I’m going to Gran Canaria Bike Week this November https://grancanariabikeweek.es/ . It’s a 7-day event with lots of climbing. I’d love some tips on bike equipment:
I’m planning to get a new carbon gravel bike (Liv Devote) and a set of road wheels with road tyres. Would this be a better choice than using my current 2018 carbon aero road bike (rim brake)?
I’m also considering renting a bike to avoid the logistics of flying with mine. My concern is that it’s a full week of riding, and I don’t know how my body will react to a rental bike that I’m not used to. Any experiences with rentals for multi-day events would be helpful.
What cassette/gear ratio would you recommend for this kind of sustained climbing?
I think either should be fine. I’m always surprised how ‘road-like’ my gravel bike feels once I put road wheels and tires on it. Tying into #3, the gravel bike would likely have much lower gearing which might be good for the climbing. Also the gravel bike would have disc brakes which would be great for the descents. But either could probably get the job done and you should go with what you’re more comfortable on.
I haven’t ever rented a bike for that long and I’m pretty flexible with my bike fit. But my parent’s have done several Trek Travel trips where they provide a rental bike (my mom even did the cross country (USA) trip over 6 weeks) and they’ve never had issues. Now if you’re fit is way outside of ‘normal’ then it could be an issue and maybe you could bring a special stem or something. But they usually bring their own saddles and pedals and then spend the first day tweaking the bike to fit and it worked out well.
This is really an ‘it depends’. Mostly on your fitness and goals. If you’re super fit and looking to stay with front groups then something like a 52/36 with a 11-32 or 34 cassette (shimano) would probably be fine. But if you’re less fit and/or just looking to have a good time and not worried about outright speed then going down to a 50/34 with a 11-34 or 36 (or even smaller with your gravel bike) might be preferable for the steeper sections.
How long and steep are the climbs? Do they come at the front or toward the end of the race?
I really like my 1x on my gravel bike. You can go XPLR for slightly tighter gearing or with a MTB cassette if the climbs are particularly spicy. Pick the front ring based on the climbing profile.
It really depends on how hilly and your fitness (and cadence preference), but I’m a fan of easy gearing for long climbing days. There is no glory/fun griding up hills at an inefficient cadence, especially if the day is long. My gravel bike is almost always my bike of choice for climbing rides. I have a 1x drivetrain with 10-52 MTB gearing at the rear and will run a 42 or 44 chainring depending on how much I need speed for the flats. I seldom bother switching to road tires/wheels, particularly if it’s mostly climbing and not a a lot of flat/fast stuff. The difference in rolling resistance isn’t much at climbing speeds and the extra weight is immaterial for me (but I’m a bigger rider pushing 77kg).
Looks like the climbs are average 6%. Depending on your climbing ability the above should be fine. Not sure of what wheel and tire combo comes on the bike but you might just swap tires to a narrower set rather than getting new rims.
I recently did something similar: did a long, climbing road race on my gravel bike with road tyres on it…
I switched out the gravel tyres for 32mm Continental GP5000 AR TR which were great. Rest of the bike unchanged, running a 1x set up with 40T front and 44T lowest back.
I’ve also rented a road bike for a week when I traveled to Spain… I took my own saddle with me which, if you’re like me and have been spending your whole life searching for a comfy saddle, is highly recommended. Generally you can get the specs of the rental bikes in advance and check that it’s not too far away in fit from your current ride, especially anything that might be different to standard e.g. crank length.
yes! I will surely take saddle with me if I decide to go for rental. Still in the undecided phase since I have trained so much on my own bike for months now, I am just worried and paranoid what if my body isn’t used to the new one and it might ruin my trip
Yes, exactly that! Climbing ability is below average but not a newbie. I think the 2x12 - 31x48 with 11/36 is fine but not sure if I am being silly to take a gravel bike ( with road wheelset) to the event
The place where I bought my gravel bike, also sets up the same frame as a road bike. The only real difference being the wheelset/ tyres and road gears. I thinking of putting a road wheelset on mine and using it for winter. You’ll be fine, good luck
If you trained on the gravel bike it’s perfect. I would not worry about the wheels. If the roads are smooth you will wish you had the road wheels. If the roads are crap then you will wish you had the gravel wheels.
what if my body isn’t used to the new one and it might ruin my trip