I was thinking about getting Rose Backroad Carbon with 1×12 GRX820 Unstoppable 40/10-51T, with 0.78-4.0 ratio.

We live in a hilly area, so this ratio is perfect for eating uphills, but I was wondering if I am going to “roll out” of gears while riding on flat asphalt. I have a separate road bike, but getting to the hills will always mean a bit of asphalt.

What are your thoughts on the use of these gears?

by MacaroonPlane3826

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7 Comments

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  2. Short answer yes. Worst case you can swap out cassettes or chainrings.

    I don’t think you’ll run out of gears on flat asphalt, you’ll only run out on descents over like 30mph(50kmh). On gravel I typically find over 30 on descents to be sketchy a lot of the time anyway and I’m not trying to spin anyway.

    Personally I’d probably get a 42t, I like having the 50t+ dinner plate cassette because it looks cool. You could even get a ethirteen 9-52 cassette which has monster range and you could run like a 38t. But that only works on XD/XDr freehub bodies I think?

  3. I think so, I think road gearing is massively over geared for the average person

    40-10 at 120 rpm which for most is getting close to spinning out is 40.9 mph on 700x44c tyres. Do you think you’re going to push that on the flat?

    I live in a flat area and run a 36t upfront, can comfortably average 20mph which I think is a reasonable speed sitting in 36-13 spinning around 90-95 rpm, so in my opinion you’ll be fine with a 40t upfront unless you’re racing

  4. I think a 42 in front would be nice. But that’s something easy to change if you do find you’re running out of gears.

  5. I think a 0.95 ratio is plenty for a low gear on road (ie, a 50-34 and 11-36). So if you had an 10-51 cassette, a 48T would be perfect.

    FWIW I run a 48T with 11-46 on my gravel, and with a 9-39 on my TT.

  6. With that gearing, you’re only temporarily limited.

    Chainrings aren’t that expensive, get a 40t and a 44t. They’re pretty simple to swap chainrings depending on how they mount.

    Flatter rides, swap on the 44t. Hilly rides go for the 40, if it ain’t low enough, grab a 38t.

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