UKC

I'm ok with distance (100 mile rides are ok) but I really struggle on hills - what gearing do people use for steep hills on a road bike - say hills 20-30 deg.

(bike has standard compact gear set up at present)

And how much is it likey to cost to change to more hill orientated gear set up?

And will I lose speed when cycling on otherwise flat routes?

Depends on you a lot.  I ride a 11-28 cassette and 52-36 crank but on steeper hills I'd always ride out of the saddle (I have a massive Vo2 max and less strong legs).  I was horrified when I changed my gear setup to read that Tom Dumoulin  rides that same gears as me in the mountains but of course he'd stay sat down, power along and go a lot faster compared to my jogging out of the saddle pace.  I think you can get 11-32 cassettes for road now and all these are great for hills and the 11 means unless you change your cranks you don't lose speed on the flat (mind you when i had a compact and 11-26 I'd spin out at about 35mph and I've never troubled speeds much above 30mph on the flat pedalling normally so not an issue for me anyway), what you do lose is that fine tuning of the required effort to spin the pedals as there will be bigger jumps between the gears.

The only thing you really need to be careful about when changing gear setup is to alter your chain length appropriately.

Happy hills

Cheers

Toby

I'm old and weak, preferring to remain seated whenever possible. To that end I have SRAM Rival 'WiFli' gearing on my Planet X Pro Carbon (50/34 chainset with 11-32 10 speed cassette). It gets my 55 year old chassis up any hills down here in the southwest. I don't feel that I miss out much at the top end either.

N

What do you mean by "struggle"? Are you unable to get up hills without walking, or are you just not getting up them as fast as you want?

My Sunday best bike has a compact chainset and, I think, 11-28 cassette. I find that ok on hills, but that's me and you're you.

My old road bike has a standard 52/39 chainset and 11-25 cassette, which is hard work on big hills. The 11-23 is worse. I have swapped the cassette for an 11-32 mountain bike cassette on that bike for riding in the Pyrenees - the sacrifice is bigger jumps between gears on the flat, but it's probably the most cost-effective way of getting lower gears. This worked fine with my rear mech and I didn't need to add any links to the chain, but you will need to check your rear mech can handle the range.

I have been meaning to try with a hybrid of part-MTB part-road cassette to get the best of both worlds.

36 x 28 is pretty normal. If that's what you've got then I'd just stick with it and train for hills. Your gear mechanisms would likely cope with 34 at the front and 32 at the back. This'll cost in the region of 2x £20-£30 to procure the new ring and the new cassette. However you might find that even with the lower gears hills still feel just as hard and you just go slower, consequently spending a longer time suffering.

The set-up change wouldn't likely impact your speed on the flat as your high to mid gears do remain broadly similar to what you've got.

on a 50-34 compact 10 speed I was okay on 20-25% slopes with a max 28 cassette on the back but on a 100miler round the lakes I changed to a max 32 cassette.

Mind OK means keeping moving and not putting a foot down.

Over 25% I'd be wanting a 32 as I haven't got the power or lightness needed. On a medium cage shimano derailleur, I didn't need to alter the chain length between the 28 and 32 cassettes. Jumps can be a bit big at the lower end, I've never really spun out top end unless with the wind behind me.

Now on 11 speed with 32 max.

Cheers

mark

... And possibly your derailleur depending on capacity (difference in teeth between highest and lowest gears).

So cost shouldn't amount to more than the price of chain, cassette and derailleur if required (as long as chainrings aren't excessively worn).

PS I think you may be confusing degrees with percent (20 degrees= 1:2.7 or 36 degrees) A quick google to cyclinguphill.com gives places like Honister and Wrynose with short sections of 25 percent (1:4 or 14 degrees) and a couple of exceptions like Hardknott and Rosedale Chimney are steeper at 33%

Do you mean 20-30 degrees or %?  45 degrees is 1:1 or 100% for example - no idea what 20 degrees is in common parlance, but I suppose that 22.5% would be 1:2 or 50%  and you'll not be riding up that any time soon.

20% is one in five and a tough day in the office for most people. 30% is a wall of tarmac

Others have answered the tech questions. The sad sorry reality is that gears don't get you up hills. Personally I think it's psychological - low km/h can feel painfully slow to ride at especially if you've come off longer flat sections that whizz by. If you can manage 100+ mile rides then it's you that needs the tune up. (That's not a dig).

I run 34x30 and 34x32 (best bike - bad weather bike respectively). I live near the Strines so every ride starts with a Cat3/4 plus lots of 20%+ along the way.  The 30 cassette needed no adjustment on a short cage Dura Ace rear mech.

Bradley Wiggins used a 58x14 gear set up on his hour record. That is a smaller gear than 50x12, so no you're not going to lose flat speed you're just extending your low end.

Ride up grades don't buy upgrades.

But seriously, go and suffer - if you're riding a compact (50-34?) it's your legs and lungs that need practice and your bike is kitted out fine.

Cost will depend on your shifters:

- If you have older 10 speed Shimano you can run a 10sp 11-34 (or 36) MTB cassette with a 9sp MTB mech

- A 4700 Tiagra medium cage mech will work with a 10sp 11-34 cassette

- New Shimano 11sp groups have 11-32 cassette options

I use a compact with 11-34 on the back. It's a nice bail out option, but if I ride consistently for a few weeks I end up not needing it - it's surprising how quickly bike fitness can appear.

I run 11-32 and 52/36. I'm very glad of my lowest gear when the gradient gets to more than 15%. the highest gear is ok for pedaling downhill up to around 48mph.

If you're changing from a smaller cassette, you're looking at getting a new rear derailleur with longer cage and a longer chain.

Planet X Pro Carbon here too and with the same gearing only Shimano, does me alright but I do struggle on the steep hills. 2nd time out on a road bike I got taken up Newlands pass the steep way around, literally stopped me in my tracks on the last steep section, as I fell over still clipped into the pedals. 

For me the biggest performance upgrade would be some better legs, however, big powerful legs and climbing are a hard mix to have.

I find it's lungs not legs that are key. My legs are fine.

Shanks pony for steep hills. 

42x17 everywhere else.

Can't do much more than about 60 miles before my coordination goes.

36 x 28 on my race bike and 34 x 28 on my winter bike. I can get up everything on my race bike but the 34 x 28 is easier.