Higher Gears

carrotman

Hi,

Im relatively new to biking, so would appreciate a jargon-free answer (or jargon with explanation)

I've just bought a hybrid and the highest gear on it is 42-14 which is just not high enough.

My funds are very limited. I'm happy to replace the freewheel but can't find anything other than 14-28t which is what is currently fitted. Ideally I'm after something like 11-26t.

Does anyone know of such a freewheel or whether it is possible to build me own?

I can't really upgrade from 6 speed, as I can't afford new gear shifters.

rake

i have a spare set of sram 8 speed grip shifters nearly new. is it a freewheel or cassette.

carrotman

freewheel

surprised that 6spd options are fairly limited - I don't need more than the 18 gears I currently have, I just wnat them to be sensible gears!

rake

with only 6 gears you run run the risk of large jumps between. you would loose low gearing with a higher range. the other option is a bigger chainwheel. it seems 14 is the smallest you can go on a freewheel. thats one advantage of freehubs and cassettes.

bill57

Carrotman - don't take offence here (because I've been called a sarcastic idiot recently), but are you sure that's right? You seem to have a six speed block. but say you have 18 gears - are you saying the outer ring of three (biggest) is only 42 teeth?

carrotman

yeah - the chainring is a triple and the largest ring has only 42 teeth.

I don't mind losing a gear or two off the low end to get something decent at the high end.

Thought about changing the chainring but would need 54/14 to get the same ratio as 42/11.

Looks like the only solution is to spank the plastic and upgrade to freehub. One thing I've learned is that Halfords are so NOT the bike specialists they profess to be!

rake

carrotman wrote:

yeah - the chainring is a triple and the largest ring has only 42 teeth.

I don't mind losing a gear or two off the low end to get something decent at the high end.

Thought about changing the chainring but would need 54/14 to get the same ratio as 42/11.

Looks like the only solution is to spank the plastic and upgrade to freehub. One thing I've learned is that Halfords are so NOT the bike specialists they profess to be!

then i can sell you 7 speed cassette (new) 11-32 and grip shifters 60 miles use.
£20.

carrotman

do you know the other cog sizes on the cassette?

rake

i have it in front of me. here goes 11-13-15-18-21-24-28.
its not a 32 after all. its a shimano hg with 11t lockring. your crankset must be a mtb one.
the 7 speed uses the same size chain as 6 speed as well.

bill57

carrotman wrote:

One thing I've learned is that Halfords are so NOT the bike specialists they profess to be!

Lesson for life there right enough.

sirdjango

hi... since im new to road biking... always confuse when talking about high and low gears...
is a high gear when your using the biggest sprocket and low gear in the smallest sprocket or is it the other way round?

dmch2

A high gear means you go very fast for a certain cadence (speed you turn the pedals), low gear would mean you go slower (but could climb a hill more easily). So it's just like in a car.

In terms of big/little sprockets a high gear has a big one at the front (so each turn moves a lot of chain eg 50 links) and a little one at the back (so each revolution of the wheel only needs a small bit of chain eg 12 links).