Originally Posted by bobbyl1966
Thank you for your answers. Is very helpful. I learn from you. I do like steel road bikes. My bianchi is so heavy but is ride smooth. Just is too heavy for the hills. Maybe is beacuse i have put 53/39 crank and 9 speeds cassete 12-25. Is has when i buy 52/42 crank and freewheel 6 speeds 14-28. What is better you think i can do i found other cassete and has 28 cog or 30 or is better i found triple crank. But i do look to buy from bikes direct when i can afford or racing steel old bike and can accept 9 speeds cassete.
Depends on how much money you want to spend.
You need to find out if your Bianchi has a short, medium, or long cage rear derailleur before you go and start making rear gear changes. Typically a short cage will handle nothing more then a 27 tooth cog (large) rear gear and a very few will handle a 28 tooth cog, everything else below that is fine. A medium one will work with a 30 cog, and a long cage with a 34 tooth cog. The larger cog you can use with whatever derailleur you have the easier it is climb hills. So the expense is assuming you have short cage but want a 30 cog then you would not only have to buy the new cassette but also a new derailleur with a medium length cage. Get the idea?
The second gears to look at is the front, the easiest gears to have for hill climbing is called compact gears which usually has a 50 tooth large ring gear and a 34 tooth small ring gear. To make this change work you don't have to get a new front derailleur.
It sounds like you have a short cage rear derailleur but you should check to make sure, if you do then get a 12-27 (maybe a 28 depending on the derailleur) cassette, and 50/34 chainrings and you should be set to go to hit the hills with less strain. If you find out you have a medium length rear derailleur cage then get a 12 or 13 to 30 cassette and the same compact chainrings I already mentioned. I doubt you have a long cage derailleur but if you do then simply get a 12 or 13 to 34 cassette.
The only other thing you can do to make hill climbing easier is to get lighter weight rims like Kinlin XR300 rims with low cost Velocity hubs, and DT Competition double butted spokes; but this is an expensive option that could cost around $525 for the wheelset but it will only weigh about 1,766 grams.
you can get lighter but the wheels will cost more of course.
