How was your ride today?

Just a quick comment: you do not need to change the gearing on your bike. Just try to shift up (or down) and don’t push that hard every time you pedal. Experiment with it.

Well, he might. You could go for a compact on long steep climbs and have (say) 34:30. Pair that with a 50:11 and that’s plenty big enough for most mere mortals on the flat.

Also worth considering crank length.

Edit: no idea if you can actually get an 11/30 cassette from Shimano or SRAM… Pretty sure Campag don’t do one.

Your knees may have something to say about that, long term. :wink:

Switching crank sets that are different sizes isn’t like switching your wheels.

You don’t just decide the night before, 53/39 tomorrow and 50/34 the following day. Unless you just have money to burn on new chain sets every weekend. Different sizes crank sets means different length of your chain. With 53 and 39 “teeth”, you’ll need a much longer chain than a crank with 50 and 34…“teeth”. Which means, on top of a new crank set, you need a brand new chain. Also, you can’t get a 53/39 crank set at Sora or Tiagra (group set) level.

Here’s a passage from Chain Reaction Cyclists about choosing the right crankset:

–Road bike chainsets can be loosely grouped into two types – traditional and compact, with the former geared towards advanced riders and the racing end of the spectrum, and the latter offering ‘easier’ gearing options for leisure riders.
– Traditional chainsets will features a double chainring setup with 39- and 53-tooth chainrings a common standard. These combined with 9-, 10- or 11-speed cassettes offer up to 22 gears, but the big outer chainring means that the traditional setup is more suited to hard-riding cyclists who can sustain a high pace – i.e. in a race or training situation, or where the terrain predominantly consists of flat, smooth surfaces.
– Compact chainsets feature a double chainring setup with 34- and 50-tooth rings, offering a lower range of gears that’s friendly to the beginner, the leisure cyclist and anyone who needs to take on steep hills. The thoroughbred racer may appreciate the traditional chainset in an elbows-out sprint to the finish line, but for the majority of weekend warriors tackling charity events and training for sportives, a compact chainse will do just fine.
– A further option, but generally only seen on entry-level bikes, is for a triple chainset with rings of 30-42-53 teeth. This provides the ultra-low ‘granny gear’ option for ‘sit and spin’ type hill climbing, but adds extra weight.

How about this, @Throwaway , you go up Yang Ming Shan (to Leng Shui Keng) without putting your foot on the ground before the year ends and I’ll 100% support your claim to a 53/39. Fair deal?

[quote=“ranlee, post:324, topic:67878, full:true”]

Switching crank sets that are different sizes isn’t like switching your wheels.

You don’t just decide the night before, 53/39 tomorrow and 50/34 the following day. Unless you just have money to burn on new chain sets every weekend. Different sizes crank sets means different length of your chain. With 53 and 39 “teeth”, you’ll need a much longer chain than a crank with 50 and 34…“teeth”. Which means, on top of a new crank set, you need a brand new chain. Also, you can’t get a 53/39 crank set at Sora or Tiagra (group set) level.[/quote]

That’s not necessarily the case, in my experience.

I have switched cranksets between 53/39 (with a 12/25), 52/36 (with 12/27) and 50/34 (with 12/29) without changing the chain. It probably is slightly too long (I really should check), but I just don’t use the extremes (e.g. 34:12, 34:13 or 50:29, 50:27) so it’s not an issue. Just remember to adjust the front mech.

This.

You’re missing out on some gearing though. I guess it’s a sacrifice you can take, might be more cost efficient than buying a whole new bike with different gearing, but who wouldn’t want an excuse to buy a new bike? :smiley:

'twas ever thus. I was taught not to cross-chain, although I see there is even conflicting advice on this now.

A comment from the article:

Other people can cross chain if they want, I don’t care. But it puts additional stresses on everything and wears everything out faster and there’s no need if you use your gears properly.

That’s actually a pretty interesting read.

I personally really like the 50 - 11 gear ratio and use it pretty often on my old bike. However, I don’t think my chain replacement is abnormal, where I’m looking at a new chain every…4-6000km. That article will be haunting me from here on out, thanks for that :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

I bought my Dura Ace group set second hand without the crank set, so I went out and bought a 52/36. Previous owner had a 50/34 on there and the chain fits, but unable to use anything above 25 in the back when I’m on the big ring. No complaints really, I like my knees and I don’t need another injury.

+1 to the SRAM comments in that article. I cross chain all the time, (especially in the big chain ring) for exactly those reasons. Dropping a chain mid race (or just mid climb) during a big to small front change totally ruins your day. So if you dont need it, dont do it.

And even when riding big-big a lot, I find that Campagnolo Record chains last about 10-20.000 km. Super hard metal. You definitely have to swap cassette at the same time as the chain, though, if you wait that long to change.

50/34:11/25 was my pick for Taiwan cycling. Still rocking that now, in Okinawa, with nowhere near the elevation (but ten years older, which is about the same thing).

fsdafsdfa

I was going to take to the mountains for a quick one peak ride yesterday, but as I made it out to the riverside, I noticed that every mountain, aside from Guanyinshan was covered in clouds.

I figured, I’d do a quick riverside loop near home and go home to get some more sleep. That did not happen as I got to every bridge crossing. I ended up doing the “Tour of Taipei” as a solo ride.

Despite it being a dry and rather warm day, the paths were pretty quiet. Only had one problem in the hole 65km where I ran into a group of ah bei that were riding slow and covering the width of the path.

Below pic was taken not too far after Da Dao Cheng Wharf. “Green tunnels” are always one of my favorites.

I had planned to spend the day feeling sorry for myself and nursing the remnants of an early cold, but this post – and today’s awesome weather – inspired me to get out and do the same loop.

Thank you sir.

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Don’t mention it.

I was feeling a bit similar on Sunday when I did this route. One friend overslept and the other was on his way to meet me and got drenched around the corner from his home. He decided to turn around.

I normally do not like to ride by myself, but sometimes it’s quite peaceful.

What’s the secret to the Nangang portion? I’ve only done that route twice, and the first time I just got lost trying to follow “streams”, so today I just trundled down the main road opposite the MRT station, and then hooked a right onto Academia Sinica Road until I got into the hills.

Is there an actual bike path that I can’t seem to find? Just to get through Nangang, I mean.

Well, actually yesterday.
Still in the recovering fase after the dislocated shoulder (which also happened to be broken), so limiting myself to the flats.

Screenshot_20171107-202427

P_20171106_100852

I’m no sir, the Queen of England hasn’t knighted me for any great feats of…anything. However, that’s always been a dream of mine. No need to thank me before I even give you an answer :D.

You mean to get from Muzha (zoo area) to Nangang? There’s two hills. Either Fu De Kang (the graveyard climb) or Shen Nan Road.(aka the 109). There’s no river path connecting the two since…there’s a mountain separating them.

I mean the crappy parts through the city streets between the river and… where it starts to get nice.

More specifically, when riding from the riverside path in Nangang (on the south side of the Keelung River) the path eventually goes up a small hill, then takes you away from the river along the sidewalks to Nangang Exhibition Hall MRT Station. At this point, I can’t figure out what happens to the bike path, if it exists, so I’ve ended up peddling through the grubby, bus-strewn streets (Jingmao 2 road, I think, and then Academia Sinica Road – where I’m constantly getting cut off by all of the shit traffic) until reaching the Technology University after Academia Sinica, after which it’s a lovely ride over to Muzha via the cemetery.

The shit part (i.e., MRT Nangang Exhibion Hall to Technology University) is not very long but it’s rather unpleasant. Is there an actual bike path through this?

Since that’s the cut off point of Taipei City and New Taipei City, the path don’t connect. If you want to continue on the path, you have to cross the Nan Hu Bridge over to Dong Hu and continue onto Xizhi.

Unfortunately, there’s no other way to get from the river paths over to Academia Sinica. There’s a side road you can take that is parallel to Yian Jiou Rd/Academia Sinic Rd and a bit quieter, but there’s a few four way intersections that don’t have traffic lights. I would take traffic on a major road over small intersections where no one yields.

There’s also the option of exiting left after the riverside exit then hanging a left when you get the No.5 and a right turn to go under the bridge. So that’s… Gang Dong Street → No. 5 → Minquan Rd → Academia Sinica Rd. It’s quieter, but lots of small side streets.

I think as long as your checking your 6 and taking notice to traffic, it’s actually not that bad. Nothing is perfect.

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How steep is the 109? I’ve only ridden the graveyard road, which is quiet and has virtually no traffic. But the climb from the zoo up is pretty steep.

Steeper on both sides, but really not that bad if it’s the only climb you’re doing that day. If I’m not lazy and if I’m heading in the Ping Xi direction, I’ll always take the 109.

Both roads don’t see too much traffic, but 109 has a designated scooter/bike lane (on both Shenkeng and Nangang sides).

I’ll also note that the road condition on the 109 is better and the road itself is much wider than the grave yard climb. Also, the views are much better on the 109.

All in all:

109 > Grave yard

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