Gear restrictions?

Demosthenes

Ive heard about gear restrictions for junior racers, but I cant find what they actually are. Can anybody help me out on this?

gee.bike

26 foot rollout...how far your bike goes in one pedal stroke. the best ratio is 52tooth big chainring, 14-25rear cassette.

Bluey_27

Its how far your bike moves in 1 (full) pedal revolution. Mine is 42x14 which gives me a roll out of 6.3 meters.
you can calulate you gears here http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Virenque

52x14 for juniors, 52x16 for u17, 52x18 for u15..

rayner

for u17 and 15 it depends on your country. Aus is 6metres for u15 (43x15 is good), 6.5 for u17 (blue if comfortable with 20c tyres you can go 43x14, will put you right on the limit. 40x13 is also just right with 20c and 39x13 will give you more ratios if youve got a normal cassette) and u19 is universal at 7.930 metres. As verinque says 52x14 is the general one for this. Have been thinking about a 44 on the front so Ican have more range without buying a new cassette. Dunno though.

philhudson

Supid question really, but where are you from, IE England?

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Virenque

What`s so stupid?

Bluey_27

I didn't think tyre width did much to your roll out? I got 23mm wide tyres (GP 3000...they're great!). Once i get some money im gonna get a new cassette, something like a 14 - 25.

topcat

I'm restricted i got 42 on the front and 13 on the back......spin out at about 34mph When doin 4th cat races sit in da middle of the pack and dont have to move out your last sprocket ........get sucked along by all the big people

Yippie Kye Ay

I know they limit gears in most junior races to protect the knees of us young riders.
They can also "block out" gears before a race to restrict your ratio. Most races allow this but races such as nationals require that you have a junior cassette. I think it is legal to use standard gears if you are racing with adult categorties insetad of with other juniors. A way I get around training without using junior gears is by keeping a standard adult cassete on my training wheels and keeping a junior cassette on my race wheels.

rayner

In aAus we can use any cassette we weant as long as it's blocked off. People have been known over time (not me!) to put an 11 or 12 on the inside of the 13 when in u17. When they roll it out they ask you to put it down the bottom of the cassette, just so happens that thats not the biggest gear...

What age group are you blue? If u17 you'll find that using 40x13 with 23's you'll roll over by about a couple of cm. 39x13 rolls you in by heaps. By using a 20 on the back you can just roll in with 40x13. Personally I never bothered because I like my 23's but if you're compfortable with 20s it's a good option. From memory you get about 20cm per turn more than the blokes on the 39x13.

GP3000 are a good wet weather tyre but jusst be careful that they don't square off too much, makes the bike feel awful. If you want to try a tyre that basically feels like a single, vittoria have got a line called open corsa which roll a bit better. Bit more expensive her though but you might find something cheep on the internet.

Bluey_27

haha, nothin suss!

yeh im u17. 42x14 is my restriction. At the last junior race i went in the guy checked my roll out and said it was fine. I might try gettin 20s for my next set of tyres. I only use the gp 3000s for races. I use my trusty Vittoria Ruhbino Pros for training (Cheap tyres and havn't had a punture since i got them) and then my shitty megamium2s (Gave me tons of puntures) on the wind trainer.

Yeh i got my Vittorias and Conti tyres from Probikekit. Open Corsa are only $52 on Probikekit. Thats the price of a megamium in the bike shops

philhudson

Personally I reckon the the best racing tyres are, Michelin Pro Race 2's.

They are great for grip and take a long while to wear out!

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Virenque

I agree..Pro Race are cool! They seem reliable!