# Sorta/Kinda a Poll: What gear do you use going up OLH?



## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

.
What gear do you use going up Old La Honda? (no fibbing now)

Your seated gear?
Your standing gear?

Just curious. At 3 miles and 7%, seems like a good benchmark climb, even not counting its popularity. 

Oh and if you know, what's your typical climbing cadence? Seated? Standing?
.


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

This is the apple pie and ice cream of RBR threads! Two of my favorite subjects, OLH and gears, in one thread!

These days I am riding it in compact 50-34 by 12-25. Most of the time I am in either the 34/23 or 34/25 combination and seated. I can definitely sustain more power while seated than standing. Occasionally I am out of the saddle for the parts that are slightly steeper, or to pick up the pace for the last 0.3 of a mile if I know that I am on a good time. I'll be in a stiffer gear for those parts.


----------



## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

I'm typically on a 50-39 with 12-27 and in the 39/25 and 39/27 combos. No idea what my cadence is. For shorter climbs, such as this, I'm probably standing more than sitting. It just feels better to me (no idea about power).


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Dr_John said:


> I'm typically on a 50-39 with 12-27 and in the 39/25 and 39/27 combos.


Err, did you really switch to a standard inner chain-ring? After the prosthelytizing on the benefits of a compact? 

Due to a lack of planning, I did Moody/Page Mill Rd on a standard double 53-39 and a 12-23 cassette last week. I survived but it was not pretty and it was very slow!


----------



## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

It's been a long time since I've done OLH (or any climb, for that matter), I would do it in a 39x23, the whole way. Standing, sitting, whatever. I have no idea what my cadence was. I was a strong climber back then, so it wasn't a problem. I remember riding "easy" up OLH and doing sub-22. I have a wife and kid now, so those days are long gone!

If you are going for a sub-20 time, you'll need a 39x21.


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

mohair_chair said:


> If you are going for a sub-20 time, you'll need a 39x21.


This depends highly on the rider and his/her preferred cadence. I do sub 20 minutes using mostly 34x25 and with a cadence in the range of 70-80 rpms. I am definitely slower if I have to push a substantially bigger gear. The positive thing for me is that I started off with a triple and a 12-27!

It turns out that OLH is at a perfect consistent grade for me to push my power output to its limit - steep enough that I can keep the power output high and sustained, but not so steep that it becomes more brute force and strength. The only other hill that I can really keep the same sustained power is King's Mountain. The others are either too shallow, too steep or too variable and are much more of a challenge to maintain "constant effort" over the duration of the climb.


----------



## kretzel (Aug 1, 2007)

34x21 then the 19 when outa the saddle, back when I was riding it in low 19 minute range. Those days are so long gone though. 

Very few people need a 39 around here, although a lot of people _think _they do. The vast majority would do better with a 34. Some day I'll get around to doing the spreadsheet on power/weight ratio and what you need to really justify a 39 on climbs like OLH. My gut says it's north of 3.5 W/kg at threshold.


----------



## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

Compact cranks weren't around back then. All I had was standard gearing. 

I don't see how you are going to get the speed you need to go sub-20 from a 34x25.


----------



## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

I forget... when ppl are talking about their OLH times, everybody is talking OLH East, right?

OLH West, IIRC, is the same steepness but considerably shorter/a lot less vert feet of climbing.
.


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

SystemShock said:


> I forget... when ppl are talking about their OLH times, everybody is talking OLH East, right?


Yes, that's right. OLH east from the bridge to the stop sign is the de facto benchmark for climbing in the South Bay.


----------



## rox (Jul 7, 2009)

compact cranks here so 36x23 and seated for the majority of the climb


----------



## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

> Err, did you really switch to a standard inner chain-ring? After the prosthelytizing on the benefits of a compact?


Actually you're thinking about it wrong. It's not a 39 on a compact, but a 50 on a standard crank.  I'm sure you haven't noticed, but if I'm doing a long ride with you, or venturing into unknown territory, say around Karl's neck of the woods, I'm on the Roubaix, which has a compact crank.



> Very few people need a 39 around here, although a lot of people think they do.


Certainly not me ... I didn't _need_ a 39, but I did need full Dura Ace. You know, fashion over function.  



> If you are going for a sub-20 time, you'll need a 39x21.


I'm with ukbloke on this, if I understand your point. I was consistently doing mid-19s last year with the gearing I mentioned.



> , I did Moody/Page Mill Rd on a standard double 53-39 and a 12-23 cassette last week. I survived but it was not pretty and it was very slow!


Yeah, for me, even with a 39/27, between gates 3 and 4 is a real killer.


----------



## Undecided (Apr 2, 2007)

If I'm just "riding" it, I'm primarily in 39x23 and x25, until it flattens out toward the top, average cadence of right around 80 (per my PT). I rarely stand on OLH (maybe just to stretch the legs on a couple of the steep ramps and again to make the mental shift to pushing a bigger gear toward the top).

If I'm riding it as hard as I can, I go to 39x21 and x19, again until it flattens out, and my average cadence falls 3-5 rpm.


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

kretzel said:


> Very few people need a 39 around here, although a lot of people _think _they do. The vast majority would do better with a 34. Some day I'll get around to doing the spreadsheet on power/weight ratio and what you need to really justify a 39 on climbs like OLH. My gut says it's north of 3.5 W/kg at threshold.


I did some spreadsheet math. Assuming a 39/25 gear, 7.5% grade, 70rpm cadence, 40W to overcome drag, 165lb rider and a 20lb bike I got 3.69 Watts/Kg ... and a 23 minute 10 second time up OLH. If you up the cadence to 80rpm you get 4.14 Watts/Kg and a 20 minute 15 second time. This shows that for those aspiring to 20 minutes on OLH, a 39 inner chain ring is pretty reasonable. It isn't so reasonable for those south of 3.5W/Kg, exactly as you suggest! 

Of course in this scenario you don't have the gears for anything steeper than OLH without dropping your cadence. The analysis also assumes a constant gear selection for the climb, and even though OLH is pretty consistent this is by no means the full story. In practice you will spend some significant time in a lower gear and some significant time in a higher gear than the average, or conversely vary your cadence to lower and higher than the average cadence.

I also did the same math for Mohair Chair's 39/21. The same rider needs to do 68 rpm to get a 20 minute time. This is pretty reasonable gearing for a masher. Not so good for a spinner - at 80rpm this would be a 17 minute OLH!

I also put in my time and ran the numbers backwards to calculate my average gearing of 34/21 with a cadence of 81 rpm. Now I'm running a 12-25 cassette so the surprising thing for me is that either I spent a lot of time in the 21 cog or smaller, or had significant periods of time with a cadence higher than my average. I hit my PR in the low-key kill climb on OLH this year, but it was a very different run to usual for me - I spent the entire climb chasing riders down which gave me huge incentives to go fast.


----------



## SystemShock (Jun 14, 2008)

kretzel said:


> Very few people need a 39 around here, although a lot of people _think _they do. The vast majority would do better with a 34. Some day I'll get around to doing the spreadsheet on power/weight ratio and what you need to really justify a 39 on climbs like OLH. My gut says it's north of 3.5 W/kg at threshold.


Yup. There's a reason why compact cranks are becoming more and more popular, even despite the racer/wannabe racer crowd frowning on them (which is usually the kiss of death for a new product or technology).

They're just too durn practical, for many.
.


----------



## poff (Jul 21, 2007)

Since I have DA 12x27, I am missing 25t gear, so I am in 39x24 seated and I do not stand up on OLH since it is perfect to spin.


----------



## Maaku (May 3, 2009)

I just did this climb yesterday, I was mostly in 39-23 sitting down. 39-21 standing up. (using a 12-25 cassette) I am typically a climber and I like low cadence.


----------



## Mtn2RoadConvert (Aug 28, 2006)

On my Tarmac I switched out the Dura Ace 53/39 to a compact crank. With the 50/34 I have found my climbing ability has improved noticeably. For OLH 34/25 works very well.


----------



## dan32888 (Nov 24, 2009)

39x27 while sitting and standing for everything but the top part.

I did an 18:45 with 39x25 sitting and a 23 or 24 when standing. That was when I was training a lot harder.


----------

