Shifting to Lowest Gear on new Chainset?

dpr666

Hi there,

First off sorry if I've posted in the wrong place, I am new to forums, and also to road biking in general!

A few weeks ago I bought a Carrera TDF Pro road bike from Halfords. I have been away from bikes in general for about 10 years, but the combination of living out in the sticks, and having no car I thought a road bike would be the best option for me.

I am loving the bike, the feeling of cycling again and the fitness I am gaining. Unfortunately though over the last 10 years my leg muscles have shrunk into jelly. Therefore after having a think I thought I would get a new chainset that would give me the lower gears I need to crawl up any hills.

I went through Halfords again and bought a Suntour XCC100 48/38/28T Chainset. Not the most expensive but all I need at this early stage.

My main issue is that although the chainset is fitted no problem, no matter how hard I try to fiddle with the limit screws/cable on my front derailieur. I cannot get it to shift into the smallest chainwheel?!?!

Do I need to look into buying a new derailier for a 3 wheel chainset? If so is there anything you would reccomend?

I really appreciate your help, and sorry if I am being extremely thick!

Many thanks in advance!

jameses

Did the bike come with a double or triple chainset (2 or 3 rings at the front)? If it came with a double, then it will be a bit pricey to change over - you will need a new front derailleur and a triple-specific shifter, and maybe a long cage rear mech as well

A cheaper way of getting lower gearing would be have a cassette with a larger sprocket at the back - Shimano go up to 30T, SRAM to 32T I think. With a compact setup (50/34 teeth on the front rings), that should be enough to get you up most hills.

Alternatively, give it a couple of months. You'll be surprised how quickly you gain the fitness you need to get up those hills!

dpr666

JamesEs wrote:

Did the bike come with a double or triple chainset (2 or 3 rings at the front)? If it came with a double, then it will be a bit pricey to change over - you will need a new front derailleur and a triple-specific shifter, and maybe a long cage rear mech as well

A cheaper way of getting lower gearing would be have a cassette with a larger sprocket at the back - Shimano go up to 30T, SRAM to 32T I think. With a compact setup (50/34 teeth on the front rings), that should be enough to get you up most hills.

Alternatively, give it a couple of months. You'll be surprised how quickly you gain the fitness you need to get up those hills!

Thanks a lot!

Mmmm that's what I was afraid of. The stock chainset was a double. was expecting that I may have to buy a new deraillieur but hadn't even considered that my shifters etc would also need changing.

I would definitely like to avoid changing the rear cassette cause at the moment I like the ratios I'm getting. And whilst I realise that over time the hills shouldn't seem so bad, I still feel like I could do with sone easier gears. What would I need to purchase to use my new chainset properly? Should I speak to halfords and see what they recommend?
!
Thanks again

wishitwasallflat

As you bought both bike and cassette from Halfords I would go back and ask them for help in the first instance - they get pelters on here a lot of the time but I have always found my local branch really helpful (it really depends on who you get to serve you though).

I would think you're chances of good outcome will be much better if it was the same branch for both purchases. Under UK sales law I think that if the triple chainring was purchased on their advice for a bike they sold you - and they didn't warn you that the front shifter was for a double ring only they may be obligated to change it for you and give refund or credit - but I would reccomend asking them nicely for help first and then check the legal position. In my experience quite often these bigger companies will just make changes and exchanges they may not have to do legally in the interests of good customer relations and rep - worth asking - and let us know how you get on please.

jameses

dpr666 wrote:

I would definitely like to avoid changing the rear cassette cause at the moment I like the ratios I'm getting. And whilst I realise that over time the hills shouldn't seem so bad, I still feel like I could do with sone easier gears. What would I need to purchase to use my new chainset properly? Should I speak to halfords and see what they recommend?

To get the new chainset working properly you would need a triple derailleur and left shifter at the very least.

You could maybe swap over the inner ring on your double chainset for something smaller, probably the cheapest way of getting some low gears for climbing if you don't want to change the cassette. Most double front derailleurs claim a maximum capacity of 16 teeth, though, so you would most likely have to replace both chainrings (in theory, something like a 50/30 combination wouldn't work). That's if you can find rings in the sizes you want that fit your cranks!

Probably best to talk to someone in a dedicated bike shop. Halfords staff can be a mixed bunch - some know what they're talking about, some really don't.

Good luck with the build, let us know how it turns out!