I own a 1987 Bianchi Campione Del Mondo 12 speed which I need to change the gearing. I am getting killed on the uphills as the gearing is not low enough and then I run out of acceleration on the downhills.
On the uphills I am running a 42 tooth front sprocket and a 24 tooth cog. At about 7 mph I am chugging at about 50 RPM. Anything below that I loose steam pretty quick going up big hills for long periods of time. I seem to get passed by people just sitting and spinning up the hill. I just rode with my buddy yesterday and I noticed going uphill I am pedaling 1 time for each one of his 2.5 revolutions. Of course I noticed that because I was behind him!
What goes up must come down and this is where I like to make ground but I hit a wall once again. I run a 52 tooth sprocket up front with a 14 tooth cog in the back. Anything above 30 mph or 120 RPM It become difficult to keep spinning but I can sustain short bursts up to 40 MPH. I normally top out at about 47 MPH but I can forget about even trying to spin going that fast as I am afraid my shoes will become unclipped. I need more top end!
I rented a bike when I was in Salt Lake City where my buddy and I rode up and down Big Cottonwood. There would have been no way I could of even made it the first 3 miles up Big Cottonwood on my Bianchi but I faired alright on the newer 18 speed rental road bike. The downhill was a blast as I was able to sustain speeds of 60+ MPH all the way down the mountain. I had plenty of gearing which allowed my to accelerate hard out of the corners by mashing the pedals.
My comfortable cadence is about 70 RPM but ranges between 50 - 90 RPM before it becomes uncomfortable. I want to change my gearing to give a lower bottom end and a higher top end. Gear spacing isn't all that important as I frequently skip a gear while upshifting or down shifting.
I thought about a new bike but my wife is wanting my to stick to a $1000 budget which I think is too low.
What can I do for my current Bianchi to make it more ridable?
Crank Set:
Ofmega Crank
52 tooth
42 tooth
144mm BCD
Rear Cassette:
Regina Extra-EX
24
22
20
18
16
14
Speedy
