I can do just over 300w for 30 minutes up a climb and I still use a 1:1 ratio because I like the cadence. Anything around 10% grade and I'm in the 1:1 ratio. A ratio that low is essential for me, I don't know how it's even possible to climb up a long 12% grade with a 53/39 and 11/28 in a comfortable cadence unless you're pumping out 400+ watts.
It depends on where you live. 1:1, if you live in a mountainous region with lots of long and nasty gradient climbs I can see it making sense. However, the longest climbs within 100k of where I live have around 300 meters of elevation. And these hills are not that steep. I don't need a 34 casette or pro level fitness to get up these hills and like my small cog jumps on the flats. The nice thing about casettes is that you can just change them real easy and quickly. I have a 34 + chain sitting around in the basement collecting dust.
Amen. Unless you are in a pro peloton a couple of KG differences in bike weight is ridiculous. At 6ft 4 and 15st (95kg) I don't think 8kg bike or 11kg for that matter will make much difference
The Fred Whitton Challenge looks like an absolutely incredible time: beautiful countryside, seemingly quiet roads, and mind-blowing climbs. Cheers on meeting the challenge and that's a very nice bike you've got there.
Definitely all about the gearing. If you can’t make it up a particular climb then the odds of taking 1-2kg off your bike making much difference is probably more in the head than in the legs. Go for the aero bike, save energy on the flats and hopefully arrive at the hills a bit fresher would be my thinking
My gearing choices for the Fred. I've gone for 'easier' ratios as the years have passed by & I've got older with more aches & pains! I first did the event in 2015 with a 50/34 up front & a 11/27 cassette. 2016 used the same gearing. 2017, new bike, compact up front again & 11/32 cassette. 2018, changed the cassette for a 11/34. I marshalled in 2019 & last year. This year I used a 11/36 cassette with a Wolf Tooth range extender (mech hanger extension) to enable me to use the bigger cassette.
David you are 100% correct, just like the saying give me a long enough lever, and I'll lift the world, give me low enough gears, and I'll climb any mountain. Cheers.
Great feedback David... appreciate the insight on what gears a typical "semi-fit-nonPro" rider should use. Gave me some great food for thought when I upgrade my cranks. You NEED the SL-70 Ergo carbon bar though... it's phenomenal. Cheers from NorCal.
Great bike check vid, David. And an extra thumbs up for your real-world approach of giving the bike weight with tool kit, pump etc. And for sticking with Rival - again, a nice change from many other YT vids.
I would look at Rotor's crank options. They have a 1-piece double chain ring option that you can easily swap out. For lower than a 50-34, they have 48/32 and 46/30. These smaller chain rings are also really good for shorter cranks too.
Great choice of gearing David. Unless you have ridden the Lake District climbs it`s hard to imagine how a normal compact group set is not low enough gearing. You were lucky to have good weather on the ride! My daughter went round the first time in 10 hours on a good weather day - her hubbie did a similar time to yours but on a second attempt my daughter had to retire on a cold wet day with the onset of hyperthermia!
I’ll caveat the one bottle strategy: you need have enough experience to know how much you will drink in between food-stops , given the temperature and terrain. There’s no point in carrying more than you need, but you don’t want to be running out of water!
I rode this year on my Fairlight Strael 2.0. With a 34t cassette and 28mm tubeless Conti GP5000 TSRs and Swissstop discs and pads. It performed brilliantly despite being over 9kg on that setup
The bloke that binned it on Honister was on disc brakes just to put that out there. I used rim brakes with shamals and BXP pads and was fine throughout. Think it's more about the rider ability than brake choice as I could lock both wheels still on my tcr if I wanted. Definitely agree with the gearing choices. I used a 32T rear and 34 front found hardknott tough but managed it. Next year think I'll use a 34T though
I fully agree with you. The only benefit I see to disk brake bike is that on very steep longer descents which have a lot of continuous braking, hand fatigue is less on a disk brake setup. But for me I'm on rim brakes on my road bikes and disk brakes on my MTB, I'll be staying that way as I enjoy my bikes just as they are, it's a very personal choice and I wont be doing the disk v rim debate anymore.
@@MrJwmurph 100% I just thought it was important to state the bloke that came off was on disc brakes. When I passed, his bike was at the side of the mountain rescue vehicle 👍
Yh having a disc and rim brake bike for the vast majority of riding in the uk disc brakes aren’t needed. Tbh I see more point for them on my commuter bike as I ride in the rain more often on that
@@maxbucky24 I have discs on the road bike (the bike/size I needed didn't have a rim option) and rim on the commuter (because the bikenwas in the cheaper end). With mini V-Brakes, Hunt aluminium wheels and Clarks 72mm brake shoes you have masses of power, wet or dry. Modulation is decent too. I'd love to ride carbon wheels and rim brakes before deciding on another bike.....
112miles does not tell the whole story. The elevation is tough. Agreed with your gearing choice. I did FWC21 with 48/31,11-40 Addict RC 2020 disc brake. My FTP is only 3.1-3.3W/kg, managed all the climbs without walking except for Hardknott. I got through the steepest part but then gave up a bit early. I want to do it again next year with a better fitness level. The best cycling event. Great atmosphere.
Haha I used my race bike with compact (34) and 30 cassette and yeah it wasn't ideal on Hardknott... Leg cramps for the first time in my life. I did however manage to get up without walking (JUST) but it's hands down the most painful thing I've ever done
Thanks so much for the information on your setup. I still find it hard to believe people are able to ascend grades in that range. I did a 17% climb last night and I was able to do it mostly seated, but can't imagine what a 30% grade would be like. Super hard to capture in photos or videos, somehow the perspective always seems to be lost when you aren't actually there. Super video as usual!
Best Fred Whitton comment I've ever heard: "It's a bike event for fell runners" I've done Wrynose/Hardnott at the end of a smaller sportive and never had any desire to do the Fred.
Great review and love the honest presentation. I am curious, what would you say to all the reviewers/journalists who quote “and with this 1-1 gear you can climb a wall!!”……
Your bike is very similar build than mine. I have shimano 52/34 front with a 40-11 xt cassette shifted by a grx derailleur. 50 mm aero wheels . Weighting around 8.5 kg. It is my go to climber . It's a good combination for heavier rider like myself where bike weight matter less. Wheel choice also depend on fitness level. As long as u could hold above 10kph or so up hill with the momentum the benifit of having ultra light weight wheel lessens .
What if it had been wet? Mudguards? Regarding gearing, after many years of stock bikes being far to highly geared for most mortals things seem to have got better. My most recent road bike is GRX 48/31 x 11/34. The gap at the front is maybe a bit big and the 34 sprocket is not light. But overall, the gear range is now fine. Low gears are more important than a light bike for an event like the Fred. Or if you regularly ride up steep hills. In my opinion.
@@samuraioodon It works for me but given the choice i would have a smaller outer ring. 44t would be ok for me but i don’t race. I don’t think I’ve used the smallest two or three sprockets yet, even on long downhill stretches on endurance events.
I have seen this review a couple of times and you’re absolutely right! Mater the facts a just ordered my first TCR with the same Rival groupset! As a mountain biker we know how important gearing is! Low weight is fine however do we really feel 1 kg? Beter make sure you’re on weight is perfect 👍 And yes, we can not compare ourselves with the pro’s ! I went from 86 kg to 74 kg ! And believe it…. I trained every day however with my lower weight everything goes faster 😊 So its fun on parties talk about your light bicycle 6,7 kg and 80+ kg yourself 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Cheers 🎉
Lol - Fred Whitton in 7 hours is not ‘normal levels of fitness’ 😂 Would definitely agree with the gearing choice, had 34/36 for my attempt and also a nice light rim-brake super six so best of both worlds and I managed to get up Hard Knott without walking. Similar luck with the weather by the looks of things, in the wet those discs would be well worth the weight penalty on a course like that.
had the same groupset, 10-36 on the back but stuck with the original crankset 48/35...thought about changing that for a long time and after riding the Fred on sunday I should perhaps have switched to the smaller set like you.
Living in the lakes, and always climbing, also planning on doing the fred Whitton you recommend these ENVE aero wheels vs the 2.3 climbing wheels?. Just watched your review of them👍
Hi David, just wanted to ask how you got the specialized saddle mounted on the TCR. I’m thinking of getting the same saddle for my TCR but not sure if it can be mounted since it doesn’t have a cut out. Thanks and great video.
We would ALL like a lighter bike, but 100% gearing is more important for the hills. You can only grind up so many until your legs are cooked. This is especially for longer distance rides..
I am the proud owner of a Specialized Aethos equiped with SRAM Rival 48-35T/10-36t and i can relate to everything that you said - gearing is perfect for climbing, swifting spead is also quite ok, and the breakes are simply awesome! One anoying thing is that when on the big chain ring at the front and the smaller gears at the bag, it rubs a lot ... towards the middle of the cassette it gets better. Are you guys experiencing similar behaviour?
Which CeramicSpeed BB model did you end up putting on your bike? I have the same frame. I may upgrade in the future at some point. Thanks for the great contents!
These discussions are incomplete without mentioning rider weight. Calling it “fitness” is misleading given that a broad range of body types can be considered fit, not just those 70 kg and below.
My Gravel bike pedals and kit ie saddle bag is a good 12kg! But even so I’m faster on it for example up Mt Teide and more comfortable as it has just lower than 1-1 gearing vs the admittedly lovely! hire road bikes which have stiffer gearing. Lack of weight only matters so far, to be honest with the length of Mt Teide pacing/fuelling is probably more important than the kit!
Weight is mostly important for accelerating, which seemed to be not your issue. Never the less the Rival AXS is very (too) heavy and not cheap. Personally I like to have a carbon handlebar for comfort.
I've got a medium cage Ultegra mech with a 36 MTB cassette on my road bike. I use a Wolf Tooth range extender which you fit between your mech hanger & mech it then gives you clearance to enable bigger a bigger cassette.
Gears gears gears. Think of touring cyclists - they ride 15kg steel bikes, loaded with 10kg+ of clothes/food/tents etc AND they have to ride up anything they encounter. They do so using easy gearing. When I needed a new cassette I replaced my 11-32 with an 11-34 to go with my compact crank, tbh I can't really feel it as being any easier but I figured why not get it, seeing as my derailleur can handle it. And even though I'm skinny, weak and slow, I take a real pleasure in spinning my way past $10,000 bikes with small cassettes being pushed up hills :-D
I wish shimano/sram would make road cassettes that are close ratio but have 1 or 2 large bail out cogs. I rode my trail bike up a mountain (not sure of the gradient but it was steep) ran a 10-52 cassette with a 32t oval chainring. Sometimes I felt that 52t still wasn't enough. Bike is probably around 13kg
Agree with you gearing trumps weight as does aero over weight. Of course a lighter gruppo will help with that that lower gearing. A lighter gruppo with taller gearing may still have you walking !
You are spot on mate. If your bike was 1kg lighter it will make marginal difference to your time. Gearing, steady pace and of course training for the event is more important
Gears and weight do not come at the expense of each other. No sense to compare it like that. weight matters on steep climbs and the argument that you can still ride up steep climbs if you’re cassette is big enough is obviously always gonna be true no matter how heavy the bike.
Can anybody tell me about the Enve 45 vs Zipp 303S? I am looking to upgrade my new bike to one of these two, or the Ultegra C50. InTheKnowCycling favors the 303S as his best wheel for the money, but I am afraid Zipp's hubs won't be as good as Enve's or Shimano? Thanks to whoever can contribute!
I have the 303s with Schwalbe 25mm tires. The wheels are excellent (coming from my Giant TCR stock alloys). The hub has some play in it to catch (i believe it's 7 degrees). It's noticeable, but not a deal-breaker for me as I'm new to cycling and the price was amazing. They also are 45mm deep which suits my needs. Overall, I'm happy with them and don't have any itch to upgrade. Hope this helps :)
You really have to look at the cyclist as a whole thing. The bike only accounts for approx 10 - 15 % of the overall package. Why moan about bike being 1kg too heavy when the rider is overweight....
sure no down sides when theres nothing to lose. world tour pro's are singing a different tune. who was the rider in the giro who blamed his disc brakes for popping his spoke? lol also imagine if you did lose control and panic braked?
This is worth a read and explains how it's impossible for hot disc brakes to melt spokes cyclingtips.com/2022/05/did-keldermans-disc-brakes-break-his-spokes-no-and-heres-why/
@@davidarthur what’s your stem length? I’m 5’10 and a half and giants website says I’m at top end for Medium or right in the middle for a M/L. I can get on a Medium for a decent price.
110cm. I can go longer 120cm if I want but shorter works these days. I could probably fit on a M too, there's not a lot in it. How does the TCR compare to your current road bike for sizing?
@@davidarthur on a Medium (56cm) Argon 18 Gallium top tube is .9cm longer, but reach is only 0.3cm longer so not sure if even feel it. I generally run a 120mm stem.
I FULLY disagree that aero handlebars are less comfortable, I found quite the opposite, heck even science disagrees with you as more surface is less pressure per square cm, you could be right if handlebars diameters weren't so tiny!
But it’s also to do with being able to fully wrap my fingers around the bar and get a nice grip that you often can’t with aero bars. I don’t have a problem with aero bars just sharing my preference
@@davidarthur You don't have to fully wrap them around to have nice grip that's just not right, as long as your last finger part (the part with the nail don't know the english word) can get around the flat part it's just as secure as fully around. I'm just saying that aerobars are more comfortable even if you don't think so, science just says it plus they look much nicer.
I reckon that climbing seated is more efficient ie uses less energy. So low low gears are a boon. A couple hundred grams weight saving on any course with ups and downs? You might just as well shave off all your body hair, and do the event in a thong!
Nailed it! 1:1 ratios need to be normalized on road bikes for us mortals.
I can do just over 300w for 30 minutes up a climb and I still use a 1:1 ratio because I like the cadence. Anything around 10% grade and I'm in the 1:1 ratio. A ratio that low is essential for me, I don't know how it's even possible to climb up a long 12% grade with a 53/39 and 11/28 in a comfortable cadence unless you're pumping out 400+ watts.
It depends on where you live. 1:1, if you live in a mountainous region with lots of long and nasty gradient climbs I can see it making sense. However, the longest climbs within 100k of where I live have around 300 meters of elevation. And these hills are not that steep. I don't need a 34 casette or pro level fitness to get up these hills and like my small cog jumps on the flats.
The nice thing about casettes is that you can just change them real easy and quickly. I have a 34 + chain sitting around in the basement collecting dust.
Anyone saying that you can't ride an 8.5kg bike up hills does not live in the real world!
Gearing is far more important
Amen. Unless you are in a pro peloton a couple of KG differences in bike weight is ridiculous. At 6ft 4 and 15st (95kg) I don't think 8kg bike or 11kg for that matter will make much difference
It's more important to have a light bike if you're a lighter rider. Bike weight/total weight (bike+body)....
Most mountain bikes weigh more than 12KG, and people ride them uphill. Not everyone can spend thousands of dollars on a carbon bike.
@@sepg5084 My MTB weighs 13kg it is awful riding up hills on the road(not that I do it often) my 7kg roadie is a joy going uphill
Perfect gears for the lakes,you are right gears are more important that weight.
The Fred Whitton Challenge looks like an absolutely incredible time: beautiful countryside, seemingly quiet roads, and mind-blowing climbs. Cheers on meeting the challenge and that's a very nice bike you've got there.
Definitely all about the gearing. If you can’t make it up a particular climb then the odds of taking 1-2kg off your bike making much difference is probably more in the head than in the legs. Go for the aero bike, save energy on the flats and hopefully arrive at the hills a bit fresher would be my thinking
My gearing choices for the Fred. I've gone for 'easier' ratios as the years have passed by & I've got older with more aches & pains! I first did the event in 2015 with a 50/34 up front & a 11/27 cassette. 2016 used the same gearing. 2017, new bike, compact up front again & 11/32 cassette. 2018, changed the cassette for a 11/34. I marshalled in 2019 & last year. This year I used a 11/36 cassette with a Wolf Tooth range extender (mech hanger extension) to enable me to use the bigger cassette.
4:35 Hit the nail on the head.
For something like the Fred Whitton or any other hilly route I'm using my 36/25 * 11 - 32 set up.
David you are 100% correct, just like the saying give me a long enough lever, and I'll lift the world, give me low enough gears, and I'll climb any mountain. Cheers.
Great feedback David... appreciate the insight on what gears a typical "semi-fit-nonPro" rider should use. Gave me some great food for thought when I upgrade my cranks. You NEED the SL-70 Ergo carbon bar though... it's phenomenal. Cheers from NorCal.
Great bike check vid, David. And an extra thumbs up for your real-world approach of giving the bike weight with tool kit, pump etc. And for sticking with Rival - again, a nice change from many other YT vids.
I would look at Rotor's crank options. They have a 1-piece double chain ring option that you can easily swap out. For lower than a 50-34, they have 48/32 and 46/30. These smaller chain rings are also really good for shorter cranks too.
I use the RiVal AXS with the Sram 43/30 chainrings with the 36 tooth cassette
48/35?
@@PhiyackYuh 43/30, it's a Rival Axs standard set.
Great choice of gearing David. Unless you have ridden the Lake District climbs it`s hard to imagine how a normal compact group set is not low enough gearing. You were lucky to have good weather on the ride! My daughter went round the first time in 10 hours on a good weather day - her hubbie did a similar time to yours but on a second attempt my daughter had to retire on a cold wet day with the onset of hyperthermia!
I’ll caveat the one bottle strategy: you need have enough experience to know how much you will drink in between food-stops , given the temperature and terrain. There’s no point in carrying more than you need, but you don’t want to be running out of water!
Thanks for talking sensible about 'real world' gears and brakes! Excellent 👍
I rode this year on my Fairlight Strael 2.0. With a 34t cassette and 28mm tubeless Conti GP5000 TSRs and Swissstop discs and pads. It performed brilliantly despite being over 9kg on that setup
And was able to ride up all the passes due to those extra teeth!
Awesome David and well done on completing the Fred a great achievement :)
The bloke that binned it on Honister was on disc brakes just to put that out there.
I used rim brakes with shamals and BXP pads and was fine throughout.
Think it's more about the rider ability than brake choice as I could lock both wheels still on my tcr if I wanted.
Definitely agree with the gearing choices. I used a 32T rear and 34 front found hardknott tough but managed it. Next year think I'll use a 34T though
I fully agree with you. The only benefit I see to disk brake bike is that on very steep longer descents which have a lot of continuous braking, hand fatigue is less on a disk brake setup. But for me I'm on rim brakes on my road bikes and disk brakes on my MTB, I'll be staying that way as I enjoy my bikes just as they are, it's a very personal choice and I wont be doing the disk v rim debate anymore.
@@MrJwmurph 100% I just thought it was important to state the bloke that came off was on disc brakes. When I passed, his bike was at the side of the mountain rescue vehicle 👍
Yh having a disc and rim brake bike for the vast majority of riding in the uk disc brakes aren’t needed. Tbh I see more point for them on my commuter bike as I ride in the rain more often on that
@@maxbucky24 I have discs on the road bike (the bike/size I needed didn't have a rim option) and rim on the commuter (because the bikenwas in the cheaper end).
With mini V-Brakes, Hunt aluminium wheels and Clarks 72mm brake shoes you have masses of power, wet or dry. Modulation is decent too.
I'd love to ride carbon wheels and rim brakes before deciding on another bike.....
I'd guess it was user error, and not an equipment fault.....
112miles does not tell the whole story.
The elevation is tough.
Agreed with your gearing choice.
I did FWC21 with 48/31,11-40 Addict RC 2020 disc brake.
My FTP is only 3.1-3.3W/kg, managed all the climbs without walking except for Hardknott.
I got through the steepest part but then gave up a bit early.
I want to do it again next year with a better fitness level.
The best cycling event. Great atmosphere.
a light rider, strong bike and proper gearing would be perfect. a 50/34 with 11-34 for me in my area is the best.
Haha I used my race bike with compact (34) and 30 cassette and yeah it wasn't ideal on Hardknott... Leg cramps for the first time in my life. I did however manage to get up without walking (JUST) but it's hands down the most painful thing I've ever done
Thanks so much for the information on your setup. I still find it hard to believe people are able to ascend grades in that range. I did a 17% climb last night and I was able to do it mostly seated, but can't imagine what a 30% grade would be like. Super hard to capture in photos or videos, somehow the perspective always seems to be lost when you aren't actually there. Super video as usual!
The camera definitely flattens steep hills!
Best Fred Whitton comment I've ever heard: "It's a bike event for fell runners"
I've done Wrynose/Hardnott at the end of a smaller sportive and never had any desire to do the Fred.
Great review and love the honest presentation. I am curious, what would you say to all the reviewers/journalists who quote “and with this 1-1 gear you can climb a wall!!”……
Makes me wonder how the people back in the day used to ride climbs with 39 and 23 as the easiest ratio. Crazy how lucky we are now.
you can look at old footage. They were all over the bikes, with crazy pedaling style
Your bike is very similar build than mine. I have shimano 52/34 front with a 40-11 xt cassette shifted by a grx derailleur. 50 mm aero wheels . Weighting around 8.5 kg. It is my go to climber . It's a good combination for heavier rider like myself where bike weight matter less. Wheel choice also depend on fitness level. As long as u could hold above 10kph or so up hill with the momentum the benifit of having ultra light weight wheel lessens .
What if it had been wet? Mudguards? Regarding gearing, after many years of stock bikes being far to highly geared for most mortals things seem to have got better. My most recent road bike is GRX 48/31 x 11/34. The gap at the front is maybe a bit big and the 34 sprocket is not light. But overall, the gear range is now fine. Low gears are more important than a light bike for an event like the Fred. Or if you regularly ride up steep hills. In my opinion.
Is it difficult to find a good cadence with the 17t gap? I haven’t installed mine but will be on gravel bike I’ll be using as a road bike too.
@@samuraioodon It works for me but given the choice i would have a smaller outer ring. 44t would be ok for me but i don’t race. I don’t think I’ve used the smallest two or three sprockets yet, even on long downhill stretches on endurance events.
I have seen this review a couple of times and you’re absolutely right!
Mater the facts a just ordered my first TCR with the same Rival groupset! As a mountain biker we know how important gearing is! Low weight is fine however do we really feel 1 kg? Beter make sure you’re on weight is perfect 👍
And yes, we can not compare ourselves with the pro’s !
I went from 86 kg to 74 kg !
And believe it…. I trained every day however with my lower weight everything goes faster 😊
So its fun on parties talk about your light bicycle 6,7 kg and 80+ kg yourself 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Cheers 🎉
Lol - Fred Whitton in 7 hours is not ‘normal levels of fitness’ 😂 Would definitely agree with the gearing choice, had 34/36 for my attempt and also a nice light rim-brake super six so best of both worlds and I managed to get up Hard Knott without walking. Similar luck with the weather by the looks of things, in the wet those discs would be well worth the weight penalty on a course like that.
You make really good videos! Thanks!
Glad you like them!
Im using my 9.5kg gravel bike on 16% gradients. Im on grx 48/31 chain ring and an 11-34t casette
I’ve done hardknott on a 9kg alloy road bike so it’s possible but definitely easier on my 7kg carbon race bike
had the same groupset, 10-36 on the back but stuck with the original crankset 48/35...thought about changing that for a long time and after riding the Fred on sunday I should perhaps have switched to the smaller set like you.
Great job on your ride and love your video’s
All things considered, I’d rather have a light weight with good gearing, than feather weight with poor gearing
Living in the lakes, and always climbing, also planning on doing the fred Whitton you recommend these ENVE aero wheels vs the 2.3 climbing wheels?. Just watched your review of them👍
Hi David, just wanted to ask how you got the specialized saddle mounted on the TCR. I’m thinking of getting the same saddle for my TCR but not sure if it can be mounted since it doesn’t have a cut out. Thanks and great video.
Bikes in the 2000 used to come with 53/39 - 11/25 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂. Madness.
We would ALL like a lighter bike, but 100% gearing is more important for the hills. You can only grind up so many until your legs are cooked. This is especially for longer distance rides..
Awesome setup and bike 👍🏽
I am the proud owner of a Specialized Aethos equiped with SRAM Rival 48-35T/10-36t and i can relate to everything that you said - gearing is perfect for climbing, swifting spead is also quite ok, and the breakes are simply awesome! One anoying thing is that when on the big chain ring at the front and the smaller gears at the bag, it rubs a lot ... towards the middle of the cassette it gets better. Are you guys experiencing similar behaviour?
46/33 & 10/36 is what it will be for me. I need to have the low gear options just in case.
Which CeramicSpeed BB model did you end up putting on your bike? I have the same frame. I may upgrade in the future at some point. Thanks for the great contents!
My wife is hoping to ride the Fred next year; I did wonder if the 43-30 crankset paired with the 10-36 cassette might help her get around it ?
These discussions are incomplete without mentioning rider weight. Calling it “fitness” is misleading given that a broad range of body types can be considered fit, not just those 70 kg and below.
My Gravel bike pedals and kit ie saddle bag is a good 12kg! But even so I’m faster on it for example up Mt Teide and more comfortable as it has just lower than 1-1 gearing vs the admittedly lovely! hire road bikes which have stiffer gearing.
Lack of weight only matters so far, to be honest with the length of Mt Teide pacing/fuelling is probably more important than the kit!
Weight is mostly important for accelerating, which seemed to be not your issue. Never the less the Rival AXS is very (too) heavy and not cheap. Personally I like to have a carbon handlebar for comfort.
50/34 with a 34t cassette for me still wouldn't be enough! I'd just have to hope that an R8000. GS cassette could handle a 36t MTB cassette?
I've got a medium cage Ultegra mech with a 36 MTB cassette on my road bike. I use a Wolf Tooth range extender which you fit between your mech hanger & mech it then gives you clearance to enable bigger a bigger cassette.
Gears gears gears. Think of touring cyclists - they ride 15kg steel bikes, loaded with 10kg+ of clothes/food/tents etc AND they have to ride up anything they encounter. They do so using easy gearing.
When I needed a new cassette I replaced my 11-32 with an 11-34 to go with my compact crank, tbh I can't really feel it as being any easier but I figured why not get it, seeing as my derailleur can handle it. And even though I'm skinny, weak and slow, I take a real pleasure in spinning my way past $10,000 bikes with small cassettes being pushed up hills :-D
I notice you switch saddles. Do you prefer the Roman 3D print Saddle over the Fizik Adaptive 3D print Saddle ?
I wish shimano/sram would make road cassettes that are close ratio but have 1 or 2 large bail out cogs.
I rode my trail bike up a mountain (not sure of the gradient but it was steep) ran a 10-52 cassette with a 32t oval chainring. Sometimes I felt that 52t still wasn't enough. Bike is probably around 13kg
Very Good Stuff 👍 👏
Hi, how about the Fairlight Strael v.3 with 34 x 34 which you reviewed last year. I have one, but don’t do hilly sportive 😀
Yes to easy gears! So many times I see riders struggling to turn the pedals over with pro style gearing.
8.76 kg bike weight is good in opinion. Still light enough to lift it up in the air with one arm.
Agree with you gearing trumps weight as does aero over weight. Of course a lighter gruppo will help with that that lower gearing. A lighter gruppo with taller gearing may still have you walking !
No Matej Mohorič dropper post for those steep descents?
Are you able to mount the front mech low enough for it to work properly? 50 chainring is normally the limit for road bikes.
This SRAM Rival front mech is designed for these chainring sizes
Only a 34 tooth chain ring in the front, and 11 speed 11 to 46 tooth cassette in the back.
Weight absolutely matters. When going to road races, and putting bicycles back on the roof of cars. Also, I lived in a house with 60 stairs.
Wait 11-34 teeth how many speed? 11, 10, 9,8? Wil it matter?
👏👏👏
Many can just cut out the junk food for a few weeks and easily lose that 1.5 kg difference.
Light weight or gears? You CAN have both. Yes aero ads weight, discs ad weight, but you really can have low gears and have a low weight.
There's no lighter gruppo than Rival???? Do you know XPLR by SRAM? Red Rd. Force Caswtte 10-44.
your brake hose is routed over the garmin mount?
It's over the GoPro mount yes because space was limited with the angle of the mount but fear not it all worked just fine and it was only for one day
You are spot on mate. If your bike was 1kg lighter it will make marginal difference to your time. Gearing, steady pace and of course training for the event is more important
What frame pump do you have?
GIANT # 1 🇵🇱🚲 Chicago 🇵🇱
Gears and weight do not come at the expense of each other. No sense to compare it like that. weight matters on steep climbs and the argument that you can still ride up steep climbs if you’re cassette is big enough is obviously always gonna be true no matter how heavy the bike.
What GoPro and computer mount that u are using???
On the bike I used a Hero 9 with a K-Edge computer mount, along with a Hero 10 in my pocket
@@davidarthur Awesome
Can anybody tell me about the Enve 45 vs Zipp 303S? I am looking to upgrade my new bike to one of these two, or the Ultegra C50. InTheKnowCycling favors the 303S as his best wheel for the money, but I am afraid Zipp's hubs won't be as good as Enve's or Shimano? Thanks to whoever can contribute!
I have the 303s with Schwalbe 25mm tires. The wheels are excellent (coming from my Giant TCR stock alloys). The hub has some play in it to catch (i believe it's 7 degrees). It's noticeable, but not a deal-breaker for me as I'm new to cycling and the price was amazing. They also are 45mm deep which suits my needs. Overall, I'm happy with them and don't have any itch to upgrade. Hope this helps :)
@@riyadmobeen definitely helps! I appreciate it.
how tall are you?
Hello where is the location of this climb thanks👍
They're all in the Lake District :)
Thank you👍
So weight vs gears? Why not have saddle vs pedals? Because you cannot possibly have both...
here's a mad idea. Small gears and a light bike...
You really have to look at the cyclist as a whole thing.
The bike only accounts for approx 10 - 15 % of the overall package.
Why moan about bike being 1kg too heavy when the rider is overweight....
Trucker hat available? ✌️
Coming soon…
@@davidarthur my hairline (or lack of it) needs protection against the sun and my old JRB hat is filthy ;).
I need lightweight and low gears 😂
sure no down sides when theres nothing to lose. world tour pro's are singing a different tune. who was the rider in the giro who blamed his disc brakes for popping his spoke? lol also imagine if you did lose control and panic braked?
This is worth a read and explains how it's impossible for hot disc brakes to melt spokes cyclingtips.com/2022/05/did-keldermans-disc-brakes-break-his-spokes-no-and-heres-why/
Sorry I ment my own weight 😊
Your fitness level probably just as important as gearing.
Bodyweight matters much more.
You’re on a M/L… how tall are you?
5'11" or 181cm
@@davidarthur what’s your stem length? I’m 5’10 and a half and giants website says I’m at top end for Medium or right in the middle for a M/L. I can get on a Medium for a decent price.
110cm. I can go longer 120cm if I want but shorter works these days. I could probably fit on a M too, there's not a lot in it. How does the TCR compare to your current road bike for sizing?
@@davidarthur on a Medium (56cm) Argon 18 Gallium top tube is .9cm longer, but reach is only 0.3cm longer so not sure if even feel it. I generally run a 120mm stem.
I FULLY disagree that aero handlebars are less comfortable, I found quite the opposite, heck even science disagrees with you as more surface is less pressure per square cm, you could be right if handlebars diameters weren't so tiny!
But it’s also to do with being able to fully wrap my fingers around the bar and get a nice grip that you often can’t with aero bars. I don’t have a problem with aero bars just sharing my preference
@@davidarthur You don't have to fully wrap them around to have nice grip that's just not right, as long as your last finger part (the part with the nail don't know the english word) can get around the flat part it's just as secure as fully around. I'm just saying that aerobars are more comfortable even if you don't think so, science just says it plus they look much nicer.
@@KoenMiseur clearly it’s a matter of personal preference 😉
All bikes come overgeared
Better to have a light bike with low gears then😆😆
I put a 42 teeth big ring 😉
What is wrong with you westerners that some kilograms is worth losing half your life savings over?
We have not all walked up a climb, just FYI 😂
I reckon that climbing seated is more efficient ie uses less energy. So low low gears are a boon. A couple hundred grams weight saving on any course with ups and downs? You might just as well shave off all your body hair, and do the event in a thong!
Will try that next year… watch out for Dave’s video 😂