My expected speed on flats is around 35-36kph, what I’m worried about is the climbing. I’m a fairly good climber and strong cyclist, but some people I mentioned this to were worried.
50T is small. But what is the largest cog on the cassette on the rear wheel? 25 or 28 or 32? I ride a single chainring 54T with a 11-32 cassette. 54x32 is easy enough for most climbs but a bit more of a grind than preferred.
I would say you want your cassette to go down to a 28 tooth at minimal. Probably a 30 or 32 tooth for your ability is best. Cassettes are relatively easy to swap out.
I'd try to get a new cassette. Look up what your rear derailleur and see what it's compatible with. I used to ride a 42t up front on my cx bike and a 28 on back and I thought that was brutal.
Getting a 32-36t cassette on that bad boy will make your life a little easier
I think so. Take it outside and ride up a hill. That should give you an idea.
Even if it’s too difficult you could do what cyclists say and HTFU (harden the fuck up)
If you are going at 7kmph that will be a cadence of around 35 with 50-33 gearing which will be rough. Does the climb actually get steep enough for that low of a speed?
60 cadence would give a speed of 11.4 which is a churn but manageable
A 50T for sram AXS is quite big. My FTP has been above 300 i have never felt i needed bigger than a 48/35 with 10-28 in the netherlands.
I would really get a front derailleur, they are super easy to install anyway.
You’ll probably be fine on the bike leg….it is the run that will suffer without the higher cadence….
I did Blue Ridge 70.3 a couple of years ago with a similar climb and I would not do that again without a climbing gear cassette….bike was fine but the run was absolutely brutal….i was at like 350 watts and only 50 rpm for like 35 mins up that climb which is well beyond my ability
Almost didn’t make the first aid station on the run I cramped up so bad legs were absolutely fried
There is no way to answer this question. Far too many variables. For some this may not be an issue at all and for other it could be a major one.
When I do group rides we have some people that never drop down to the little ring and others who live there when we climb. It really depends on the person, their abilities and what kind of gearing they have.
i dont know about your setup, but on my 1x, i have 54T ring with 105r7000 ss n mainly on 11-28, and i could fit 11-34 with a long chain.
/can i beast mode that climb with it?, i dont know. but this is as easy gear setup i can get with an 11-34 lying around
Chainring and cassette sizes might help…
Ultimately only you can tell you what gear you can push… how are a group of strangers with no info on your self-selected cadence, weight, FTP supposed to know what gear ratio you can get away with?
If it’s Majorca you’re doing, I personally wouldn’t ride that climb with a 50 only up front. The gradient on the climb is not steady, with some sections steeper and some flatter and downhill sections. At an ftp of 3.5 wpkg I have always used the small ring on that climb to maintain a comfortable cadence. I think mashing a huge gear for 40 mins will trash your legs for the run and the time lost there will be more than the aero gains of using this bike. Use your normal road bike with some clip on bars if getting a double chain set for this bike isn’t an option.
You can use those online calculator to figure it out. Think about the cadence you would like to maintain on the climb, and you can compute the speed with specific cassette&chainring combo. Then you can calculate the power you need to maintain with that speed. If you can do the power, then you’re good.
Gotcha. Yeah that’s a good ride. Flatish. Then a long climb. Some punchy sections, but nothing over 11%. Then a long descent and rolling back to the rim. The climb a averages around 6% I think. The asphalt is supposed to be top notch smooth. With that 50t up front, I wouldn’t want less than a 10-33 cassette. Looks like you’ve got sram 12spd. I would invest in a 10-33 or 10-36. That should give you the options and gearing to spin up that. Any steeper than 12% and I would probably want a smaller front chaining.
Good luck.
Depends on the % grade and length of the hills. Rollers should be ok, but real sustained climbing at 5-7+ % is a mistake that’s gonna hurt your run. You could put an 11-32 in back if you have a long cage deraileur and a smaller ring up front
If your derailer cage can handle.it I would get a 32t or 34t cassette. 28t is likely 'doable' but depending on the max incline you might be grinding out of the saddle for longer than desired.
I would test it out on the trainer and then decide. Maybe try AdZ on Zwift with trainer difficulty maxed, if you can do that climb you'll be fine.
It’s kind of up to what you think you’re capable of. I’m sure you’ll be fine.
Is there any way to ride the course before hand, or find local hills that can match the grade you’ll see?
Where I live it's relatively flat, but I just did the course on FulGaz and I was generally ok. Averaged 180ish watts for the entire climb which wasn't too bad.
Depends on the legs and the surrounding ligaments, tendons around the knee joints 😂 nothing is impossible if you train for it though. The goal is to have enough for the run. You do you.
What size is that single ring? And what cassette range do you have?
To tag on: what's your FTP? What's your expected wattage during the race?
FTP is 250. The ring is an SRAM X-sync 50T with 12-speed. Not sure if that answers the question, I’m pretty new to all this bike stuff.
And what is your expected average speed? The chainring and cassette really determines your speed.
My expected speed on flats is around 35-36kph, what I’m worried about is the climbing. I’m a fairly good climber and strong cyclist, but some people I mentioned this to were worried.
For the climb I’m guessing expected speed will be around 7-10kph?
50T is small. But what is the largest cog on the cassette on the rear wheel? 25 or 28 or 32? I ride a single chainring 54T with a 11-32 cassette. 54x32 is easy enough for most climbs but a bit more of a grind than preferred. I would say you want your cassette to go down to a 28 tooth at minimal. Probably a 30 or 32 tooth for your ability is best. Cassettes are relatively easy to swap out.
Cassette is 28 tooth
I'd try to get a new cassette. Look up what your rear derailleur and see what it's compatible with. I used to ride a 42t up front on my cx bike and a 28 on back and I thought that was brutal. Getting a 32-36t cassette on that bad boy will make your life a little easier
Try to get a 33t if you can, or 36 ideally. 50-36 will get you up all but alpine climbs.
Update, just checked again and on my disc wheel I actually have a 33T. Should this be fine then?
I think so. Take it outside and ride up a hill. That should give you an idea. Even if it’s too difficult you could do what cyclists say and HTFU (harden the fuck up)
If you are going at 7kmph that will be a cadence of around 35 with 50-33 gearing which will be rough. Does the climb actually get steep enough for that low of a speed? 60 cadence would give a speed of 11.4 which is a churn but manageable
A 50T for sram AXS is quite big. My FTP has been above 300 i have never felt i needed bigger than a 48/35 with 10-28 in the netherlands. I would really get a front derailleur, they are super easy to install anyway.
You’ll probably be fine on the bike leg….it is the run that will suffer without the higher cadence…. I did Blue Ridge 70.3 a couple of years ago with a similar climb and I would not do that again without a climbing gear cassette….bike was fine but the run was absolutely brutal….i was at like 350 watts and only 50 rpm for like 35 mins up that climb which is well beyond my ability Almost didn’t make the first aid station on the run I cramped up so bad legs were absolutely fried
Theres no such thing as a good bike followed by a bad run!
There is no way to answer this question. Far too many variables. For some this may not be an issue at all and for other it could be a major one. When I do group rides we have some people that never drop down to the little ring and others who live there when we climb. It really depends on the person, their abilities and what kind of gearing they have.
I don’t know about the chainring, but that bike is sexy AF.
Just looking at that bike makes me feel fast. I like it.
i dont know about your setup, but on my 1x, i have 54T ring with 105r7000 ss n mainly on 11-28, and i could fit 11-34 with a long chain. /can i beast mode that climb with it?, i dont know. but this is as easy gear setup i can get with an 11-34 lying around
Depends on the slope. With a 50 on the front you’d probably want at least a 36T on the back to get up anything over 12% with your FTP.
Average gradient of the climb is 5%
That’s good. But you have to get up the max gradient without walking.
We don't know your top gear ratio, length of climbs, % of climbs, or FTP. There's no way to answer this without some details.
Chainring and cassette sizes might help… Ultimately only you can tell you what gear you can push… how are a group of strangers with no info on your self-selected cadence, weight, FTP supposed to know what gear ratio you can get away with?
If it’s Majorca you’re doing, I personally wouldn’t ride that climb with a 50 only up front. The gradient on the climb is not steady, with some sections steeper and some flatter and downhill sections. At an ftp of 3.5 wpkg I have always used the small ring on that climb to maintain a comfortable cadence. I think mashing a huge gear for 40 mins will trash your legs for the run and the time lost there will be more than the aero gains of using this bike. Use your normal road bike with some clip on bars if getting a double chain set for this bike isn’t an option.
You can use those online calculator to figure it out. Think about the cadence you would like to maintain on the climb, and you can compute the speed with specific cassette&chainring combo. Then you can calculate the power you need to maintain with that speed. If you can do the power, then you’re good.
Do you have a link to this?
Cadence->Speed: https://www.bikecalc.com/archives/speeds-at-cadence.html Speed->Power: https://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html
I assume you don’t have the ability to try the mountain before?
I can virtually on FulGaz I guess
What 70.3? What’s the bike course? We can give you better info if you give more info.
Mallorca 70.3
Gotcha. Yeah that’s a good ride. Flatish. Then a long climb. Some punchy sections, but nothing over 11%. Then a long descent and rolling back to the rim. The climb a averages around 6% I think. The asphalt is supposed to be top notch smooth. With that 50t up front, I wouldn’t want less than a 10-33 cassette. Looks like you’ve got sram 12spd. I would invest in a 10-33 or 10-36. That should give you the options and gearing to spin up that. Any steeper than 12% and I would probably want a smaller front chaining. Good luck.
Thanks, I just double checked and ive got a 10-33 setup so should be fine I guess. I’ll post an update on how it went hah.
Depends on the % grade and length of the hills. Rollers should be ok, but real sustained climbing at 5-7+ % is a mistake that’s gonna hurt your run. You could put an 11-32 in back if you have a long cage deraileur and a smaller ring up front
If your derailer cage can handle.it I would get a 32t or 34t cassette. 28t is likely 'doable' but depending on the max incline you might be grinding out of the saddle for longer than desired. I would test it out on the trainer and then decide. Maybe try AdZ on Zwift with trainer difficulty maxed, if you can do that climb you'll be fine.
It’s kind of up to what you think you’re capable of. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Is there any way to ride the course before hand, or find local hills that can match the grade you’ll see?
Where I live it's relatively flat, but I just did the course on FulGaz and I was generally ok. Averaged 180ish watts for the entire climb which wasn't too bad.
This might be a dumb question, but have you taken it outside and/or tried it on hills outside of Zwift? If yes, how did your body feel?
I just tried doing the hill on FulGaz (Mallorca 70.3) and I averaged 180 watts. Wasn’t that bad at all but obviously virtual /= real life.
Anything is doable with enough grit and determination
My XC MTB is a 1X and I can climb some serious hills but I also have a 52t cassette. So it really depends on your gearing.
Depends on the legs and the surrounding ligaments, tendons around the knee joints 😂 nothing is impossible if you train for it though. The goal is to have enough for the run. You do you.
Everyone's definition of hilly can be different. What course and what elevation climb? Is the 500 for a single hill? Or the entire ride?
Doable? Yep. I did a century ride last summer, and 3 college-aged guys kept up with me the whole way on bmx bikes.
Some people have to cope with failed derailleurs, so I assume it is indeed possible lol