Styler said:planning a trip to the alps for later this year has got me thinking about gears and so on. my
bike is set up with campag 10 speed - 53/39 at the front and 13/26 at the back. it should be fine
for some biggish hills, but it would be nice to have the option of using a 13/29 at the back.
however, as i'd have to change the rear mech for the longer cage version this is far more trouble
than it's worth!
This all depends on what kind of riding you are doing and what kind of rider you are. I got rid of
the 13/29 in favour of a 13/26 as I never used the 29 on a road bike. I only had it fitted in the
first place as I was used to touring and did not fully apprieciate that without all that camping
gear the hills would be less of a challenge, well at least a different kind of challenge.
Alpine climbs don't tend to be that steep, 10% is normal, but obviously they go on and on. So you
need a gear you can turn and turn and turn but you are not going to be faced with 20% hills very
often, if at all, and where they are that steep it is for short sections.
Quoted message said:what cassettes do people take with them when they cycle abroad, and do any of you gat around the
problem of campag mechs by changing to smaller chainrings?
I certainly did this when I toured the Alps on a 10 speed (That is a 5 speed with 2 chain rings).
52/34 stronglight chain rings with a 14/28 block.
Chris Gerhard
