I have an older specialized bike from 2001 that I ride and race on with a gearing of Shimano 53/39 and 9-speed cassette 12/26. On my regular weekly rides I end up maxing out on my gears and can't get any more speed. How do I get more speed out of the bike with only 9 gears? I don't know if an 11/? cassette will make a difference, if it is possible to get a bigger chainring, or if my technology is so old I should just get a new bike?
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553/12 is 50.9 km/h (31.6 mph) at 90 RPM. If you're maxed out on gears, then whats your pedal cadence? Are you mashing the pedals instead of spinning? Are you riding downhill ?– Criggie ♦Commented Jul 24, 2016 at 20:02
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2What's your speed on those occasions where you're maxing out your gears?– Roel SchroevenCommented Jul 24, 2016 at 21:30
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2Is this downhill? In a tail wind? A short sprint? Drafting behind a truck?– KazCommented Jul 25, 2016 at 2:09
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2If your spinning out 53x12 then it is time for Mark Cavendish to retire from fear. I ride a 50X12 for a maximum flat peak sprint of 38.5mph and that is scary (to me, but not Mark Cavendish). Notice the gearing is smaller than yours. The key is to increase your cadence, as everyone here has said. There's a lot of technique in cycling which is not apparent to all riders. Read some books, talk to the rare nice racer and ignore most of what they say and do what works for you. Results talk.– user26705Commented Jul 25, 2016 at 4:55
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And yes, I spin like crazy. In a paceline I like 105rpm, in the wind 110 and climbing at 125-ish.– user26705Commented Jul 25, 2016 at 4:57
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3 Answers
Your technology is up to date. 53x12 is basically still the standard for road bikes today.
If you want to increase the gearing, your best bet would be to install an 11x cassette, if not a Sram 10x.
That said...
If you are regularly finding your 53x12 too low it means one of three things:
- You are mashing (standing up in a heavy gear) instead of spinning (sitting down in an lighter gear)
- You are a speed addict who wants to go even faster on downhills
- You should be racing
If it's one of the first two cases, you shouldn't upgrade your gears. Change your behavior instead.
answered Jul 24, 2016 at 20:01
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Agreed - my road bike is 46/11 and I sometimes thought I wanted more. Then I rode a folder for a while, and I leaned how to pedal / twiddle faster. 20 inch wheels are 135 RPM at 40 km/h in 44/14– Criggie ♦Commented Jul 24, 2016 at 20:07
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Surely "You should be racing" should mean you should change your behavior as well...– AronCommented Jul 25, 2016 at 6:34
An 11 speed rear cassette gives you more linear gaps between gears. It doesn't necessarily give you higher or lower gears.
There are bigger chainrings than 53 tooth, but they're rare, expensive, and tend to be single-speed track bikes.
There are smaller cassettes than 12 tooth, 11 is the lowest you can get normally, and some folding bikes can go down to 9 tooth. Downside here is mechanical losses start increasing fast.
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1> some folding bikes can go down to 9 tooth. Didn't know that! All the ones I've seen have commonly available Shimano fare on them, and regular length cranks (170-ish; certainly no smaller than 160). Stupidly low gearing with the small diameter wheels.– KazCommented Jul 24, 2016 at 23:09
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@kaz true, and small-wheel folders are still no good at going up hills either even with the low gearing. Moultons are supposed to be better, but they're arrogant and only built for "average" size people.– Criggie ♦Commented Jul 25, 2016 at 1:33
Changing to an 11 cog on the rear will certainly give you a higher gear. I found 9 speed Shimanos in 11/21 and 11/23 easily. I didn't find any road cassettes that had a lower low gear. I also found mountain bike versions with much larger low gears, but you probably need a new derailleur for them.
