Running out of gears - need more grunt

[Bram_on_Madone]

I use a "normal" 53/39 crank paired with a 11-25 casette, but on some of the faster flats and downhills (and Killarney) I run out of gears. I had a look on a view websites and there don't seem to be smaller cassettes than 11 - anybody know where you can get a 10 or 9? Would this work?

 

Alternatively, can you get bigger front rings for my crank (I have Ultegra 6700).

[Zeps]

Bigger blades you can get but not a 9 or 10 .....

[gummibear]

Get a 54 Big chainring then for the flats.

[bikemonster]

According to the Sheldown Brown gear calculator, your setup should have you doing around 72 km/h at a cadence of 120, or 60 km/h at a cadence of 100.

 

Changing your blade from 53 to 54 is slightly less than a 2% change, so from a cadence of 100 to a cadence of 98.

 

It looks like the answer is that you need to work on your leg speed.

[gtr1]

Learn to pedal faster

 

Seriously, learn to up your cadence. I've never ridden an 11 until recently, and can probably count on my hand the number of times I've "run out" of gears.

[Harry Potter]

work on your leg speed.

I'll 2nd that, words out of my mouth,

[Bram_on_Madone]

Thanks for the advice - should practice pedalling faster! At the moment I prefer to churn over the pedals in a high gear rather than spinning.

 

Coming down from the pass in Riebeek Kasteel yesterday we were doing about 72km/h, but I would have loved a little more resistance on my stroke.