Stage 2; *98.38 km | 1,505 m * stage 3: *84.30 km | 1,928 m * Stage 5: 82.03 km | 1,736 m Stage 6: 64.25 km | +1,416 m
My question:
I can rent a :Cannondale Synapse CarbonUltegra Di2 there : ( 50/34 - 11-34cassette) . I’m wondering if a 34T will be low enough, or if I should bring my own bike with a Wolf Tooth RoadLink and fit a 40T cassette instead? Too much?
For context: I’m mostly an indoor Zwift rider (mid Cat C woman), not used to long real-world climbs, and this will be my first dedicated climbing holiday.
Almost always is it better to err on the side of having more climbing gears.
If you want a solution that will work without a Wolftooth Road Link, then slap on a SRAM 11–36 cassette. Obviously, it won’t give you as easy a gear, but it is an alternative if you don’t want to fuss around with your RD.
Some of the roads have quite steep pitches, you will be fine on 1:1 gear if you can hold over 3.5w/kg on those. For endurance riding 1:1 ratio is often not enough there, even with >4w/kg threshold.
Currently in GC right now. It is very warm during the day and some of the climbs are long and quite steep. Running a 10-36 on SRAM AXS, easy enough. For a multi day event, go as easy as possible.
Thanks for all the advice and inputs! I will rent the Specialized Roubaix SL8 Expert Rival eTap (46/33 + 11-36) , this should be good enough for some of the brutal climbs.
Since there are a few Gran Canaria riders here, can I also ask what extra clothing you recommend for the rides? I’ve heard the temperature drops a lot at the top—how drastic is it in reality?
Should I bring arm/leg warmers, neck warmer, gloves, shoe covers, a light summer rain/wind jacket, or something warmer like an autumn jacket?
Depends on your luck with weather. Usually no need for leg warmers or shoe covers, but if you descend all the way from the top, you will need a windstopper jacket, long finger gloves and maybe also buff/hat.
Luck of the draw with the weather, if you’re high up and descending in cloud you will probably appreciate having the items mentioned above!
If you ride into the cloud it can feel like it’s lightly raining and a bit chilly!
Been in mid December and warm/sunny all week, needed a Gillet to descend. Been in May several times, May ‘24 was a very cloudy week and needed arm warmers/showerproof jacket higher up some days.
I haven’t been to Gran Canaria specifically, but many mountains on many continents (German, France, Austria, Japan, Chile, etc.). My experience is as follows:
In mountains it always pays off to err on the side of being over prepared.
I always put two small plastic bags and a pair of surgical gloves in my saddle bag, which pack really well and weigh next-to-nothing. When it gets really cold, I put the plastic bags over my socks and the surgical gloves underneath my cycling gloves. 100 % wind stoppage and with time the warm, moist air will keep your fingers and feet toasty/toastier.
It almost always pays off to pack arm warmers, a skull cap, a buff and some form of wind barrier for your upper body (e. g. a gilet or, my favorite, a rain jacket). If your feet get cold, pack e. g. Velotoze shoe “condoms”. The buff not only acts as a neck warmer, but also as a plug to prevent air flow in between your wind shell and your jersey.
Your choice of gloves depends on how quickly your fingers get cold. Cold fingers on a descent are miserable.
Test your gear. I found the claimed temperature ranges for various pieces of clothing to be a rather mixed bag.
Thanks everyone for taking your time to share! I am sure this post will be useful for others in the future too! So now I’ve got my bike and gearing sorted, and I know what to expect in the top of the climb and what clothing to bring.
May I also ask how do you all mountain goats pack all the extra clothing and food? In GC bike week, there are 2- 4 official rest stations, so I don’t have to pack a lot but carry a bottle, few gels and snack. I have a saddle bag for a tube and c02 for puncture . Do you normally just stuff everything in the saddle bag and jersey ? Or do you recommend an extra frame bag / top tube bag / handlebar bag ?
What info do you display on your head unit when doing climbing rides? I have a wahoo bolt
If the stops are frequent enough, I go with one bottle and put my tools in a dummy bottle, and put my arm warmers and gilet and emergency gel and maybe a cereal bar in my back pockets.
Head unit is just the same as I’m use to. % max HR, 3s W, Distance, Speed (Current, Max and Ave), Elapsed Time and Time of the day. I have a 1030 fwiw, for my smaller 130 I cut it down to % max HR, 3s W, Distance and ave Speed and have time of the day on a 2nd page.
In my experience, the most important data fields are
average power (20 seconds or lap average if you use the lap button)
average power (3 seconds)
heart rate
cadence
elevation ascended
speed
distance
Wahoo has a climbing page, which gives you an idea how far you still have to go. I’d pare down the data fields.
Overall, I’d pace by feel and just use the numbers to e. g. keep you in check (powerwise) and that you are not putting too much strain on your system (heart rate).
Yes, its pretty easy given that you already have the key parts. If the bike already had SRAM AXS parts, super simple to add in a Xplr rear derailleur and cassette. Converting over from Shimano would be more cost prohibitive for a 1 week trip.