One of my riding buddies cooked up a pretty easy to read/follow chart on Gear Ratios. Its main purpose is to help you decide which route to go when choosing a specific cassette or chainring combination.  I'm running a 110 BCD with a 52/36 chainring and a 11/26 cassette.  It seems to be all the craze right now and it's great for climbing.  Here's a direct quote from BJ, the guy who put this together, a little background on Beeg as we call him... he took 1st overall in the 2011 MORBA (Missouri Road Bicyling Association) in the Mens Cat 3 Standings and recently upgraded to Pro 2.  So when this guy talks in a group ride, we all listen... so enjoy - compliments of Beeg.

Had a couple question about how to make heads or tails of this. Low gear ratios make for easier pedaling/climbing and are green. Big gear ratios are the 'harder' gears and are red. The main purpose for this is for comparing different chaining and cassette combinations.

For example: "Jason" is used to climbing with a 34tx25 gear combination. From the chart you can see this combo is a 1.36 ratio. "Jason" now has a 130 bcd crankset but is looking for a similar 1.36 gear ratio for climbing. Using the chart you can see that by switching to a 38t (130 bcd chainring) and switching to a cassette with a 28t lowest gear his ratio will be 1.3571 (nearly identical to 34:25 @ 1.3600).

P.S. bcd = bolt circle diameter and is measured in mm's
P.P.S. This is great for cross gearing too.

One of my buddies took a photo of himself training on the trainer the other day and posted it on facebook.  I looked at the pic and was curious what the heck was on his computer screen, so I asked him.  He mentioned this new software application from TrainerRoad, so I checked it out and really liked what I saw.  I havent tried it out myself yet as it requires a Garmin ANT+ USB for the Mac/PC, but the overview video they have online as well as a great review by EnduranceReviews.com.  You can get the Garmin ANT+ USB adapter for about $28 bucks at Amazon.com, and the TrainerRoad software itself is via subscription for $10 a month.  

The software is packed with features, such as  the ability to grab the ANT+ data from your speed/candence sensor and heart rate monitors, if you have a power meter it will also pull that data in.  The softare also includes......

Read more...

I was browsing around and ran into a great video from Chris Carmichael Training where Chris Carmichael and Brad Irwin talk about the importance of getting fitted in cycling.  They particularly discuss Real-time 3D bike fitting, I am a big advocate of getting fitted.  Even if you take all the tech out of it, the basic principles apply.  You want to look for comfort in your fit, aerodynamics in your fit and finally maximum power output in your fitting.  The balance of those three are key factors when getting fit for your bike and trust me the end result will have a huge impact on how you ride from here on out.

Elite cycling coach Chris Carmichael talks to Brady Irwin, a senior coach at Carmichael Training Systems, about the latest developments in bike-fitting, so cyclists get an optimal ride every time. With new infrared motion-capture technology, it's possible to plot the movement of several biometric markers in three dimensions as a cyclist pedals. From there, you can optimize your position on the bike against three important factors: comfort; aerodynamics, and power output. Finding the delicate balance between all of these is what will help you take your performance to the next level.