is it over??!!)
Can't wait to get back to training!
Hope you are feeling better.
blurredgirl
You're right - that's what I should have done. I'd have to hide it in my desk drawer at work though - imagine the HAT on that!
Thanks people. I'm sticking with my triple, but it's nice to know the options.
blurredgirl - back at work and feeling nearly human.