Hybrid or MTB? (42 teeth or 48 teeth)

Matt631

Hey All,

My company has offered to buy me a bike upto the value of £1000 no strings attached. I know nothing about bikes and for the last few years I've been riding a generic £100 bike which I got on my 18 birthday. "I'm now 27"

My plan is to ride this bike to work 3 days a week in the summer, (not to sure what the plan in the winter is yet) but I would like the flexibility to use it off road dirt trails and tracks at weekends when out with friends. My ride to work is a 16 mile round trip and the ride is about getting fit and saving on the petrol rather than time trial and racing.

After spending a good few weeks looking around at the MTB's available I bumped into the Cube LTD Race 2012 http://www.cube.eu/en/hard/ltd/ltd-race-black-anodized/ I was really impressed with the spec on paper and it felt really nice to ride, I was limited to riding it up and down an industrial estate which was not enough to reach top gear. I was all ready to push the buy button when someone said that this bike only has 42 teeth on the largest front gear. After a little digging it appears that 42 teeth is the standard for MTB's yet most hybrids have 48+, further more it appears at though hybrids have slightly larger wheels 26" vs 700c.

I was directed towards the Cube Cross Pro http://www.cube.eu/en/tour/cls/cross-pro/ which has a much more suitable gearing setup for road use. I was unable to test ride one of these bikes as I can't find a stockist who has a demo model. Upon checking my old MTB it has 48 teeth.

My dilemma is am I really going to notice the difference between these two bikes. Does loosing 6 teeth and 1 extra inch on the wheels really make all the difference? I like the first bike (ltd race) and the front fork is a massive improvement compared to the hybrid. (Fox Evolution v Suntour). Both bikes are similarly priced so I'm not sure where the extra cash on the hybrid is being spent.

I'm prepared to change the tyres on the MTB to get it running a little slicker but really don't want to be changing the crank,chain and derrailleur just to get 6 extra teeth in the future.

Someone please provide some clarity for me... Pretty please

Thanks
Matt

gosport_commuter

LOVE the cross Pro personally, though never ridden one. 700c wheels will roll slightly better, but size difference isn't that big once you switch to slicks, and rolling resistance will be better. Both bikes will be more than capable of light offroad duty, though if you are into mountain biking obviously that makes the choice swing heavy for the MTB.I wouldn't hesitate to take either offroad. Gearing is obviously better on the cross pro for road duties, although if you want to test it out I would recommend finding out what gear on your current MTB equates to the top gear on the Cube. If you regularly use that gear or higher, you will miss it on a new lighter faster bike!

Bottom line : -

Tyres are a fairly non issue, 700c slightly faster.
Gearing is better for almost all duties on the cross pro, though my dawes cross bike (drops) came with 46/36 teeth which is more than enough gearing for my 8 mile commute (well now I removed the 36tooth inner and replaced it with a 34tooth - also an option maybe for the MTB, change the outer ring alone?)

Most of all though, buy something that you love to ride and you see yourself on!

the_moodster

I'm commuting a 20k round trip on the giant xtc in my sig, with 26" wheels, 1.5" slicks and a 44 tooth big ring. For me this is fine. I'm rarely in top gear anywhere in the commute (yet )

I would say that I think I might find a 42t big ring slightly limiting on the road, however the LTD looks like more bike for the money to me.

beverick

the_moodster wrote:

I'm commuting a 20k round trip on the giant xtc in my sig, with 26" wheels, 1.5" slicks and a 44 tooth big ring. For me this is fine. I'm rarely in top gear anywhere in the commute (yet )

I would say that I think I might find a 42t big ring slightly limiting on the road, however the LTD looks like more bike for the money to me.

Yup, you'll 'spin out' with a 42 on roads and probably hard-packed surfaces (especially down even modest hills).

BTW, assuming you're not getting the bike on what's left of the bike to work scheme (which is covered by its own tax regime), there'll be a "payment in kind" tax liability. ie you must pay tax on the gross value at your marginal rate (20%, 40% or, albeit unlikely, 50%).

Bob

Matt631

Hey Everyone thanks for the replies.

It does look like im going to be limited by the 42 tooth. Ive got a 48 tooth machine now and often spend my time in the highest gear, Does anyone have any experiance with swapping out just the largest sproket? From what i can find out i would need to repalce the whole crank and intergrated bottom braket plus the front derailleur and the chain. im not sure about the rear cassete and rear derailleur.

Shimano FC-M552 2-Piece 42x32x24T, 175mm, integrated BB, 3x10 speed <-- Installed on LTD Race
Shimano FC-T551 Hollowtech II 48x36x26T., 175mm, integrated BB, Chainguard <-- Installed on the Cross Pro

jonnyboy77

You can do a straight swap of the 42t chainring at the front for something bigger, although you would need to find out what will fit for frame clearance? I don't see mention of the cassette you're using at the rear either, so you say you use a 48t in top gear most of the time, do you know what cassette this is hooked up to, and what ratios you have available?

I run a 44t chainring with an SRAM 11-32 cassette, finding no issues with gearing/speed for me.

- Jon

Long_Time_Lurker

Me and a friend have Cube LTDs.
I have the existing 42 - I do spin out occassionally but not enough to be a worry.
Friend has replaced his largest ring with a 48 - no problem. The shop did it for him. Might be worth asking if they will do it for you.

Nice bikes btw. Great kit. Light and responsive too.
Hit a few trails and you will really feel the difference between your new bike and the beast you are currently on.

Matt631

Hey Long Time Lurker.

Thanks very much for replying. Do you know if he just replaced the ring or did he have to change other bits and pieces as well? would be intrested in some more detail if you can get it :-)

Long_Time_Lurker

Hello again...
He bought it through an online retailer (may have even been CRC).
They gave him the option to change the rings before he bought it. It had the 48 teeth built as standard - he had no need to replace bits after he recieved it. It was only the large ring that was changed, there was no need to change anything else.
Maybe worth giving a Cube dealer a ring to see what they say. (Try Infinity Cycles http://infinity-cycles.co.uk/index.php/contact/- they are local to me and seem very clued up.)

supersonic

One thing has been overlooked - tyre size. Sure a 700c rim (622mm) is larger in diameter, but the 26 inch (559) rim has a much bigger tyre. In this case the difference is not as pronounced as some, but is not as easy as just comparing wheel sizes when looking at gearing.

supersonic

jonnyboy77 wrote:

You can do a straight swap of the 42t chainring at the front for something bigger, although you would need to find out what will fit for frame clearance? I don't see mention of the cassette you're using at the rear either, so you say you use a 48t in top gear most of the time, do you know what cassette this is hooked up to, and what ratios you have available?

I run a 44t chainring with an SRAM 11-32 cassette, finding no issues with gearing/speed for me.

- Jon

42 to 48 with a 32 middle ring is often too much for the front mech to cope with - will exceed the top/middle capacity (16 is large, most are 12), and the mech may only be rated for 44t anyway due to the curvature.

Matt631

supersonic wrote:

42 to 48 with a 32 middle ring is often too much for the front mech to cope with - will exceed the top/middle capacity (16 is large, most are 12), and the mech may only be rated for 44t anyway due to the curvature.

I think ill give my local cube dealer a ring and report back their findings.

Can you explain what you mean by (top/middle capacity (16 is large, most are 12)? You mean the differernce in teeth between middle and top?

Matt

supersonic

Yep, top teeth to middle teeth difference. The higher the teeth on the outer, the higher the front mech needs to be. This can put the plates out of synch when in the other two cogs, cause rub and effect the middle to inner shift. It does depend on the mech though, some seem more tolerant than others. Moat are rated as 12 max difference for optimum performance.

Matt631

supersonic wrote:

the higher the front mech needs to be.

Higher on the frame? Makes sense.

Thanks
Matt

Initialised

I found I was spinning out regularly and riding almost all the way in top gear on a 44T so I changed to 48T on a now Retro 3x7 28-38-48 x 12-32 setup. I still have the range for mud plugging but on the flat and road descents I can get much more speed before I feel like I've run out of gears but on my skinny 1.2s I can a bit so maybe a 29"er on skinnies would work well as an ATB with similar gearing.