Gravel Inadequacy

[JimF22003]

I have a very, very heavy Specialized Tri-Cross, about 8 years old, that I’m trying to adapt for gravel-grinding duties. Besides how heavy it is, the gearing is currently quite inadequate for me any way. It has a compact crank with an 11/26 cassette, using Shimano 105 shifters with Ultegra RD.

I can do OK on grades up to 10% or so as long as the surface is pretty smooth, because I can standup on the pedals. I can’t keep seated for those grades. If there’s a lot of very loose or coarse gravel however, I can’t keep the rear wheel from spinning out if I stand up, even if I keep leaning way back over the rear wheel.

As an example, I had to walk several times on Old Waterford Road coming out of Leesburg.

I’ve ridden these roads on a mountain bike with some extremely low gearing, and I was able to avoid having to get off and walk. I’m looking for similar gearing on the Specialized. I could use some advice from among any of these options:

1) increase rear cassette range to at least 32 and preferably 34 or 36 teeth. I think I’ve seen some people switch to a mountain bike RD for this without having to swap the shift levers.
2) Smaller crank with a 46/30 or something. Need a recommendation.
3) I’m not a huge fan of this bike in the first place, so i could be convinced I need a whole new bike. Lay it on me

Anybody who works for a bike shop, don’t be shy about recommending your wares. PM me if you want.

Topic

[mstone]

@DismalScientist 83197 wrote:

Bah… You just need a nice new friction bar end (or better yet downtube) shifter.:rolleyes:

No, I really don’t. Brifters are one of the really good innovations in the last 50 years. I used downtube shifters, I’ve moved on.

I’m also confused about why someone would want to avoid the mountain derailleur for a big sprocket, especially after the posts saying that the road der works really good except for being flaky. It’s a fairly cheap part to do it right.

[JimF22003]

@Greenbelt 83176 wrote:

Don’t you just need a triple front chainring (granny gear)?

http://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/road/steel/volpe/

I think you may be right. I haven’t used a triple on a road bike for ten years, but I have one one the Cannondale Mountain Bike. The front shifting is a little hinky, but it definitely gets me the range I need.

[JimF22003]

@hozn 83220 wrote:

Buy the RLT9!

That one is pretty, and is actually the kind of thing I was thinking about. I didn’t know about the ability to use 29er or 700c wheels. Interesting.

[hozn]

@JimF22003 83240 wrote:

That one is pretty, and is actually the kind of thing I was thinking about. I didn’t know about the ability to use 29er or 700c wheels. Interesting.

Yeah, it looks like it can fit 45mm tires. I like the di2 wiring option with internal shifter routing, the disc brakes (of course), the ebb for single speed option, the tapered headtube for fork options, and aluminum for weight and won’t-rust factor.

[Author]

Replies