campag gearing and Marmotte

Hi all,

this year i'm planning to do the Marmotte but have a prob with my current gearing - my lowest gear
is 39/25. will this gearing be low enough to climb up alpe d'huez after 9-10 hours up and down
through the alps? (i'm reasonbly fit). I've no experience of alpine climbs - long but how steep?

if not what options do i have to down-gear my record 10 speed? one thought i've had is to stick on a
cheap(ish) triple ie veloce 10speed 30/42/52. but would this work with a short cage rear mech? i
know campag says no but they would... and i can't afford crankset, bottom bracket AND rear mech (not
at current UK prices, anyway) just for one day

or alternatively a 9 speed crankset (a much cheaper xenon!). again i know campag says no, but is it
truely unworkable?

TIA stu

 

WHat gears you need is a personal choice, I have climbed most of the ones in La Marmotte (not the
Galibier from Valoire) with a 39x24 but not all in one day. I would use a triple, you will not be
the only person doing so. Its better to have the low gears in reserve than be absolutley shot
halfway up the 2nd last climb.

As for chainsets I can give no help as I have not used Capmanolo but I would be surprised if a short
cage rear mech does not work, Shimano ones do just don't try 30x12 !

You could fit a really cheap (£40) triple for the event if you don't want to spend much, thats what
I did for the Raid Pyrenean last year. No one will judge you on your gruppo when you are sailing
past them !

I'd love to do LaMarmotte, those mountains are superb. The climbs are long and sometimes steep but
the views on a clear day are breathtaking, the descents are great especially the Lauteret down to
Bourg d'Oisan, about 40km down hill and just a few sharp corners near the top.

Enjoy it.

 

xixang <[email protected]> wrote:
: Hi all,

: this year i'm planning to do the Marmotte but have a prob with my current gearing - my lowest gear
: is 39/25. will this gearing be low enough to climb up alpe d'huez after 9-10 hours up and down
: through the alps? (i'm reasonbly fit). I've no experience of alpine climbs - long but how steep?

I'm doing this as well. The cheap option seems to be this:

Fit cheap Campag 30/40/50 chainset and 13-23 block Accept that short cage rear mech won't take up
all the slack in the little-little combos. Don't use them.

The other option that I'm thinking about is to stick with 13-26 9 speed but use a 34/50 chainset.
This is actually more expensive that the above though.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org "Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

 

stblackburn-<< this year i'm planning to do the Marmotte but have a prob with my current gearing -
my lowest gear is 39/25. will this gearing be low enough to climb up alpe d'huez after 9-10 hours up
and down through the alps? (i'm reasonbly fit). >><BR><BR>

Yer kidding, right? Tour riders have problems with this climb, using the same gearing.

You can either just put on a 13-26 or 13-29, or get a 'Tyler' crank/BB, 110mm bolt diameter with
50/34 rings or get a Campagnolo triple where you will need the crank, BB, front der and probably
rear der, altho with imaginitive chainlengths(read, too short) you can get by with a short cage
rear mech.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

xixang wrote in message ...
>Hi all,
>
>this year i'm planning to do the Marmotte but have a prob with my current gearing - my lowest gear
>is 39/25. will this gearing be low enough to
climb
>up alpe d'huez after 9-10 hours up and down through the alps? (i'm
reasonbly
>fit). I've no experience of alpine climbs - long but how steep?
>
>if not what options do i have to down-gear my record 10 speed? one thought i've had is to stick on
>a cheap(ish) triple ie veloce 10speed 30/42/52. but would this work with a short cage rear mech? i
>know campag says no but
they
>would... and i can't afford crankset, bottom bracket AND rear mech (not at current UK prices,
>anyway) just for one day
>
>or alternatively a 9 speed crankset (a much cheaper xenon!). again i know campag says no, but is it
>truely unworkable?
>
>TIA stu
>
>
I'm doing the Marmotte as well. Currently around Paris I run a 12-25 cassette on my Record 10
equipped bike. Depending on fitness level after a Bordeaux-Paris end of june I might opt for the 13-
29 cassette, that I have available.

What ever your gearing choice will be, Good luck (and legs) for the Marmotte.

 

xixang wrote:
> I've no experience of alpine climbs - long but how steep?

http://www.salite.ch/

 

David L. Johnson wrote:
> On Tue, 03 Feb 2004 21:51:41 +0000, xixang wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> this year i'm planning to do the Marmotte but have a prob with my current gearing - my lowest
>> gear is 39/25. will this gearing be low enough to climb up alpe d'huez after 9-10 hours up
>> and down through the alps? (i'm reasonbly fit). I've no experience of alpine climbs - long
>> but how steep?
>
> As long as those climbs are, anything will appear steep, but I think that the top of that one is
> steep by anyone's standards.

http://www.salite.ch/huez,da1.htm