I may be one of the few folks on this forum that could benefit from a >50t front for the type of riding I do and even still, I’d always rather be under geared than over. On my “flat” rides I’m doing 25-30mph on any kind of slight downhill or tailwind.
Road bike is 50/34 on an 11-30. None of the long climbs I do regularly get very steep so that works fine. Kinda wish I had a 52/36 so I spend less time on the 11t cog. Might still need more fitness and to be a bit lighter to do much climbing on that. Still have a climbing wheel set with the 32t cassette. Could fit the 35t but the spacing on the Shimano one doesn’t make sense.
Gravel bike is 46/30 with an 11-40t cassette. I love it. Spins out fast on any kind of descent but I just coast. Ain’t railing turns on pavement at >30mph on any case because I’m usually aired down. There is no climb that I can’t do if there’s sufficient traction. I arrived on the 40t after trying a 34t and a 36t SRAM cassette. The latter being much saner gear spacing. Still don’t regret the tail hook extender and the 40t XT cassette which are hard to find in 11s these days.
Okay, an interesting mix on the cassette choices but seems like 46/30 is the way to go. With a 50 up front I’m hardly descending long or fast enough to warrant the 11t rear. I’m afraid the 46 is too far a decrease from 50 compared to 48 but I’ve only struggled with being under-geared and it’s easy to adapt when over-geared. Just hope the 46/30 combo fits my frame.
I bought a 52/36 for the new road bike, but terrain is merely “rolly” around here, and with the 11-30 in the back I’ll have a lower gear than the 34/28 I’ve been using.
My fitness goals are to have 200W be the top of my Z2 or “endurance” pace which seems achievable. At that level I could likely push the 52/36 just fine in most conditions.
My litmus test is climbing Mt. Diablo which is ~3k feet and 6-8% most of the way with a couple kickers.
I don’t know I’m faster than ever before. But of course before I wasn’t really trying that hard, just riding excessively. Now I am riding excessively and trying hard
That said the likelihood of me riding 9k miles in a year again is probably low. My body would break. But 5 or 6k is sufficient
I keep thinking about a Surly Wednesday to maintain fun / sanity levels for my new mountain living situation. Do any shop bros know when they could be back in stock? I’m in the XL sizeways, and I like the idea of swapping wheels eventually for big 29 rubber as well.
Well 2.5/2.6 is definitely common for bikes with more than 120mm travel too. But still a much smaller group. We sell almost nothing smaller than 2.3 though. Still, it seems that 2.4 is where most tire companies have agreed to offer the widest range of tread options. Everything from dry racer bro XC to DHF.
If this is for your f-builder you may was well get clearance for 2.6 though.
2.8"-3.0" tires were a flash in the pan 2016-2019 but most folks decided they didn’t like them. Instead of “some of the benefits of fatbikes without the downsides”, in reality it was “most of the downsides of fatbikes without (m)any of the benefits”. Also was mostly a 27.5" thing, not a 29er thing. There are still some desert bikepacker folks who are committed to the 27.5x2.8" size but otherwise it’s pretty startling how they went away as fast as they appeared.
It definitely seems like 2.3-2.4" is here to stay as the mainsteam size for 29ers, with 2.5-2.6" as the max widely-available option.