Gears used on Zoncolan

I_love_climbing said:

Can anyone comment on the gear ratios used on the Zoncolan by the likes of Simoni, Di Luca etc... ?

I'm assuming compact chainset probably 34 and with maybe 27, 28 or 29 as a lowest gear at the back.

Does anyone have information as I'm planning to do the Zoncolan this summer.

Everything you need to know is right here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2007/features/giro_wrap

Rolfrae said:

Everything you need to know is right here:
cyclingnews.comtech.phpOpen ↗

Thanks for that Rolfrae. There's some useful stuff there about Di Luca's gears on the Tre Cime but I couldn't find anything on the Zoncolan. I have read somewhere that Di Luca was planning to use 34x29 as his lowest gear on the Zoncolan whereas he used 36x26 for the Tre Cime.

Has anyone heard any specifics on what was used on the Zoncolan by Di Luca or Simoni?

For the Zoncolan I'd advise running a triple (so you get a nice small 30 tooth at the front) and something like a 27 or 29 at the back.

A rider with a weight of around 70-72 kg's, + the weight of bike at around 8 kg's gives you ~ 80kg. Using a 30-29 combo you'd still be peddling at only 55rpms to produce 240 watts on that nice long 14.9% section. Around 51rpms for the 30-27. 100 rpms is 446, 480 watts respectively so unless you're very light and exceptionally fit you can't go far wrong with the triple.

I_love_climbing said:

Thanks for that Rolfrae. There's some useful stuff there about Di Luca's gears on the Tre Cime but I couldn't find anything on the Zoncolan. I have read somewhere that Di Luca was planning to use 34x29 as his lowest gear on the Zoncolan whereas he used 36x26 for the Tre Cime.

Has anyone heard any specifics on what was used on the Zoncolan by Di Luca or Simoni?

David Harmon on Eurosport quoted 39x26 as being used by DiLuca on Tre Cime.
I don't know his basis for saying this - but I distinctly recall his using this number.

Eldrack said:

For the Zoncolan I'd advise running a triple (so you get a nice small 30 tooth at the front) and something like a 27 or 29 at the back.

A rider with a weight of around 70-72 kg's, + the weight of bike at around 8 kg's gives you ~ 80kg. Using a 30-29 combo you'd still be peddling at only 55rpms to produce 240 watts on that nice long 14.9% section. Around 51rpms for the 30-27. 100 rpms is 446, 480 watts respectively so unless you're very light and exceptionally fit you can't go far wrong with the triple.

I agree that running a triple would give lower gears but I'd prefere to stick with a compact. It only means changing the chainset and the cassette - no rear mech change. Hey I'm prepared to eat some humble pie 🙄 if I get it wrong but 34x29 isn't far from 30x27 (31.65" vs 30"😉 so I think that'll probably do the trick. Whichever I choose it's a lot lower than my current 39x25 😄

Anyway, all you wonderful folks out there, does anyone know, I'm just really curious, what gears wear Simoni and Piepoli pushing? 😕

Simoni's chainset and cassette - setup.
Might be of help.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/probikes/index.php?id=/photos/2007/tech/probikes/simoni_saunierduval_scott/22--SRAM_chainset

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/probikes/index.php?id=/photos/2007/tech/probikes/simoni_saunierduval_scott/25---SRAM_rear_mech

Eldrack said:

For the Zoncolan I'd advise running a triple (so you get a nice small 30 tooth at the front) and something like a 27 or 29 at the back.

A rider with a weight of around 70-72 kg's, + the weight of bike at around 8 kg's gives you ~ 80kg. Using a 30-29 combo you'd still be peddling at only 55rpms to produce 240 watts on that nice long 14.9% section. Around 51rpms for the 30-27. 100 rpms is 446, 480 watts respectively so unless you're very light and exceptionally fit you can't go far wrong with the triple.

Could you please explain or give a reference of how you calculated these numbers Edrack?

DV1976 said:

Could you please explain or give a reference of how you calculated these numbers Edrack?

Sure.

Speed in ms^-1 = gear ratio * 2.105 * cadence/60

Gear ratio is number of teeth at front/number of teeth at back (no units)
2.105 is the wheel circumfrence (in metres)
Cadence/60 is the number of times that you're spinning your cranks every second (units of s^-1)

Then take that speed, the gradient of the climb, the weight of you and your bike and plug them in at www.analyticcycling.com.

Eldrack said:

Sure.

Speed in ms^-1 = gear ratio * 2.105 * cadence/60

Gear ratio is number of teeth at front/number of teeth at back (no units)
2.105 is the wheel circumfrence (in metres)
Cadence/60 is the number of times that you're spinning your cranks every second (units of s^-1)

Then take that speed, the gradient of the climb, the weight of you and your bike and plug them in at www.analyticcycling.com.

Thanx a lot 😉

Cycling.tv made the comment of 1 rider using a triple, unknown name. And others with 39 x 29.

azdroptop said:

Cycling.tv made the comment of 1 rider using a triple, unknown name. And others with 39 x 29.

Di Luca said this the day before:

"The Zoncolan is harder than the other climbs of the Giro. I'll put on a 34x29," said Di Luca.

This quote taken from an article here:

velonews.com12329.0.htmlOpen ↗

Thanks everyone, for your input.

Limerickman, thanks for the info. The photos are great but only show Simoni's standard bike i.e. 52 – 40 Chainset as of the 23rd May which was the week before.

I guess my curiosity has been fueled by Simoni's and Ricco's reluctance to give away the gears that they would be using when interviewed in Pro-cycling about the Zoncolan stage. Interestingly they use SRAM which has an 11-28 standard cassette listed on the SRAM website so "maybe" a 34x28 was the selected gear ... ? I'm sure we'll see some articles in the cycling mags soon.

Finally I have the facts ... 🙂

[font=Arial]freeforumzone.leonardo.itviewmessaggi.aspxOpen ↗[/font]

According to the Forum above, which is in Italian, at the start Ricco, Simoni and Di Luca declared that they had the following:
- Riccò 34-29
- Simoni 34-27
- Di Luca 36-29
Also they mention that a French rider Le Boulangere was running a triple.

Fortunately one of my colleagues at work is Italian and he translated it all for me. There is a post at the end which is from a guy who's ridden the Zoncolan in 39x28. He basically crawled up it in that gear going as slow as 5km/h.

Ciao!

I_love_climbing said:

Di Luca said this the day before:

"The Zoncolan is harder than the other climbs of the Giro. I'll put on a 34x29," said Di Luca.

This quote taken from an article here:

velonews.com12329.0.htmlOpen ↗

Thanks everyone, for your input.

Limerickman, thanks for the info. The photos are great but only show Simoni's standard bike i.e. 52 – 40 Chainset as of the 23rd May which was the week before.

I guess my curiosity has been fueled by Simoni's and Ricco's reluctance to give away the gears that they would be using when interviewed in Pro-cycling about the Zoncolan stage. Interestingly they use SRAM which has an 11-28 standard cassette listed on the SRAM website so "maybe" a 34x28 was the selected gear ... ? I'm sure we'll see some articles in the cycling mags soon.

You're welcome.
I know those shots of GS's mech didn't give you the answer - but they might cast some light on his gear setup.

34X29 etc.
I doubt I could climb the Zoncolan in car, never mind a bike!
Really tough stage.
That's why I love the Giro - yes, Ventoux, Tourmalet etc in the TDF are tough climbs, but for me Zoncolan, Mortirolo etc in the Giro are epic.

Thanks Liverickman!

Yes I agree those climbs are just off the scale. I love the Tour but it seems that pure climbers don't get as much of a chance as they do in the Giro. There's something really awesome about seeing a pure climber in his element!

It was encouraging to read that Italian's account of doing it with 39x28. I'll have a much lower gear and should be able to crawl up it. It's more a question of just how slow I'll be rather than whether I get up it or not ... I hope!!! 🙂