Back training - two questions

54and56

Hi all,

Enthusiatic, pretty fit but ageing mid 50's bloke tipping 100kg on the scales here looking for some advice.

I'm doing a 5 day charity event in the summer which will average about 150km a day with about 1,000m of climbing per day. Nothing massive by other peoples standards but enough of a challenge for me to focus on getting the miles in the legs over the coming months, hit the spin classes, lose a few KG and make sure my trusty bike (Cube Peleton Pro) is as well set up as possible. It's the latter I'm looking for a bit of help with.

Two questions:-

1. My chainring is a Shimano FC-R563 50x39X30T Triple paired to a Tiagra 4600 10 speed 12-28T cassette with a Shimano 105 FD-5702BLL front and Shimano 105 RD-5701GS rear derailleur's which produces a gear ratio range of 1.07 to 4.17.

I could do with some help on the steepest hills so was wondering about swapping the 12-28T cassette for an 11-34T Tiagra or 105 cassette. Is this possible without having to also swap out the rear derailleur and/or the crank set etc? If it's possible I'll ask my LBS to do it but I'd like to have an idea what I'm asking for before I go in or avoid looking like a complete tool if what I'm looking to do is a complete no no!!

2. This is minor OCD but has been bugging me for a while. I purchased a Moon Cerberus Rear Light which I'm very happy with. The instructions and all online photo's show it mounted as I have it in the picture below but by doing so the angle of the light is parallel to the seat post and therefore points downwards behind the bike which I think makes it less visible to oncoming cars. I tend to mount it "upside down" as in the 2nd picture which results in the lights being more perpendicular to the road and therefore more straight on to traffic from behind. The only snag with doing this that I can see is that the USB C charge port is more exposed to the elements (still well insulated behind a rubber plug) as it is now at the top rather than bottom of the light as mounted and the bracket for clipping to the seat post is on the lower half of the light rather than the top half. I've done a few spins and haven't encountered any problems with either the USB C getting wet of the light not staying tightly mounted to the seat post.

Am I missing something? Is there a reason designers of an otherwise brilliant seat post light wouldn't set it up from the outset to be mounted such that the lights project back towards oncoming traffic rather than down over the rear wheel?



Vs the "wrong" way to mount it.

Wishbone Ash

Re the light -

Have you had a look at it at night from some distance away? Most good lights are designed to be effective even at an angle.

Alternatively, mount it slightly lower so that the bottom of it is over the bracket for the seat tube screw. That will push it out a bit at the bottom.

Wishbone Ash

If you replace the cassette with a larger one, you'll need a new chain and may need a longer derailleur cage.

rcklap

Fair play to you firstly.

As your event is in the summer, I think if you keep training you will have no issues with the ratio you have.

Re: the light, consider spending the cash on some race blade mud guards, would buy you some space on your seat tube to mount the light differently.

Lastly - I'm 35 and fairly crocked already but would you consider getting a bike fit done. I feel a bike fit is definitely worth the spend before you go swapping out chain rings, cassettes and chains.

Wishbone Ash

rcklap wrote: »

....Re: the light, consider spending the cash on some race blade mud guards, would buy you some space on your seat tube to mount the light differently....

I think the mudguard is mounted on the frame rather than the exposed part of the seat post. Regardless, the angle would be the same.

54and56

rcklap wrote: »

Fair play to you firstly.

As your event is in the summer, I think if you keep training you will have no issues with the ratio you have.

Re: the light, consider spending the cash on some race blade mud guards, would buy you some space on your seat tube to mount the light differently.

Lastly - I'm 35 and fairly crocked already but would you consider getting a bike fit done. I feel a bike fit is definitely worth the spend before you go swapping out chain rings, cassettes and chains.

Thanks rcklap,

Had a bike fit with Aidan Hammond some time back and couldn't recommend it highly enough. I was actually quite well set up already but the tweaks he made had an amazing effect. I was never uncomfortable on the bike but since the fit I can ride for extended periods without any discomfort, no pressure on my wrists and my stroke is much more efficient.

Can't improve on the fit I'm afraid so will have to tweak both the kit and myself to get the best performance I can out of limited resources :-)

07Lapierre

Your current gear setup is very, very low. A 30x28 = 1.07 and 30x 34 = 0.88!

As WA said, changing your cassette will mean a new chain and depending on how old your chainset is, you may need New chainrings.

You can't get away from the fact that climbing hills is hard. You have a good few months, so my advise is to get out on your bike and climb hills. Take the climbs at your own pace and you will conquer them.

Regarding your rear light, can you mount it on your saddle bag?

54and56

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Alternatively, mount it slightly lower so that the bottom of it is over the bracket for the seat tube screw. That will push it out a bit at the bottom.

Check out the big brains on WA :P

Popped out to the shed and installed the light the "correct" way at the bottom of the seat post which not only gives more clearance space between the light and the saddle bag but more importantly the way the light sits over the seat tube screw actually straightens it up so that when clamped it is perpendicular to the road. The fit isn't flush against the seat post (obviously) but it's a very good solution.

Thanks WA, appreciate it.

54and56

07Lapierre wrote: »

Your current gear setup is very, very low. A 30x28 = 1.07 and 30x 34 = 0.88!

As WA said, changing your cassette will mean a new chain and depending on how old your chainset is, you may need New chainrings.

You can't get away from the fact that climbing hills is hard. You have a good few months, so my advise is to get out on your bike and climb hills. Take the climbs at your own pace and you will conquer them.

Ah, I know you're right and that's what I do fairly regularly (I know my way around north Wicklow, Enniskerry, Laragh, Bray Head, Sally Gap etc etc and do indeed pace myself using both a cadence sensor and a HR Monitor. I know for example that if my HR is getting up beyond 145 I need to drop gears and/or slow my cadence. The problem is there are (thankfully not too many) times on very steep climbs rather than long drags when I'm out of gears, my cadence is in the low 50's and my HR is over 160 which means I'm gassed. On those occasions having a bale out option which would enable me to step down from a minimum 1.07 to a 0.88 gear ratio would definitely help!! I'm an old overweight fart don't forget

07Lapierre wrote: »

Regarding your rear light, can you mount it on your saddle bag?

Good idea but no I don't think so, it's specifically designed to fit to a seat post. I'll have a look but I can't think how I could make it work better than WA's suggestion.

07Lapierre

The problem is, you have a 30x28 now and your looking to change to a 30x34. I guarantee, if you do change to a 30x34, you'll still find a hill where you'll wish you had a 30x36! If your gear is too low, you run the risk of the front wheel lifting off the road on a steep hill.

Their isn't a cyclist alive who hasn't wished for a lower gear at some point!

54and56

07Lapierre wrote: »

The problem is, you have a 30x28 now and your looking to change to a 30x34. I guarantee, if you do change to a 30x34, you'll still find a hill where you'll wish you had a 30x36! If your gear is too low, you run the risk of the front wheel lifting off the road on a steep hill.

Their isn't a cyclist alive who hasn't wished for a lower gear at some point!

I hear you!!

I'm not on a crusade to get it done but if it's an option and if i need to get a new chain or cassette any time soon I'll definitely be exploring the option of having 11-34 on the back.

Doing wheelies up Corkscrew Hill or Molls Gap would be epic :-)

Daroxtar

What I find on the steepest stuff is the once I get to the point where 34/28 can't hack it, it's almost as tough to just keep upright using 34/32 as I'm spinning but getting nowhere and as previously mentioned, it's a balancing act to stop the front wheel lifting or if I get too much over the front wheel, the back wheel starts to skid.
Hills are hard. They don't get easier, you just get faster.
At my stage, that's a lie. You don't really get any faster either, you just learn to live with them.

Wishbone Ash

Realistically speaking, (and I'm open to correction) but a charity event is unlikely to have too many gradients of more than 15% or so. The easiest way to climb a very steep gradient is to simply slow down and take it easy rather than trying to do it balls out.

As Daroxtar and 07Lapierre have said, you can generally adapt to what you have but if you have lower, you'll look for it, if you don't you'll manage without it.

54and56

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Realistically speaking, (and I'm open to correction) but a charity event is unlikely to have too many gradients of more than 15% or so. The easiest way to climb a very steep gradient is to simply slow down and take it easy rather than trying to do it balls out.

As Daroxtar and 07Lapierre have said, you can generally adapt to what you have but if you have lower, you'll look for it, if you don't you'll manage without it.

Ok ok ok, challenge accepted. I'll just feckin man up and grind it out.

When I'm half way up some climb and gassed and my mates are wondering why I'm swearing to myself about Wishbones and Boards I'm going to refer them back to this thread!!