Hi, I've been inactive most of the year due to various personal reasons but I was able to test my current shape a few weeks back on the Ventoux (holidays closeby), I barely got to Chalet Reynard. Although I'm not a pure climber. I do want to start preparing for next season again, I'm an avid classics cyclo participant in Belgium (except for the past year). So i'm checking to see what I should be starting with again. I bought my R3 with Q-rings 2 years ago (50-36 11-28) and i tried the Ventoux with NoQ 50-34. I'm thinking of trying my Q-rings again. I'm just not sure what to go with at this moment. I could do a 50-36 Q-ring (was adviced in the store to swap the 50-34 ultegra with when I bought the R3) with either an 11-28 or 11-30 cassette. Or I could use a Q-ring 34 as well. I know i'll have some issues getting up hills the early months, but I assume a 36 will smooth out the shifting a bit (and it seems the equivalent of a 34 round, at least its what I'm told). So i'm thinking of just getting used to the 50-36 Q again and maybe start with the 30 cassette, to swap that after a while. Or should I rather start with a 34 and swap that later, and keep the 28 cassette? I usually run typical Belgian roads, flat with short classics climbs. Thanks in advance

Welcome to the forum!!!

Personally... I would go with the 50 / 34 an a 11-30... I have made the mistake of not having enough gear to get up a hill in the past. (Not sure your rear der. will handle a 11-30 though) The new S5's come with a 11-30.

I was relatively fit this past July when I attempted the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hill Climb Practice Ride a month out from the actual race. I'm using a 2013 R3 with SRAM Red 22 (cabled) with a wi-fli RD and a 32 T cassette, with 50/34 red crank. I ran out of gears and have been advised to find a much smaller chain ring for the front so that I can more easily spin up the climb. Not sure how the Ventoux compares to Mt. Washington though. I'm most likely going to try and find an inexpensive 1x crank with 28-30 teeth.

https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/collections/derailleur-optimization/products/roadlink With the wolf tooth roadlink, put a 11-34 cassette on.