I ride a 'Roberts' 20.5" custom frame with 53/39 & 12/21 cassette. I find I get up most thing OK
with this combo; (I live in the Chilterns, a lot of hills, some quite steep). I will usually put on
a 12/19 for the summer, but resort to 13/23 when I visit Wales or Peaks because the hills ae
generally longer but not steeper). If your coming from MTBs, you'll soon get used to it. My old
'lightweight' Marin Rift Zone is a LOT heavier than either of my road bikes, & the gloopy mud, even
on the flat, requires much lower gears to make forward progress, if at all! In case you're
wondering, I'm 48 & try to ride at least 100 miles a week, time permitting. It sounds a lot at
first, but is only about 6 hours riding time (I'm not that fast), so 2 or 3 rides a week normally
cover it. ( I used to do a lot more miles, but chronic neck injury flares up when on bike, bloody
computer induce RSI).
Anyway, enjoy the road, it's very different to MTBing but offers fun just the same.
Niv.
"Michael Kent" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> As a newby to road cycling (well on a road bike anyway) I'm just curious
as
> to the diversity of road bike frame gear combinations.
> E.g. My frame is a 60cm with 180mm cranks running 52/39 front chainwheel. and a 12/23 rear. Can
> anyone see any advantages downfalls to this set-up. Cheers Michael