@digininja I remembered this Mike Coty article and thought you might find it helpful. He talks about training for climbing and also his preferred gearing.
2 Likes
If anyone knows how to do it, Mike does. I’ll have a read.
1 Like
@digininja I just came back this weekend from my weekend race in Alabama, Cheaha Challenge. This particular Gran Fondo has over 9k ft. of elevation gain with grades going over 10% and averaging around 6%. I can tell you last year I thought I was going to be ok on a compact chainset with an 11-28 cassette, I was not; so for this year I changed out to an 11-32 cassette. I will tell you this was one of the smartest pre-race decisions I made this year. It helped keep my cadence and power in check when the climb would point straight up which helped to save my legs a bit because I was able to bailout to the 32t and just spin at a lower cadence and keep my power at about 80% of FTP which is exactly what part of my plan was.
I hope my little narrative here helps you make a decision for what you need to do for you and good luck in your competition.
3 Likes
I changed the cassette last weekend, but thanks for helping to confirm it was the right decision. I’ve only ridden it on a small local hill and it definitely felt easier.
Glad it helped you in your race. It seems odd that four extra teeth on a cog can make so much difference.
1 Like
4 extra teeth on 28 is 14% extra though. Which always helps!
Man, I hate that feeling when you go to bail out to that last cog and you realise that you’re already in it.
4 Likes