Sethis01

Hi, @Paul Ruinaard. Thank you so much for your response and advice, I really appreciate it. I absolutely agree that training is essential, I just lack mechanical knowledge so it's also something I need to learn. I will take your advice with the cassette. Perhaps a 52/36 might offer me the best of both worlds too, I can only try to find out. Thank you again! Ride safe, all!

I was also reading that amateur athletes are highly unlikely to spin out on 52/39 and that even some pros use 50/39 without spinning out. When it comes to technical knowledge of gearing im a noob

39, not 38 sorry, typo

Thank you all so much for your input! To give you some extra details: Shimano 105 R7000 11 speed 53-38, 11-28 Road bike (roughly 8 kg) Height and weight: 179cm, 73 - 76kg range FTP - 270ish (not sure if that helps but just trying to give you as much info as possible) Intended use - mostly rolling terain with occasional hilly areas. (Ironman 70.3 and 140). TT bike not in the budget, only upgrades to current road bike Issue: would like a little extra help with hills but worried if I go down from 53/39 that I am going to overspin on decents and flats. Triathlons dont really have massively hilly courses. Should I rather just increase the cassette to a 11-30 or 11-32? I could replace the entire groupset if you think a whole different setup is better. Im not 100% sure of the rear derailed specs other than 105 R7000 11 speed (traveling at the moment so can't check). I acknowledge that hill training is essential but would just like advice on my initial mechanical setup. Thank you all so much! 😀

Hi, all. I need advice on my gearing setup for climbing hills. Im currently running 53-39T up front and 11-28T on the cassette (Shimano 105). My issue is that I struggle on inclines in comparison to flats. On flats I'm passing a lot of people in races and on the climbs I drop cadence a lot and lose momentum. I feel that I need to change my setup to be more hill friendly. However, I worry that if I change too much that I would overspin on declines and flats? Can I simply change the cassette to 32 or 34T? Or should I make changes at the front? I understand there is a training aspect but im looking for mechanical advice. I appreciate your guidance!