Key word here. The benefit of riding endurance pace is that you can do so much of it. If you can’t do that much of it, you need to go easier. Something I’ve had to personally learn as I raise my volume, trying to ride 15+ hours a week at my former 10hr/wk endurance paces in the 190s, I’d be pretty damn tired. So I do most of my endurance riding right now in the low-to-mid 170s (by feel, that’s just where it ends up) or 0.6-0.63IF.
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Therefore your gearing is too high if you want that ride to be a Z2 one. You can go much lower than 34 / 32 with gearing, drop cadence to 50 rpm or so as well and you’re golden.
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I appreciate you guys helping out a newer rider. That podcast in particular is hilariously on point. Thanks.
This info is repeated across many threads now.
I wonder, why are so many people afraid of lower gearing?
Many of us are riding the same gearing as Pogacar. His 6.4w/kg means he can ride Z2 on most terrain, at his ideal cadence. Our lower FTPs, usually, dramatically lower, mean we need lower gearing. Bin the ego. Get the correct gearing for you.
It allows you to do optimal endurance rides on far more varied terrain.
Pros run 32 cassettes in hilly races. Hearing folks running the same gearing, then grinding 50rpm on hills during their endurance rides always amuses me.
It’s crazy how much professional cycling drives amateur cycling equipment.
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Agree. I run an 11-34 on my training wheelset, and it is invaluable to my training. The 34 tooth cutoff hits because I have a medium cage derailleur. Put a long cage on there and you can go bigger.
I see so many people show up to a mountain workout I coach with 52/36 and 11-25 on the back and then halfway through they’re like “I just can’t go easy on this climb. I just can’t I have to go hard.” Sigh. So when it’s time to go hard, where are they? Clapped off the back.
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I don’t think it’s fear or emulating pros.
I would love to have a 44 in the back, but my rear derailleur doesn’t allow for that gearing. To think I should replace my drivetrain (which is 10 speed SRAM) just for Z2 riding is less about ego and more about cost/finances.
People have what they have because it is what their bikes come with, and not everyone can afford a huge upgrade. Newer bikes come with much lower gearing, but they also cost 2-3x what they did at the same level 10 years ago. And most entry level gearing can’t fit huge cassettes in the back (to my knowledge. I know GRX can, but no idea about newer Claris, Sora, or Tiagra).
This is already an expensive sport - and the barrier to entry is high. To think that you need to spend more to ride SLOW/EASY is a fairly myopic view.
If people riding at 50 RPM with 34x32s because they’re afraid to have their power go 1 what above Z2 is taking this idea WAY too far IMO.
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I agree with the last sentence. No need to totally avoid zone 3 or 4 when climbing.
That said, most bikes these days with medium cage derailleurs can handle a 34, and I am the only person I know that I ride with regularly who runs a 34 in the back. Most people are 25s or 28s, except the few guys I know that run 1x’s.
A Shimano 105 11-34 cassette costs $60 on Amazon and I’d argue it’s a more important training upgrade for people living in hilly/mountainous area than just about anything else. If you have to replace a chain, you’re still probably able to get under $100 for an upgrade that will make a massive difference in your training rides, especially coming from a 25.
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Oh yes, totally agreed. To me that’s part of route choice. (It is also where Wahoo’s navigation and Strava’s automatic route creator will often fall short.)
IMHO just keeping a lid on things and be disciplined is 90 % of Z2 
Totally agreed.
IMHO most road bike gearing is still too hard if you live in the mountains. I’m glad you can go below 1:1 on SRAM (10–36 cassette coupled to 46/33 chainrings). Shimano’s 54/40 chainrings on their 12-speed groupsets are tempting people to commit acts of self-harm.
IMHO it is ego. Very few people need a 53:11 or even 50:10. In 50:12 I spin out at 65 km/h, which is plenty on public roads. If I go faster (always downhill, mind you, I am not a sprinter), it won’t matter anyway. I don’t need to pedal to accelerate from 70 km/h to 80+ km/h.
In 2019 I entered a hill climb TT. By far my favorite race. On my way back, I saw people suffering with 53/39 and what looked like 11–25 gearing in the back. They were also much lower in W/kg (no dig, just a reality), so they must really have been suffering, grinding up that hill. I think I was even in 34:32 on some of the kickers.
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Come back to this comment in ten years…
In the future road bikes will have gearing suitable for all riders on far more varied terrain.
I run a cycling club, of the many riders I ride with, I ‘generally’ have the lowest gearing. I’m also ‘generally’ a bit stronger at climbing, as I’m very light. It’s a very obvious flaw when you do a steep 30min climb with a large group of varying level of riders. Everyone, often inc myself is over geared.
The fact that this is still a thing in 2022 just amuses me.
Road cycling. Aero clothes, power meters, carbon fiber everything, ceramic bearings, subscriptions to numerous training metric platforms, personal cycling coaches…
Actual appropriate gearing for what should constitute 80% of ones training… too expensive, not easy to implement etc etc. Right.
Our sport is so far from cutting edge it’s bordering on comedy.
If there were 10 group set companies doing real science on the ‘average’ actual 3.5w/kg real world rider. We’d have a vast array of affordable options. Gearing would be specific to the riders current ability. In hilly areas of the planet, you’d be given the option at time of purchase to make it geography specific.
Dark ages…
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This side discussion has me googling compact chain rings again.
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That’s probably my biggest gripe with Shimano: I have the feeling that their product development team spends too much time with pros and too little time with average Joes and Janes.
From a gearing perspective, SRAM is giving drop bar cyclists much more choice and much lower gearing. IMHO including a 10-tooth cog is great for average riders. It gives cassettes more range while keeping jumps between gears small, and you can use smaller chain rings up front. Yes, smaller cogs are less efficient, but if you design a product for the general audience, the benefit of having lower gears by far outweighs losses in drive train efficiency (that e. g. assume a clean and well-kept drive train which is not always realistic).
Still, I think bike companies should e. g. put SRAM’s gravel crankset on road bikes. 43:10 = 4.30 ≥ 50:12 = 4.17 is a tall enough gear for many mere most mortals. I have a 42-tooth chainring on my 1x12 setup and there are few instances (apart from going downhill where I’d spin out in pretty much any gear) where I spin out.
I also think that a lot of normal people would prefer 1x simply because it is, well, simpler. My wife learnt cycling in her 30s and she has a 3x10 drive train. It still doesn’t come natural to her even after 4–5 years.
It’s not that your cassette sprocket is too small, the problem is the BCD on your crankset (compact is 110mm) is too big, I’m running a 40:28 MTB (104mm BCD) chainset on my gravel bike, which I use for my Z2 road rides.
If you still want to run a road chainset, get a triple and take of the big ring.
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I think you’re missing the point.
Purchasing equipment isn’t the answer. I felt his post was myopic and misses the point of endurance riding. Thinking ppl need new equipment for this.
It’s like implying you can only get faster with trainer road. You can get faster with many options, some better and more ideal than others.
If you have to go up a hill and touch threshold power for 5-10 seconds it doesn’t undo an endurance ride. People have just been drinking thjs kool aid after that ISM video came out saying your metabolic processes change for 20 minutes if you leave zone 2, but there’s a perfect way/better way/and decent way to get things done most kf the time.
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I run a 9 speed mtn bike triple which isn’t trendy these days. But it has as a big a range as modern offerings and the steps between gears aren’t that large unless you only like a single cadence. The big ring at front is 40t which paired with 11t at rear enables 23.5 mph at 80 rpm. Sufficient for this mortal 56 year old. Whilst at other end I can drop to about 2.5 mph on steep stuff keeping effort low before I need to get concerned about maintaining balance.
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My point is not that ppl need new equipment, it is that we have been and are being sold the wrong equipment in the first place. Selling entry level bikes which have a more than 1:1 bottom gear is a barrier for newcomers to the sport, it is elitism.
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I understand your point. I don’t know how I feel about what comes on new bikes.
Bikes used to come with triples, but they never shifted all that great compared to doubles.
But as a new rider you shouldn’t be focused on zone 2. You should just learn how to ride your bike and start enjoying it. And even if your fearing sucks, you can still get into structure With what you have. I ride with a guy who has 8 speed Claris on an aluminum felt. He’s plenty fast. He makes it work.
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I have bar ends on friction and they shift as well if not better than any DC lever.
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Triples had so much cross chaining. Never ideal
Only if you didn’t shift at front, it’s far worse with less rings
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