Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Forums

1x drivetrain crew--what size is your chainring?

Jump to Latest
61 - 80 of 90 Posts
#61 ·
Alias530 said:
Average for the whole area for me is about 1,000' of climbing per 6-7 miles and I'm on a 29er with a 28T ring, 11-36 cassette, and I'm 235-240lbs

Recently switched from 30T and I'm liking the lower gearing
Click to expand...
That's about a 3% average. Is that pretty representative for CO? Pretty much in the range of what you'll find in Northern California for popular loops (counting only the climbing portion). No supplemental O2 required, though.
 
Discussion starter · #62 ·
borabora said:
That's about a 3% average. Is that pretty representative for CO? Pretty much in the range of what you'll find in Northern California for popular loops (counting only the climbing portion). No supplemental O2 required, though.
Click to expand...
Dunno how you did your math but 1k per 6-7 = 3% average for only the climbing sections?

That sounds way off. I'm looking at my strava and it's showing plenty of sustained 20-30% sections with hardly anything below 10% for what I'd call a "climb" anyway
 
#63 ·
He's only counting the climbing portions. Pretty sure 1k per 6-7 miles is the whole ride. I'd say average out here is about 1k per 2-3 miles on a climb, but it can certainly get more strenuous.

For example, my last ride on my 30x36 light bike was 8.4 miles total, with 2363' point-to-point of climbing. That's about 2300' in 4 miles:
Ptarmigan Peak Mountain Bike Trail, Dillon, CO

Also, there's a big difference between doing a bunch of small ups and downs (when you can use your momentum), and long climbs followed by long descents. I still think the general location and fitness level makes more sense when trying to figure out what gearing might work for you, otherwise the number of factors you have to consider become too overwhelming to lead to meaningful consideration.
 
#64 ·
Alias530 said:
Dunno how you did your math but 1k per 6-7 = 3% average for only the climbing sections?

That sounds way off. I'm looking at my strava and it's showing plenty of sustained 20-30% sections with hardly anything below 10% for what I'd call a "climb" anyway
Click to expand...
1000/(6.5*5280) = 0.02913 which is 2.91%

If the 6-7 miles (I just use 6.5 miles for simplicity) is an up/down loop then you can assume that half of the distance is up and half of it is down which would double the average climbing rate to 5.82%

If you look back several posts you'll find mine which pretty much says the same thing: an average 4% sounds very tame but in reality it can be strenuous (at least to me). But that's also why I think quantifying these things would help when discussing gearing.
 
#65 ·
Lindahl said:
He's only counting the climbing portions. Pretty sure 1k per 6-7 miles is the whole ride. I'd say average out here is about 1k per 2-3 miles on a climb, but it can certainly get more strenuous.

For example, my last ride on my 30x36 light bike was 8.4 miles total, with 2363' point-to-point of climbing. That's about 2300' in 4 miles:
Ptarmigan Peak Mountain Bike Trail, Dillon, CO

Also, there's a big difference between doing a bunch of small ups and downs (when you can use your momentum), and long climbs followed by long descents. I still think the general location and fitness level makes more sense when trying to figure out what gearing might work for you, otherwise the number of factors you have to consider become too overwhelming to lead to meaningful consideration.
Click to expand...
Sorry -- I got the two of you mixed up. You are representing CO and Alias530 is in CA. That makes much more sense to me. And if you are saying that climbs are 10%ish in CO that's kind of what I'd expect.

I am not going to argue that there aren't many more important factors to take into consideration when selecting gear ratios than average climb %. The problem is that these factors can't be easily quantified.
 
#67 ·
UtahJohn said:
5% at 400' above sea level is vastly different than 5% at 9k'......
Click to expand...
I think it really depends whether you are acclimated to the altitude or not. It's a huge factor if you are not but not such a big deal if you are. Of course even in the Rockys most people don't live at 9k' even if they may bike there.
 
#68 ·
Acclimated or not you are climbing slower at elevation, and may need a gearing change to accommodate things. There is stuff you can get away with down low that you'll get punished for up high, acclimated or not. I ride at elevation, and feel like superman below 3k', and could easily put a 2T bigger ring in the front down there and hardly notice.
 
#69 ·
It's not all just how much climbing you do. It's the type. When I lived in AZ I rode plenty of 25-30 mile rides with over 5,000 feet of climbing throughout AZ, CO, and CA. Many at or over 10,000 feet in elevation. I was fine on a 32 t there. Here is PA there are no 5 mile long burner climbs, the longest being maybe a mile. And I am at 1,000 feet elevation. I typically still gain about 1,000 feet in 7-8 miles though. And 30t is more appropriate. There are times I wish I did 32 t, but a rock garden on a climb (which is pretty much what PA is) means you need a lower gear.
 
#74 ·
pointerDixie214 said:
It's not all just how much climbing you do. It's the type. When I lived in AZ I rode plenty of 25-30 mile rides with over 5,000 feet of climbing throughout AZ, CO, and CA. Many at or over 10,000 feet in elevation. I was fine on a 32 t there. Here is PA there are no 5 mile long burner climbs, the longest being maybe a mile. And I am at 1,000 feet elevation. I typically still gain about 1,000 feet in 7-8 miles though. And 30t is more appropriate. There are times I wish I did 32 t, but a rock garden on a climb (which is pretty much what PA is) means you need a lower gear.
Click to expand...
I find the opposite. It's the long slow high-grade climbs that I need a lower gear. When going through rock gardens, momentum is your friend, and I do better now than I did before with a granny gear.
 
#75 ·
Lindahl said:
I find the opposite. It's the long slow high-grade climbs that I need a lower gear. When going through rock gardens, momentum is your friend, and I do better now than I did before with a granny gear.
Click to expand...
I guess different (pedal) strokes for different folks, eh? lol I agree on momentum being your friend in rock gardens, especially those I encountered out West. But the ones I encounter here you can only keep so much momentum for so long. After a while being able to crawl through them is a much.

But then there are plenty of people here who ride bigger rings up front too.
 
#76 ·
borabora said:
36t up front and 11/36 cassette on my 29er but I just ordered a 32t ring because I am still trying to get into the shape I was in last year and the 36t can be a bit brutal.

I do wonder if there is a great deal of variation on the amount and steepness of climbing that people do. Here in Northern California the climbing portion of my rides all seem to average out around 4% -- which seems embarrassingly tame as a climb. But of course, for an average 20 mile ride this adds up to ~2000' of climbing (assuming 10 miles of the ride are up and 10 miles are down). To me (old and slow) that's a respectable ride with portions that are 10-20% or short sections that are steeper. So, do you know the average % of the climbing portion of your rides and what is it?
Click to expand...
My last ride averaged 8% with a max of 15%. The way in which it is measured is a bit of a mystery to me (it's off Runtastic) but it's about 3200 feet of climbing in 18 miles, round trip. The majority of the climbing is in the first 8.6 miles. That's Park City, Utah. Sweeny's to John's to Steps, up Puke Hill.
 
#77 ·
30t x 11/36 on process 153 in Vermont. 1200' vert over 2 miles on resort access road left me wishing for a better sit n' spin option but I will get stronger. In very rocky, technical terrain the gearing/geometry leaves me wishing for something more. But that's the trade off for riding a bomber and I don't think smaller ring would help much. I've found that climbing out of the saddle in the second or third biggest cog is the best way to approach super tech. I did have to upgrade the freehub to ti xtr to handle gear mash.
 
#78 ·
34x10-42 on my BLur LTC, 36x10-42 on my 29er HT. The Blur is usually used in terrain where a bigger ring would get hung up on rocks, and is steep enough that gravity does the vast majority of the work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#79 ·
My GT Distortion has a RaceFace 34t narrow/wide ring up front and an XT 11/36 rear cassette. I've been happy with that so far, but that's what the bike came with and, truth be told, this is my first MTB since 96/97... so I don't really have anything to compare it to. Been interesting reading what everyone has though.
 
Save
Like Like
61 - 80 of 90 Posts
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
About this Discussion
89 Replies
53 Participants
Last post:
fishwrinkle
Mountain Bike Reviews Forum
posts
16M
members
534K
Since
1990
A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bike parts, components, deals, performance, modifications, classifieds, trails, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General Discussion Downhill - Freeride California - Norcal Shocks and Suspension Passion