Mallorca cycling with 39/28?
Discussion
Hey PH,
Need some urgent'ish advice.
I'm off to Mallorca on Sunday with the missus for my 30th, till Thursday. We are staying in Calas de Mallorca on the East of the island, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Anyway - I am considering taking my bike, but only have 53/39 chainset with 11-28 cassette. I'm no mountain goat, so I doubt severely I'll be able to do any of the must do climbs on this setup.
My question to PH, is it worth cycling in Mallorca when I can't do the climbs?
I'll have to buy a bike box and pay the transport costs so it's going to cost a good few hundred to take it out there. I can reuse the box when I go to Morocco in a few weeks too I guess.
Thanks.
Need some urgent'ish advice.
I'm off to Mallorca on Sunday with the missus for my 30th, till Thursday. We are staying in Calas de Mallorca on the East of the island, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
Anyway - I am considering taking my bike, but only have 53/39 chainset with 11-28 cassette. I'm no mountain goat, so I doubt severely I'll be able to do any of the must do climbs on this setup.
My question to PH, is it worth cycling in Mallorca when I can't do the climbs?
I'll have to buy a bike box and pay the transport costs so it's going to cost a good few hundred to take it out there. I can reuse the box when I go to Morocco in a few weeks too I guess.
Thanks.
I did Mallorca last year with the same gears as you and it was OK. Im no climber either (80kg- cant hold fastest guys in my local club up any hills longer than 500metres) but if you are fairly fit you should be ok. There is nothing stupidly steep there. I did the biggest climb there a couple of times (puig major) and although I struggled a bit it was doable if I paced myself at the bottom and didnt go into the red too much.
Re bike box, you could just use a well packed cardboard bike box to save cash. I did that this year and worked ok. Most airlines can supply bike boxes to use which is handy for the return flight.
Re bike box, you could just use a well packed cardboard bike box to save cash. I did that this year and worked ok. Most airlines can supply bike boxes to use which is handy for the return flight.
Edited by thiscocks on Wednesday 19th July 18:44
Edited by thiscocks on Wednesday 19th July 18:45
z4RRSchris said:
cheapest option if you are worried is buy a cheap as chips compact.
I'm with you on this. Depending on what the OP is running, 10/11speed etc.There may be the option to change the chainrings too. If you're in for a fit, I would have thought the bike shop would happily help you do either option at short notice.
Take your bike & enjoy the roads around where you'll be staying. You don't need the hills in Mallorca to enjoy the place. The climbs are great to ride but I'd suggest the heat rather than your gearing would be your undoing. I was there in late June & it was high 30's each day. There's no way I'd contemplate a big day out in the mountains in that heat. Sa Calobra would be torture & the coaches & tourists at this time of year are best avoided, you'd need to be up & down by 10am I'd say. All the "big" climbs on the island are on the opposite side to where you are staying, you'd have 50/60miles in your legs before you got to the mountains. You're not too far from the monestery climbs of San Salvador & slightly further out is Randa,these would be fine on a 39/28 & would be worth getting to. Randa has a great Cafe at the top & the views are amazing. While we were there we'd head out no later than 8am & aim to back to base for around lunchtime simply because the heat from midday was too much (44c highest we saw!).
andySC said:
Take your bike & enjoy the roads around where you'll be staying. You don't need the hills in Mallorca to enjoy the place. The climbs are great to ride but I'd suggest the heat rather than your gearing would be your undoing. I was there in late June & it was high 30's each day. There's no way I'd contemplate a big day out in the mountains in that heat. Sa Calobra would be torture & the coaches & tourists at this time of year are best avoided, you'd need to be up & down by 10am I'd say. All the "big" climbs on the island are on the opposite side to where you are staying, you'd have 50/60miles in your legs before you got to the mountains. You're not too far from the monestery climbs of San Salvador & slightly further out is Randa,these would be fine on a 39/28 & would be worth getting to. Randa has a great Cafe at the top & the views are amazing. While we were there we'd head out no later than 8am & aim to back to base for around lunchtime simply because the heat from midday was too much (44c highest we saw!).
44c! 
Just got to the hotel - despite seeing the ground crew throwing the bike box around it looks like it's made it fine. Not bad for a £83.00 EVA (parcel shelf type) box.
The route to Son Salvador is on the agenda tomorrow, but it looks like lots of small steep climbs just to get there!
Any pointers for cycling on the roads here? I saw a few cyclists in what I thought was the hard shoulder.
M
The route to Son Salvador is on the agenda tomorrow, but it looks like lots of small steep climbs just to get there!
Any pointers for cycling on the roads here? I saw a few cyclists in what I thought was the hard shoulder.
M
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