been told my gears are not right for me on the hills



cous i hill

New Member
Jul 5, 2011
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hi yer this was first road bike it' a barracuda road bike which is very smooth and quiet 16 speed 39x53 13x22 three years ago i cycled to skegness for charity on it but i was fitter and lighter we did 93 miles but getting back on my bike i can not believe how unfit i am now because i like weight training as well i have put on 15kgs and just turned the big 50 i spoke to someone on a forum about the hills are killing me i had to get off my bike half way up a few hills for the first time such pain this time round he said the gearing was hard for me and that i need lower gear set up any info on this would be grateful i know i need lot more milage on the road cheers
 
Is that a 22 or a 32?


You should be able to get a cassette or freewheel with more teeth. You might need a different rear derailleur and a longer chain. That would make it easier to get up the hill.
 
There are a couple of directions you could go.

For the rear cassette, you could change to something like a 13-28 or 14-28 with the same number of sprockets (I'm assuming 8 since you said it was a 16-speed). Much larger than that and you may have to change the derailleur and the chain (you may have to lengthen the chain anyway).

You could also change the front chainrings from the 53/39 to a "compact double"--50/34. You would lose some top-end speed, but with a 50/13 combo, you can still muster a respectable speed when the fortune of a tailwind smiles on you.

You may even want to do both mods so that your lowest gear is a 34/28 combo. That's the lowest combo on my old bike, and it only caused me to struggle on the steepest hills. My current bike has a triple front, so my lowest gear is a 30/28, and I can climb just about anything, it just takes a while (it's also the gear I use on hills when I want to save my legs in the middle of a long ride).

Jason
 
thanks for that info jason plenty of choice to go at i will price things up and see how much it will cost just want to ask you i've been looking at the new boardman compact 20 speed what's your view on these bikes. glen
 
I think Jason is right on here. If you can't go easily uphill, lower gears is the ticket. You want very low gears that your componets can handle.