A couple of roadie cycling questions.

Posted by: Steve G on 01 January 2004

1. How long does it take before your legs stop hurting when you're pushing a 39/23 granny gear ration up steep hills (I love the 22/34 bailout gear on my MTB)?

2. If I decide to put a triple groupset on would I be better going for Shimano Sora or Campagnalo Xenon as they're about the same price?

Regards
Steve
Posted on: 01 January 2004 by Tim Danaher
Steve --

Question 1: Bernard Hinault once stated that you had to know three things in order to be a great cyclist:

1. Savoir se faire mal
2. Savoir se faire mal
3. Savoir se faire mal

"Know how to suffer". Short answer is it doesn't stop. Ever.

Question 2:

Xenon. But I would say that, I'm a Campagnolo snob.

C+ actually voted the levers and drive train as the bargain of the year. And it looks a lot better than Sora.

Cheers,

Tim
_____________________________

Os nid Campagnolo yw hi, dyw hi ddim yn werth ei marcho...
Posted on: 01 January 2004 by Steve G
quote:
Originally posted by Tim Danaher:

"Know how to suffer". Short answer is it doesn't stop. Ever.


Well was rarely a day in 2003 when my legs weren't hurting so I guess I'll just have to get used to it. :-(

quote:

Question 2:

Xenon. But I would say that, I'm a Campagnolo snob.

C+ actually voted the levers and drive train as the bargain of the year. And it looks a lot better than Sora.


Cheers. It looks like I can get the wheels, mechs, shifters, chainset and cassette for £200 which seems a pretty good price for a 9-speed setup. I was about to buy an XTR chainset for one of my mountain bikes but I might well spend the money on upgrading the road bike instead. I'm looking forward to having a 30/25 granny gear already...

Regards
Steve
Posted on: 02 January 2004 by John Sheridan
quote:
Originally posted by Steve G:

2. If I decide to put a triple groupset on would I be better going for Shimano Sora or Campagnalo Xenon as they're about the same price?




triple? Not sure what 9 speed cassettes are available but I have a 13-29 10 speed which has been enough to get my sorry a*se over several mountains during 2 etapes du tour.
Posted on: 03 January 2004 by Mike in PA, USA
I second not getting the triple, but that is probably mostly roadie snob-factor. I ride Campy 10 speed wih a 11-25 (11-23 for flat races/tts).
Posted on: 04 January 2004 by Steve G
I live in a hilly area and considering I'm planning to do a bit of touring on the bike then a triple setup makes sense to me, especially as I'm not particularily fit.

Regards
Steve
Posted on: 04 January 2004 by lambo
triple? Not sure what 9 speed cassettes are available but I have a 13-29 10 speed which has been enough to get my sorry a*se over several mountains during 2 etapes du tour.[/QUOTE]

Imho I went for the Centaur 10 block triple 30/40/50 with 13/25 on the rear and I must admit at first I thought I would look a bit of a woos until I hit the start of Alpe duez and the Gallibier. i actually enjoyed both rides knowing i could always drop to a 30/25 if needed In fact most people complained of too high a gear as I slowly plodded past them!! Interestingly a lot of the french riders were tripled up.
lambo
Posted on: 04 January 2004 by Steve G
I'm looking at changing road bike at the moment and the front runner has a 30/42/52 chainset and 12-25 at the back. If I do get it (which depends on them having my size available in the sales) then I'm looking forward to a 30/25 granny combination instead of my current 39/23.

Regards
Steve