The trip is sag-supported but peaks over 14,000ft. I currently live in Chicago at 600ft and can barely spell "hill". I'm 160 lbs with ~230w FTP but I race CX Cat3 and punch above my power. I want to keep HR down to not die over the 3 cycling days of the 5-day trip.
My CX bike current runs a SRAM Force 1x 11speed setup with 40×32 bottom gear. HG spline hub. I definitely want to get down to 1:1 gearing. Debating if I should go lower. Would prefer not to change my Sram Force 1 clutch medium cage derailleur, which officially fits 36t I understand can shift a 40t.
Simple answer – new 40t cassette with existing 40t chainring
Other considerations – new 32 chainring with same 32t cassette
-36t chainring with 36t cassette
-And if you really think I might die: 40t cassette with 36/34/32t chainring
Appreciate your thoughts.
*edit for clarifications*
- Derailleur is cap 36 but works up to 40.
- It is a hut-to-hut trip with riders taking turns driving SAG with the bags
- I expect to be ~185lbs with bike, bottles, and small bar+seat bags or camelback (TBD).
- Just found – this is my Day 1: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48541554 – most of the day is uphill with modest gradient but there are 2 mile-long pitches on gravel, above 10kft, that are 7-11%.
by Dr_Cletus_McYeetus
4 Comments
Put all your gear on your bike and find the steepest hill near you and cycle up it repeatedly. If you’re fit and you plan to credit card the entire way and have minimal amount of stuff to carry it might be fine, if you’re carrying a tent, sleeping bag, clothes, stove and a couple days worth of food and drink you’ll need lower gearing imo. It’s not so much a question if you *can* push up with heavy gearing, but there’s a good chance you’ll wreck your knees if you keep grinding uphill.
Personally when doing a lot of steep climbing on a 50kg bicycle I was very happy I had a small 26 chainring with a large 42 sprocket in the rear, on a 3×10 setup.
This website is nice for analysing what sort of gearing you need, lots of tourers recommend having a granny gear with gear inches below 20 for climbing with: [https://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=26,40&RZ=9,42,40&UF=2215&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&DV=gearInches](https://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=26,40&RZ=9,42,40&UF=2215&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&DV=gearInches)
You should double check before purchase, but I believe the medium cage Sram Force 1 R DER has a max 42T spec. I would start there, along with a new longer chain and test out to see if it feels like it’s going to be enough for you. If you need lower gearing from there, then you could go down to 38T or 36T chainrings and shorten your chain to account for the smaller chainring.
Doing it this way let’s you see if you can handle ~1:1 gear ratio, and if so, you don’t lose your top end gearing and have to switch out your chainring. And doing an 11-42 instead of an 11-40 cassette allows you to keep more of your top gear if you end up having to downsize the front chainring.
You wanna be spinning fast cadences on steep gravel. Loss of traction each pedal stroke is a momentum killer, physically and psychologically. Dropping some psi in the rear helps.
So it’s more about gear inches than just cogs, which depends on your wheel size.
Also depends on your cadence ability. You want to be going as slow as possible while not falling over.
I’m not sure of how much a comparison of my experience is, but it might give you some useful info.
I’m in my mid 70’s and 2 years ago I rode ~2300kms trip that included a 90kms day with ~30kms on a variable gravel rail trail with a constant ~3-5% gradient climb with a few 11% off trail climbs thrown in for good measure. It was a lovely ride, but by the time I got to the top of the climb I was stuffed because of the constant cadence without much variation, and I still had ~40kms to get to my destination. In their day, even the steam trains struggled with some of the gradients, particularly in the winter when the rails were icy. Fortunately it was downhill to get to my destination and I was able to coast for a lot of it and made it to the small general store just before it closed for the day. The height gain for the day was 850m and as the temperature rose I increased the frequency of the rest stops. My average speed was pretty much in line with what Komoot had indicated as a likely average.
My bike (~15kgs) + gear was ~45kgs, partly because of the water that I carried for the hot day and distance, as well as my camping gear. My gearing is 42-32-22T front and 11-40T 10spd cassette. Even with this gearing, I found that the constant cadence for the climb was tiring and there were times when I had to get off and walk just to give my muscles a bit of a change and rest. My bottom gear is ~15 inches, and with bike touring, your bottom gear is much more important than the top gear.
Good luck with your trip and enjoy it.