With racing getting faster and faster, chainrings are getting bigger and bigger! Not long ago, the standard 53/39 was the pro choice, but this has changed dramatically. We’re at the 2024 Tour de France to see what gears the pros are using, find out how their choices have evolved over time, and compare them to what us mere mortals use!
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00:00 What gearing are pros using at the Tour de France?
00:20 Gearing amateurs tend to use
00:47 What are the pros using?
02:29 Why do the pros want bigger chainrings?
04:49 What about going uphill?
06:14 Ollie tries out the 54/40 chainset
07:00 Pros used to only use big cassettes
08:24 Have mechanics’ lives become easier?
08:55 Why use a 40/34?
09:50 How far racing has come – Now pros are using 56/44!
11:23 Thanks to Shimano, Ineos Grenadier and Jayco–AlUla!
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32 Comments
What is your perfect chainring-cassette size combination?
I am truly surprised that the pros dont have a required gear set up, like 50/34 30/11. Any pro rider using a larger chain ring should be faster on the flats.
I'm an amateur and with 31/48 chainset I don't find the 12spd. 11-34 as narrow-gapped as it might be (gravel bike when run with road wheelset) and sometimes would like something in between. With bigger chainrings the gaps between ratios are bigger. So for flatter stages I think 11-30 would still be better, both for amateurs and pros. It is probably mostly due to logistical necessities not being with it why they're not swapping those. I bought 11-30 Ultegra cassette as I needed an extra one for my trainer and will likely try it on flatter real-life sessions as well. How they are running 40:34 ratios up long 10%+ ascents is impressive; with my 31:34 ratio and ~3W/kg FTP I think I would be faster with even greater reduction, as when seated I prefer to spin around 95RPM when around FTP power.
Fitness first, then equipment. The pros know that. Not fit, won't win.
Wish you would include the Wats required to maintain the respective RPMs with the various setups
I've been racing since before you were born. Racing bikes came standard with 52 up front and 14 in the rear. I upgraded to 53 up front and 12 in the rear.
So i am a compete novice, doing my first triathlon. I have a basic carrera virtuoso which i have had for nearly 7 years. I thinks its an 8 speed rear casette. For spmeone like me who is looking at going serious now and improving my cycling, how would a better gear ratio effect my cycling.
50-34 on my Specialized. It's even Claris. Funny thing. Like 2.5 years ago I was not able to go up a nearby hill, unless I went zig-zagging on the lowest possible gear… Now, 2.5 years later from those days, I tackle the same hill on the big plate, with the middle gear in the rear. I went from 14.8km/h and 55 seconds in the first try to 33 seconds and 24.7 km/h as my PR. (yes, it's a small climb). On another hill, near my home, I went from 3m3s at 13.9 km/h to 1m 48s and 23.6km/h as my PR. My legs became solid like steel, while my weight hardly dropped at all….
I've been using 50/34 chain ring and 11/34 cassette for the past 6 years
Me using 54-42
I'm not a pro yet but i use 11-28cassette and 56/42 cranksets the downside is you often change your chain every 4months😂 the more power you put the faster the chain wear but don't worry I'm not really into road bikes I'm used to fixed gear or track bike that use 60/12 gear ratio
Actually the Tours riders now are whims, sorry to say. The standard pro bike back in the 80’s were 42/52 front and 11/22 rear. I couldn’t believe I rode those gear either as they were pretty standard setup for off the self steel racing bike and new carbon frames of that era.
I got myself a shimamo 53/39 and 52/36 and 50/36. All are ok as per my riding styles need to copy pros as i dont race.😮
Disk brakes, walkie-talkie radios, and greater industry involvement to pay domestiques, results in greater cooperation in pace-lines, and the peloton as a whole, resulting in much less aerodynamic drag for most of the race (except when taking a domestiques turn at the front) for the riders. This means that pro cyclists can ride along at 5-60kmh as a peloton bunch, with only those at the front putting in much effort, with the rest of the team/riders able to spin these large chain-rings because they have no air resistance in front of them.
I ride on my own, 53/39.
Glad to see gearing getting bigger. I've been out of cycling for twenty years and coming back to MTB 1x with 38 max teeth is frustrating. Give me nothing less than a 42, prefferably a 46 to 48 prefferable, witha 11 42 cassette. Ona road bike I've still got my 62 time trial from the Lance Armstrong days.
When I used to race 53-39 was the norm, I’m not a good climber so I used a 53-36(it worked), now I’m happy with a 50-34 😂 and 11-34 cassette
If all this is so important……….
Then what I don't understand is….. why don't they make a 15mm wider axle (wider frame). Then you can make a 14 (or 15) gear sprocket and shifter. And everything (shifting and cadence) will be smooth.
I ride 48/35 (Rotor Q-rings) with a 10-33 cassette. I wish I could go to a 46/33 option but Rotor doesn't offer that. Because I ride solo most of the time this gearing is ideal for me.
I regularly use 10/34t – 52/39t on my regular and competitive rides took a while to get used to the gearing but its good once you become familiar with it
The only reason they are using such large front chainrings is because of the speeds they hold in the pack.. If they are out solo riding like your or me at 30-35km/h you don't run out of gears. But when the peleton is pushing 45-55km/h that's when you get to the point your running out. 50-34 shimano or 50-38 for sram is plenty for solo riders and everyday enthusiasts.
I’m new to this sport – bought my road bike one year ago at 58 – and I’m preparing for a round Taiwan ride which will include the Taiwan kom climb route. After some tune up hill climbing in the Carolina’s (using a lot of the Hincapie fondo route) – I put a 43/30 on the front to go with a 10/36 cassette. Tractor gearing suits my modest ftp just fine on the steep stuff. I’d love to have a third bigger ring on the front for fast descents but since I’m in Lycra instead of leathers I’ll just live without it.
SORRY TO SPOILT THE PARTY, BUT WHY WOULD ANYONE USE THIS BLAND, UGLY SHIMA(NO!)?
ALL MY BIKES HAVE BEEN CAMPAGNOLO SUPER RECORD EPS, WITH ME ONLY HAVING ONE COMPLAINT…NO 11-34 CASSETTE ON THE 11-SPEED.
THEY MUST HAVE HEARD ME, AS THE NEWER 12-SPEED HAS THE OPTION!!!
LAST YEAR I SAVED A BIANCHI, FITTED WITH DURA-ACE, ETC, BY STRIPPING IT OFF, AND REPLACING WITH SUPER RECORD 12-SPEED EPS, WITH AN 11-34 CASSETTE!
I JUST SOLD MY COLNAGO C60, FOR A C64, FITTED WITH MECHANICAL DISC SUPER RECORD, BUT I AM CHANGING IT TO SUPER RECORD EPS DISC, WITH AN 11-34 CASSETTE!
UNFORTUNATELY, NO ONE WANT'S TO BUY CAMPAGNOLO(EVEN ITALIANS!), SO WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF BORING, BLANDNESS, WHERE EVERYONE IS MISERABLE, DRIVING GREY
CARS, AND WHERE CYCLISTS WEAR BLACK/FLURO YELLOW CLOTHING, WITH PEOPLE BEING JEALOUS OF NICE THINGS!
Chainrings may be bigger but remember the 11-34 at the cassette. When I started biking I had 11-28 on my MOUNTAIN bike.
I found road bike gearing in hilly country, even "short" 50/34 and 11-34 cassette to be too tall. Went to a chimeric GRx 48/31 with a mountain bike XT cassette and derailleur in the rear of 11-42 and haven't looked back. Can stay zone 2 power up to 12-14 percent hills and the cadence of like 25 doesn't bother me because its so short. Going so slow I feel like I will fall over but I don't care. Can ride all day in the mountains and not feel it, can train with power outside any day of the week anywhere. My knees and achilles tendons are thanking me. The issue is drop bars aren't compatible with the MTB derailleur so you will need an adapter like as made by Wolf Tooth and the end result is that it won't shift perfect. It will shift OK but you can feel that all isn't quiet on the Western Front so to speak but its good enough for me. I don't miss my road bike setup as that kind of gearing is for young kids.
50/34 + 11-34 (11sp)
I don’t even understand how this is a question, if you have the power and are find yourself spinning out then okay sure, if not then no, it’s not really rocket science
There isn't much difference between 54,40 on 11,34 compared with 50,34 on 11,28
The 40 front, 34 rear is a taller gear then 34 front, 30 rear, but its shorter than 34 front, 28 rear.
The ONLY reason they use the larger chain rings is to achieve a straighter chain line by using the middle of the cassette.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. (James 4:4)
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Mark 2:17)
I remember my old 1989 Trek 1400 (made in Wisconsin) having a seven-speed 13-24 cog set and 52/42 chainrings ("biopace" – this was 105). Somehow I managed to ride some pretty big days through the Canadian Rockies on this. I think youth can be factored into the gearing.
Shimano sponsores them, but my brain just plays the "FCKIN SRAM" clip over and over again
racing is getting faster and faster ….wrong , riders are getting more powerful
Why are they going to shorter cranks?