Considering an Everesting attempt

[E65Ross]

Planning on doing one of these next year for Charity and would like some advice if possible

I'm currently running Ultegra R8070 groupset with 52/36 chain rings with a Power2Max NGeco power meter up front, and an Ultegra 11-30 cassette at the back.

Having seen the GCN video Olly appears to use an 11-32 casette and said it's not a problem, but he didn't confirm he was using the latest Ultegra or the older DI2. Can anyone confirm this would be suitable

https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Shimano/FC-R8000-...

And would just swapping this be OK? Would it interfere with my power meter in any way? Would it be better to get a 50/34 whole set? I'd rather just get the inner ring if I can get away with it...and would it be worth getting a chain catcher? If so, any advice on what to get?

Secondly, I'd like 11-32 cassette (well, I'd like a 34T I think but that would involve a new rear mech or a hanger extender and that involves more set up than it's probably worth....any idea what I'd need to do? Just a case of swapping the cassettes? I wonder if I'd need a longer chain....probably not if I get a 34 inner ring?

I also use an 11-30 cassette on my Wahoo kickr....if I get a 32T cassette, and decide to leave it on there, would this still work without any adjustment do we think?

Thank you very much in advance, it's much appreciated!

Ross

[E65Ross]

Mr Ted said:

If you can go for compact on the front 50/34 I would do it, if you change your current 36 for a 34 you might run into difficulty, they usually specify a maximum difference of 16 teeth on the front.

11-34 cassette can be a life saver if you can fit it, but you will probably have to fit a medium cage derailleur.

An awful lot of riders ride overgeared bikes IMHO

You should be able to run an 11-34 cassette on your wheels and leave the 11-30 cassette on the Kickr without having to change anything, I have run 11-34 on the bike and 11-30 on a Tacx Neo without issues.

Let us know what you go for, and how are you getting on with Zwift? There is a useful site called Zwift Insider that you ought to look at!

Useful to know about 11-34 on the road and 11-30 on the Neo and no issues, thank you

If I want 11-34 it would mean either a new rear mech, of a derailleur extender. I don't fancy the extender due to having to set the mech up and then having compatibility issues with the kickr....so it's either 11-32 on my current set up or get a new rear mech, which starts getting quite expensive for what will realistically be for one event, as I find 11-30T 52/36 fine (even around Exmoor it wasn't an issue). So for anything other than stupid things like this, a 32t would be more than enough with a 36 up front.

I have rewatched the video of Olly and he said he had no real issues running 52/34, although it didn't shift as smoothly, he didn't drop a chain. This is a good option for me if it works, since an inner ring is just £25 and can just be swapped back.

Question is, will 34 inner ring and a 32 rear gear be low enough? I'm generally a good climber (54kgs and 249W FTP) but no idea after 150+ miles of hills....!!! Thoughts?

mikees said:

I have 11-32 on my road wheel and 11-28 on my turbo wheel with Di2 and its fine.

Thanks for this

[E65Ross]

mcelliott said:

How steep and how technical is the hill you are using?

Average 6.7% bang on 1 mile. Peak around 9-10%. Not too technical but probably 2 occasions where I'd use the brakes on the descent, but no hard stops except for at the bottom.

I'd be tempted to get a 32T cassette and 34 inner ring, get that fitted, and do a half Everest attempt to see how I fare. That way I could be better placed to make a decision whether 34 and 32 are enough or whether I'd need something even easier.

Any ideas as to whether the inner ring would work with the power2max NGeco unit?

I'm also not sure about getting a 50t outer ring.... If olly says the 34 worked OK with the 52 then hopefully for one ride it'd be ok. Tempting to buy it, try it, if it doesn't work I can then get a 50 but then, again, cost starts increasing then doesn't it....

Thanks chaps

Edited by E65Ross on Sunday 11th November 20:58

[E65Ross]

So said:

Let me know how to sponsor you. I still owe you one, though you may not remember, and I probably won't have another opportunity to return the favour.

I must admit I can't remember! Please remind me

I did a charity ride a few years back, raised WAY more than anticipated (over 16x my target of £500 + gift aid ) but I wanted to do something else and figured of I set up a charity thing it'd kick my backside into doing it!

[E65Ross]

HardtopManual said:

It depends on your fitness. A 7% climb with ramps under 10% should be eminently doable on 36x30 if you train for the attempt.

Fitness is good as said above, generally been riding 8-10 hours a week, FTP is 4.6W/kg so I'm not too bad up the hills, but I've never ridden anything like this before! I'd rather have too easy gearing than not. Hoping 34/32 is adequate otherwise it starts getting costly.

[E65Ross]

Mr Ted said:

Looking at your power meter I can't imagine there would be any problem running an inner ring of 34 if you have the 110mm bcd unit.

34 on the front to 32 on the rear will be quite a noticeable difference to the 36 to 30 that you have and will help with pacing which I imagine will be the deciding factor when you make your attempt, I guess you are going to make a few test runs on a 10% slope to sort out pacing, I would go steady on the descents to give yourself a good recovery time.

Good luck and do keep us updated!!!

Thanks! I'm looking at around April when it's a bit lighter

[E65Ross]

Daveyraveygravey said:

I did Boxhill on a 52-36 with an 11/28. Sounds like your hill has a higher average gradient with a couple of spikes too. I was glad we chose Boxhill, I knew I'd be able to ride it seated; when you are trying to talk yourself into something like an Everesting, that's important!
Try not to set yourself goals or targets, it WILL take you longer than you think, and that was what I struggled with on the day. I can't believe I spent 5 hours out of 27 not actually riding, but that was how I got to the end.
Take a second set of clothes, including shoes if you have them. If it rains you'll be glad of dry things to change into, and if it doesn't rain, it's still nice to have a fresh set of clothes. Good luck!

Fortunately the 1 mile hill is 0.3 miles from my house! I'll still drive and park car right at the bottom so I can leave loads of spare food and drinks in there which means I don't need to carry much at all on the bike, this will save doing the extra miles to/from the house. But it does mean if I fancy a slightly longer break I can just nip home (useful for toilet stops!).

[E65Ross]

HardtopManual said:

E65Ross said:

Fitness is good as said above, generally been riding 8-10 hours a week, FTP is 4.6W/kg so I'm not too bad up the hills, but I've never ridden anything like this before! I'd rather have too easy gearing than not. Hoping 34/32 is adequate otherwise it starts getting costly.

I'd just order a 34T inner ring and 11-32 cassette and see if it works, which it probably will unless your bike has a very short rear mech hanger. You may even get away without changing your chain if you have the presence of mind not to cross the chain in the big ring. Will you even need the big ring on this ride?

Honestly can't see you needing 34x34.

Edited by HardtopManual on Sunday 11th November 21:46

[E65Ross]

Portsdown Hill up past Portchester Station.... From the bottom (by the railway bridge) up to the top of Skew Road.

[E65Ross]

Fletch79 said:

The Max Capacity: 35 tooth (short), 39 tooth (long) (from what i can find, this wasn't from shimano's website (i got bored looking on the shimano site) so take with pinch of salt)

Max Chainring Diff - 52-36=16
Max Cassette Cog Diff - 32-11=21
Total Drive Train Capacity - 16+21=37

So you would need the long cage

That would suggest I'd be fine wothhh a 32t cassette in my current rear derailleur...? There have been a number of people saying the 32t is fine.

RE mech adjustment..... Wikk I need to adjust the low limit or B tension screws? If so, I'm assuming I'd be turning the low limit anticlockwise (ie loosen).... But what about the B tension screw?

Just ordered an 11-32T cassette and 34 inner ring. I'll fit the cassette myself and check it works OK. Then when I get the chance I'll get the bike shop to do the inner ring.... Probably easy enough but I'm not sure so I'll chuck them a tenner and see how it goes. Will check it works OK and then go back to my current set up for a while. I'll then go back to the 34 inner ring and 11-32T cassette a week or 2 before doing it. Although it's tempting to leave the cassette on there as aside the 1st 3 gears it doesn't appear much different really.

Cheers.

[E65Ross]

outnumbered said:

BMWBen said:

E65Ross said:

Portsdown Hill up past Portchester Station.... From the bottom (by the railway bridge) up to the top of Skew Road.

I reckon you'll be alright with a 32 up there - the middle section is quite steep but it's still only a moderate spin on a 32. I reckon you'll get quite pissed off with the descent though, I don't think I've ever ridden down there without having to sit on my brakes behind a car! Annoying because you should be able to absolutely send it...

That looks quite busy, aren't you going to spend the whole day with a queue of traffic up your arse ?

It's not too bad, and it's fairly easy to overtake there.

[E65Ross]

Daveyraveygravey said:

E65Ross said:

Fortunately the 1 mile hill is 0.3 miles from my house! I'll still drive and park car right at the bottom so I can leave loads of spare food and drinks in there which means I don't need to carry much at all on the bike, this will save doing the extra miles to/from the house. But it does mean if I fancy a slightly longer break I can just nip home (useful for toilet stops!).

Probably a good idea with the car at the bottom. We had to park at the top, which was ok, but it meant getting cold every time you stopped and then descending just added to that.

I swapped my 11/28 for an 11/32 for riding Alpine-like climbs, I got a medium (or maybe long ) cage mech at the same time. I think it was one of those it may work, it may not decisions, but I decided to do it and minimise time without the bike.

Portsdown isn't too far from me, keep us posted and I may try and do a bit of Sherpa-ing...

So said:

E65Ross said:

So said:

Let me know how to sponsor you. I still owe you one, though you may not remember, and I probably won't have another opportunity to return the favour.

I must admit I can't remember! Please remind me

I did a charity ride a few years back, raised WAY more than anticipated (over 16x my target of £500 + gift aid ) but I wanted to do something else and figured of I set up a charity thing it'd kick my backside into doing it!

You diagnosed, or at least helped me to self-diagnose, an inguinal hernia when the GPs had no clue.

Ah cool, hope you're alright now!!

[E65Ross]

lauda said:

E65Ross said:

Portsdown Hill up past Portchester Station.... From the bottom (by the railway bridge) up to the top of Skew Road.

I went up there on Sunday morning as it happens. As others have said, that's not a particularly nice bit of road to be riding up and down so many times. Plenty of traffic and loads of side-roads which mean that you probably need to be a lot more cautious on the descent than you would otherwise.

What about the road up Portsdown Hill from Southwick as an alternative? There's a roundabout at either end for easy turnarounds, you can descend like the clappers without worrying too much about traffic and it's much wider. And at least you've got some views of the countryside on the way up.

Anyhow, good luck with it - you're a braver man than I am!

I think the problem with that road is that it's flatter, then gets steeper, and from roundabout to roundabout would be ridiculous mileage....over 300 miles! The Portsdown Hill up Skew Road is pretty perfect for gradient to be honest. Not sure of any others nearby that would be suitable. There are a fair few others but they're often too steep in sections, ideally I don't want anything over 10% as I'd likely be needing to go over threshold for that.

I understand what you're saying about traffic....I guess I could try doing 30-40 reps up it so once some fatigue kicks in I can judge how I'd feel. Monument Lane wouldn't be bad but it's a bit short, I'd need to do it 164 times!

This one is more like it distance-wise

https://www.strava.com/segments/3508009

Although has sections of 11+% so may be a bit steep? I think I need to get the gearing put on there and do a trial run.

[E65Ross]

GOATever said:

South Harting has a cracking climb for Everesting.

The steeper part is, in my opinion, too steep for an Everesting, as it pitches around 17% I think! Ideally don't want to go over 10% if I can avoid it. I think Portchester Lane may be the best option for a local climb.

This one here, although it's a bit flat at the bottom, but pitches to around 11%

https://www.strava.com/segments/3508009

There is a 1/3 mile section averaging 10.4% so not sure if that's a bit much...?

Kawasicki said:

I also recommend doing in on a bike with rim brakes...as it will make the event easier!

[E65Ross]

Dannbodge said:

I often thought about trying everesting up the Southwick hill road (Past the hospital) but the descent would be a bit tricky.
London Road would be alright going up from the cosham roundabout. Nice and easy to spin round and then just use the roundabout at the bottom or even Downend road on the other side of the portsdown.

If you do it, let us know. I'd happily come and ride a few reps with you for motivation!

Edited by Dannbodge on Monday 12th November 16:13

Where exactly do you mean? I don't venture that side of the hill much....but I know the Cosham Roundabout. The Hill has to be a Strava segment, and the route up and has to be the exact same as the route down.

The hill up past QA may be a good option......any other thoughts on this one?

https://www.strava.com/segments/935024

Thank you! I'll definitely bear that in mind!

Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 17:01

[E65Ross]

moonigan said:

32T Cassette will work fine with normal Ultegra rear mech with either 50/34 or 52/36 but you will have problems if you try and change into big/big with either combo. The 34t cassette requires the new long cage Ultegra rear mech.

What do you mean changing into the big/big? Using the 52T and the 32T at the same time? No way I'd do that if that's what you mean.... Plus di2 won't let me! I've set it so I can use the big ring and 3rd gear... If I try to shift down into an easier gear it'll drop me into the small ring and up a couple of gears at the back.

[E65Ross]

Dannbodge said:

E65Ross said:

Where exactly do you mean? I don't venture that side of the hill much....but I know the Cosham Roundabout. The Hill has to be a Strava segment, and the route up and has to be the exact same as the route down.

The hill up past QA may be a good option......any other thoughts on this one?

https://www.strava.com/segments/935024

Thank you! I'll definitely bear that in mind!

Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 17:01

Southwick hill road is quite a nice hill, bar the lights at the bottom.
Plus it has a pavement so when you are knackered you can always ride on that.

This one is London road:
https://www.strava.com/segments/7568919

Might struggle with the same route up and down though.

or Down end Road:
https://www.strava.com/segments/2420315

Ah I know the road. Not steep enough.... I'd end up doing way over 300 miles!

[E65Ross]

Daveyraveygravey said:

Are you trying to find a hill that hasn't been done, do you want to be the first? I think its harder to find a "fresh" one in the UK, but logistics are an issue. Being only a few km from home would be a big plus, probably outweighing a busy road, for me anyway. However bear in mind you'll be tired beyond belief at times, and that's when you make mistakes, so it's a compromise you'll have to work out.
Start time? If I do another, I'd be tempted to not start early. We started at 5 am, I think I got up at 3. It means you wreck that night's sleep, especially if you struggle going to sleep before because you're excited or nervous, and you'll probably have to ride through the night or at least the hours of darkness. Another choice that you'll have to decide what's best for you.
I drove home after mine, it's only 40 minutes. I had hard no trouble staying awake during the challenge but that drive home was a real struggle. I would be tempted to ask a friend to drive me home after if I did another

Not specifically trying for a new attempt, although it would be nice and I think I have the option. Would definitely get someone to drive me home if I don't use the road less than 1/2 mile from home!

Just out of question, how did you keep track of how many reps you'd done? Just hit "lap" on your bike computer?

Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 19:35

[E65Ross]

Daveyraveygravey said:

E65Ross said:

....
Just out of question, how did you keep track of how many reps you'd done? Just hit "lap" on your bike computer?

Edited by E65Ross on Monday 12th November 19:35

I was worried about this for a couple of reasons, I have a Garmin Forerunner which doesn't have a barometer, it gets the height from the track off the satellite info, or something. It's in the Everesting rules as a no-no, but I had emailed Andy before and because we were attempting a group effort, I think he let me off. Some of the crew had those old school clickers, like bouncers sometimes have, or people on the gate at country events, when they want to count the amount of people coming in.
I went proper old school, see the attached. Kept it in a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket with a pen, not sure how either survived the torrential downpour, or how I remembered to write it down every time I got back to the top. It's good to look back at it now and see how I varied as the time passed on. I remember when I got going again at 7 am after the last stop, I had it in my head that if I didn't finish by 8 I might just give up, and I banged out 3 reps at 19 minutes dead.

If you haven't seen this, there's a lot of info here - https://www.sirguylitespeed.com/the-definitive-gui...

Edited by Daveyraveygravey on Tuesday 13th November 13:33

That write up is fantastic! A few things on there I wouldn't have thought of

[E65Ross]

Daveyraveygravey said:

I was worried about this for a couple of reasons, I have a Garmin Forerunner which doesn't have a barometer, it gets the height from the track off the satellite info, or something. It's in the Everesting rules as a no-no, but I had emailed Andy before and because we were attempting a group effort, I think he let me off. Some of the crew had those old school clickers, like bouncers sometimes have, or people on the gate at country events, when they want to count the amount of people coming in.
I went proper old school, see the attached. Kept it in a ziplock bag in my jersey pocket with a pen, not sure how either survived the torrential downpour, or how I remembered to write it down every time I got back to the top. It's good to look back at it now and see how I varied as the time passed on. I remember when I got going again at 7 am after the last stop, I had it in my head that if I didn't finish by 8 I might just give up, and I banged out 3 reps at 19 minutes dead.

If you haven't seen this, there's a lot of info here - https://www.sirguylitespeed.com/the-definitive-gui...

Edited by Daveyraveygravey on Tuesday 13th November 13:33

Forgot to ask....did you have a specific strategy in mind? for example, did you think "right, I'll stop every 10 laps" or was it a case of "I'll ride until I fancy a break"? I'm kind of thinking it's better to have a strategy which will help break the ride up, when you're feeling a bit worse for wear, and fancy getting off, rather than getting off you can think "no, my scheduled stop is 2 more laps....". And did you schedule how long you'd stop for etc? The longest thing I think I've ever done was a Sufferfest Knighthood which was around 9 hours of riding time (and that is literally 9 hours of pedaling time, since the recoveries still had me pedaling) and had roughly 5mins every 50-60mins or so.

Thanks again