Please help with crank and ration

[Colonel]

Hi All

Sorry to post this here but I dont know where else to post for help or advice.

I am coming to watch some stages of the Tour in July and do the Letape du Tour: Pau - Hautacam 148km 4600m ascent. Currently I run a normal crank and 25 rear cluster and consider myself a good climber (cat 1 domestic racing back home). Will it be advisable to rather run a compact crank during this event considering the 2 x climbs being Tourmalet and Hautacam. We have nothing in that length at home and I have never raced/ridden that distance with that amount of ascent in. Most is 130km 2500m.

Any advice would be great thanks.

 

[simo1733]

Hi All

Sorry to post this here but I dont know where else to post for help or advice.

I am coming to watch some stages of the Tour in July and do the Letape du Tour: Pau - Hautacam 148km 4600m ascent. Currently I run a normal crank and 25 rear cluster and consider myself a good climber (cat 1 domestic racing back home). Will it be advisable to rather run a compact crank during this event considering the 2 x climbs being Tourmalet and Hautacam. We have nothing in that length at home and I have never raced/ridden that distance with that amount of ascent in. Most is 130km 2500m.

Any advice would be great thanks.

I would definately go with the compact.I have ridden the Tourmalet with a 39x26 but was overgeared in a few places.

 

[Master50]

If you are a cat 1 then what ever you ride now is fine at least on the Tourmalet. Visiting the tour I crossed it with a 39/23 and I never raced higher than cat 4. After the Tourmalet I climbed Luz Ardiden so my daily mileage was close to 110 Km that day in 1988. My avg speed was a little less than 1/2 that of the front riders in the race. Even today at 57 I would use a 39/29 and still be slow. Not saying a compact would not be good. I just think that compared to most cat 1s I could do that ride with the gears I have now. A little more mileage might be more important than low gears.

 

[Colonel]

Thank you very much for the info. So if I run a standard crank maybe go to a 28 rear?

 

[Master50]

Thank you very much for the info. So if I run a standard crank maybe go to a 28 rear?

The Tourmalet is long and about %7 so it is steeper than most roads built by the army core of engineers like Hurricane ridge is in Washington state. I think the climb took me about 1 1/2 hours on a 23 and 32 year old legs. Today I think the 29 is low enough but it is more about endurance than hard to climb. Now for those crazy climbs in Spain and Italy on roads as steep as 16% then compact and wide range is necessary.
I saw the best climbers on the next mountain (luz Ardiden) which is 13 km and also about as steep as the Tourmalet. the winner was in the big ring when he went by me some 800 meters from the finish.
Me 39/23. them 39 or 53 and a 21 or 23. I think today the pros might fit a 25 for the spinners but a 28 or 29 should be low enough for any cat 3.