Given what you have now told us, I think you are right to focus first on experimenting with your existing bike. It will also give you insight into what genuinely makes a significant difference to the ride and to your speed/efficiency, so that if at some point you decide to get a new bike, you will have a better idea of what works (for you) and what you want.mail@nickavery.com wrote: ↑29 Jun 2022, 9:40pm I ride in East Anglia, its actually Colchester so the local countryside rolls a bit. I'm looking at 22kmh on such a ride. In think for a 61yo I have quite a high power output, but obviously let down by the ratio.
I'm running marathon pluses, and there is a bit of me that is tempted to remove the rack, stand put marathon supremes on and see what happens.
The unused gears are 1-11 on a 24 gear bike. I have only ever used the small chainring by accident.
With Marathon Pluses, a stand and rack, it sounds like you have a fairly heavy and sluggish touring bike set up, and it may be that there are other things which posters could suggest if we knew more about your bike, so I recommend that you post a photograph or two of your bike.
I think Marathon Supremes would be a good choice, but it might be that you could 'push the envelope' a bit further, especially since the Supremes are relatively high priced tyres. If you could buy Marathon Supremes in 32mm width for, say, £20-£25, they would be a no brainer, but they typically cost ~£34 or more each. At that price point there may be other tyres which would be an even better choice
Firstly therefore, confirm what your internal rim width is (the information will be available online, or just tell us the model of rim), which determines what tyre widths you can use. Secondly, check what tyres and especially widths your mates are using, especially those who are a similar weight to you. If they are happily rolling on 28mm tyres, that would suggest you could do likewise, and 28mm is the largest width in which most high performance fast road tyres are available.
With regard to gearing, how do find the spread of those gears that you actually use? Do you find the intervals to be:
1. Too large? i.e. the choice is often between pushing a gear that is too high for comfort or spinning in a gear that feels too low for comfort.
2. Too small? If you make double shifts when there are relatively small changes in gradient or speed, that can be a good indication that the gaps are too small.
3. About right? If so, it is useful to examine the ratios and see for yourself what it is about them that suits you. For example, I don't mind 3 tooth intervals in the middle of a cassette for riding off road or at a very relaxed touring pace on the road, but the gaps are uncomfortably large if I want to pick up my speed a bit on the road. I know therefore that for mainly road riding on a lightly laden touring bike, I want a cassette with 2 tooth intervals across the middle of the cassette.
If you find the gaps too large or too small, tell us what cassette you have.