Basic newbie gear question.

Hi,
I'm new to triathlons, I recently bought a frame and I'm going to start
building my 1st tri-bike.
I'll buy a Shimano Ultegra cassette and crankset and I got a little
confused.
For the cassette, what combination do you recommend? and what's the
difference between them? 11-23, 12-24, 12-25, etc.
And for the crankset, I'm 182cm (or 5'11.9" almost 6'). Which lenght
should I get? 170, 172.5, 175. My inseam is 80cm.

Thanks for your help
Maui

Maui7301 wrote:
> Hi,
> I'm new to triathlons, I recently bought a frame and I'm going to start
> building my 1st tri-bike.
> I'll buy a Shimano Ultegra cassette and crankset and I got a little
> confused.
> For the cassette, what combination do you recommend? and what's the
> difference between them? 11-23, 12-24, 12-25, etc.
> And for the crankset, I'm 182cm (or 5'11.9" almost 6'). Which lenght
> should I get? 170, 172.5, 175. My inseam is 80cm.
>
> Thanks for your help
> Maui
>
Depends on your riding style, I am a big gear pusher at slow RPM so I
ride a 54/45 on the front and a 10-21 on the back but 11-23 is a pretty
typical spread for a "race" cassette if the races you do are hillier
(not typical in triathlons) you may want a 12-24 but I see no reason to
get a 12-25 unless you have a large single ring in the front (56 single
or something crazy)

I don't know a lot about crank lengths but I am 6'3" with a similar
inseam and I have a 175 that works well for me.

hope this helps

"Maui7301" <maui7301@> schreef in bericht
news:1160625692.873096.215420@e3g2000cwe. ...
> Hi,
> I'm new to triathlons, I recently bought a frame and I'm going to start
> building my 1st tri-bike.
> I'll buy a Shimano Ultegra cassette and crankset and I got a little
> confused.
> For the cassette, what combination do you recommend? and what's the
> difference between them? 11-23, 12-24, 12-25, etc.
> And for the crankset, I'm 182cm (or 5'11.9" almost 6'). Which lenght
> should I get? 170, 172.5, 175. My inseam is 80cm.
>
> Thanks for your help
> Maui
>

For crankset 175 is average. So if you can't compute the correct lenght
assume 175 mm.

For cassette an advice is hard to give. I live in Holland which is almost
flat. 11-23 or 12-24 will do fine. Choosing the right cassette is a question
of who you are as a rider and where your ride. In general, if you're a
beginner, you should keep options open and therefore choose 12-25 which in
general will be OK. Practise will learn you what is good for you

b,ert