When touring with the additional weight of camping gear you will need to seriously look at the gearing that you have on your bike. If your gearing is too high you will have problems negotiating any steep gradients and any hills. If the inclines get steeper and your lowest gear is too high you will find it will be hard work to pedal and you will probably end up standing up on the pedals to use you body weight to help push the pedals around. On a short incline you could get away with it but on a long drawn out hill climb you will end up with burning muscles and becoming very quickly exhausted.

'But if it gets too steep I could just get off and push the bike' I hear you cry!

Well yes you could but once you have pushed a fully touring bike up an incline for any length of time you will soon realise that pedalling using the right gearing is a lot easier.

There is no need to be afraid of touring with a fully laden touring bike, it isn't as bad as it may seem. If the bike is loaded correctly with balanced front and rear panniers it is remarkably stable and with the correct gearing you can tackle the hills with ease.

What gearing set up do I need

The gearing set up of a touring bike is different to that of a road bike. The touring bike gearing has a greater range than that of a road set-up as it includes a much lower set of gears to cope with the variety of terrain on a tour. Therefore there is a low end to cope with the hills but still with a high end to give you a high cruising speed on the flat should you wish.

How are gear ratios measured?

Most gearing is measured in 'Gear inches' or 'Metric Development'

Gear Inches is gear ratio times the diameter of the rear wheel.

Gear Inches = Diameter of Rear Wheel x (Number of Teeth in Chain Ring ÷ Number of Teeth in Rear Cog)

Meters of Development is the distance travelled for each revolution of the crank.

Meters of Development = Diameter of the Rear Wheel x Number of Teeth in Chain Ring ÷ Number of Teeth in Rear Cog x ∏

What gear range do I need for touring?

Set out in the table below are the high end and low end gear ratios needed for touring. Along with the high and low gears you need a good range in between.

For fully loaded touring to achieve these gear ranges you really need a suitable gearing system. This can be in the form of a Dérailleur gear system, a hub gear system or a pinion gear system. Let's look at the gear ranges for each system in more detail.

Dérailleur gear system

In order for a Dérailleur gear system to achieve the gear range that you need for touring, a typical set up would need a triple chain ring at the front with at least a 9 speed cassette on the rear. Although this gives you 27 gears effectively you really only have 15 or so gears (see notes below) that you will use but it does give you the spread of gears that you will need. Most touring bikes use MTB gearing components to achieve this gearing range and typically this would comprise of a triple 44-32-22T front chain-ring with a 9 speed 11 - 13 - 15 - 17 - 20 - 23 - 26 - 30 - 34T rear cassette.

Here is a table showing the gearing in 'Gear inches' and 'Metric Development' for a touring bike which has 700c wheels with a 38mm tyre and 170mm cranks.

'Gear Inches'/'Metric Development'

It is certainly worth calculating your bikes gearing to see if you have a suitable range of gearing for fully loaded touring and also to work out whether 'Double shifting' might give you a better or smoother progression through your gears. You can find a good gear calculator on the late Sheldon Brown's site here.

Hub gear system

Hub gear systems are generally a set of gears that are encased in the rear wheel hub and drive directly from the pedals via a front sprocket to the rear wheel sprocket via a chain or belt system. The finest example is the Rohloff Speedhub which uses 14 internal gears in the hub and a front chain ring to achieve the range needed for touring.

Set out below are the gear ratios in 'Metric Development' for the Rohloff Speedhub for chain and Belt drives.

Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 / Chain Drive (42-16)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	1.6	1.81	2.07	2.35	2.66	3.03	3.44	3.91	4.44	5.05	5.74	6.53	7.43	8.44

Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 / Gates belt drive (50-19)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
	1.6	1.81	2.07	2.35	2.66	3.03	3.44	3.91	4.44	5.05	5.74	6.53	7.43	8.44

Pinion gear system

A pinion gear systems uses a set of gears that are encased around the bottom bracket and drive directly from the pedals via a front sprocket to the rear wheel sprocket via a chain or belt system. Theare two current versions of pinion hub which uses 18 internal gears in the hub and a front chain ring to achieve the range needed for touring.

Set out below are the gear ratios in 'Metric Development' for the Pinion Hub.

Pinion P1.18 / Gates Belt Drive (39-32)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	1.46	1.63	1.82	2.01	2.24	2.51	2.81	3.13	3.50	3.87	4.32	4.83	5.41	6.03	6.72	7.44	8.30	9.30

Gear systems comparison

Listed below are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the gear systems.

	Advantages:	Disadvantages:
Dérailleur gear system	15 usable gears from 27 or 30 with a wide range of 567% gearing Easy access for maintenance and adjustment Proven system that can be fixed anywhere Low weight	Vulnerability due to protruding dérailleurs Sensitive to wear from dirt and mud and therefore needs more maintenance and frequent repacement of chains and sprokets There is an overlap in gears and there is no constant ratio between gears Choosing the right gear requires knowledge and experience Gears and chain will wear and will need replacing on a regular basis depending on the distance travelled and dirt ingress. Two shiftersare needed to change gears You need to pedal when changing gear Adjustment can be fiddly.
Hub gear system	14 usable gears with a wide range of 526% gearing There is a constant 13.6% ratio change between every gear, making gear changes very predictable Only one twist grip and a gear change can be made whilst standing still Minimal maintenance, only the oil needs to be changed once every 5,000 km High quality proven concept Suitable for a belt drive No gear adjustment needed.	You have to back off with the power to change gear Adds extra weight to the rear wheel (800g heavier than a Dérailleur gear system) A frame with adjustable dropouts or an eccentric bottom bracket is needed Removing the wheel to repair a punctured tyre requires a little more effort @57% more expensive than a Dérailleur gear system
Pinion gear system	18 usable gears with a wide range of 636% gearing There is a constant ratio change between every gear, making gear changes very predictable Minimal maintenance, only the oil needs to be changed once every 10,000 km Suitable for a belt drive No gear adjustment needed.	A custom frame is needed to take the pinion gear 700g heavier still than a Rohloff Speed hub Pinion gear systems are not as proven as Rohloff You have to back off with the power to change gear @43% more expensive than a Rohloff gear system

Cadence

Cadence is something that most touring cyclists probably think is only a concern of the racing cyclist. However to the touring cyclist cadence is quite important as it will help you to be more efficient and stop you from over exerting yourself and becoming exhausted too quickly.

Cadence is the number of revolutions of the crank per minute or in other words the speed your pedals go round as you cycle. The average touring cyclist's cadence is probably somewhere between 65 - 80 rpm and needs to be a pedalling speed that you can keep up all day without getting too tired. I prefer a cadence of around 70-75rpm where as Frank finds it easier to be a little lower somewhere between 65-70rpm, it is very much down to personal preference. Keeping your cadence relatively constant is the key to efficient cycling and this is where your gears come into play. As you come to an incline if you stay in the same gear as you where in on the flat you will have to push harder on the pedals to keep going and your cadence will drop and you will soon get tired. By dropping down a gear or two it will be easier to push the pedals around and your cadence will increase back to what it was on the flat. Consequently as the incline levels out if you stay in the low gear you will have to increase your cadence considerably to gain or maintain any speed which will be tiring for no real gain, by going up a gear or two you make the best use of your leg power to gain or keep your speed with a reduced cadence. So remember to keep that cadence relatively constant by changing gear.

Hill climbing

 

Remember it is much more efficient and less strain on your legs and joints to spin those legs in a lower gear on a hill climb than to try and power up a hill in a high gear with a low cadence. It may mean you don't get up the hills so fast but it will mean you can keep going for much longer.

We have amazed ourselves at some of the long steep hill climbs we have completed on fully loaded touring bikes and we class ourselves as of an average fitness. It is just a case of using your gears correctly and having the right range of gears.