Advice needed on gears

seb59

Hi everyone. After taking part in several charity cycling events on a Specialized hybrid bike I well and truly got the cycling bug and brought my first road bike - and Eddy Merck (WSD) AFX-1. I have now owned this bike for a year but from day one I have struggled with steep hills ( unlike with my hybrid). The gear ratio I have with the hybrid is 0.8, my road bike ratio (with a Tiagra compact) is 1.2. Even if I change to a Triple I am not gaining much ( equivilent Tiagra would make a ratio of 1.1). Is it possible ( or daft) to change the cassette to a mountain bike cassette ( I know... its not the done thing!.. but I am 53 years old and need help) such as Shimano HG61 12:36 giving me ( if its possible) of 0.9. Any advice would be much appreiciated as local bike shop where I brought the bike from doesnt really want to know. Many thanks

elderone

my bike runs a 12-26 cassette with a compact front and i find i could do with an easier gear for the hills so ive ordered a 11-32 cassette for the rear which will help.If i get better i can always put them agian.

ForumNewbie

seb59 wrote:

Hi everyone. After taking part in several charity cycling events on a Specialized hybrid bike I well and truly got the cycling bug and brought my first road bike - and Eddy Merck (WSD) AFX-1. I have now owned this bike for a year but from day one I have struggled with steep hills ( unlike with my hybrid). The gear ratio I have with the hybrid is 0.8, my road bike ratio (with a Tiagra compact) is 1.2. Even if I change to a Triple I am not gaining much ( equivilent Tiagra would make a ratio of 1.1). Is it possible ( or daft) to change the cassette to a mountain bike cassette ( I know... its not the done thing!.. but I am 53 years old and need help) such as Shimano HG61 12:36 giving me ( if its possible) of 0.9. Any advice would be much appreiciated as local bike shop where I brought the bike from doesnt really want to know. Many thanks

Not sure what you mean as I thought there was a different ratio for each gear. Easier to understand if you say what teeth are on your chainset and cassette, e.g. 50/34 and 28-11?

tiredofwhiners

elderone wrote:

my bike runs a 12-26 cassette with a compact front and i find i could do with an easier gear for the hills so ive ordered a 11-32 cassette for the rear which will help.If i get better i can always put them agian.

Good luck with getting the rear derailleur to work with that.

34 on the front and 32 on the rear will be interesting - elasticated chain ?

night_porter

You can change to an mtb cassette but you will definitely have to lengthen the chain because the gears will be bigger and you may need to change to an mtb rear mech with a long cage to give clearance.

By the way it is a done thing because touring road bikes use mtb gearing all the time because those bikes are expected to have to haul big loads.

You don't say what chainrings your Tiagra setup is using but if it is a 36/50 you will be able to change the inner ring to 34 which will also help.

elderone

tiredofwhiners wrote:

elderone wrote:

my bike runs a 12-26 cassette with a compact front and i find i could do with an easier gear for the hills so ive ordered a 11-32 cassette for the rear which will help.If i get better i can always put them agian.

Good luck with getting the rear derailleur to work with that.

34 on the front and 32 on the rear will be interesting - elasticated chain ?

errrr new chain going on aswell..simples

seb59

Many thanks for your comments. Night_porter, I already have a 34 on my compact . Where I live we have hills either side of village which are used by many serious cyclists (and Wiggle Rut) to train. I can get up them no probs with the hybrid..not on the road bike. I am a complete novice when it comes to bike setups and just picked up what I know from web( very iffy I know but we all have to start somewhere ). LBS changed my compact for exactly the same thing that the bike already had on already thinking I wouldnt know so I have lost confidence in them .
I appreciate that I would have to change chain ?deraileller etc and was prepared to fork out for a whole knew group set if it gives me the gears to get up the hills but looking at the figures it wont. I feel I am fitter now than I have ever been at 53 and realise I probably wont get much fitter so the problem wont go away that way!
My road bike has a Tiagra compact 50/34 and 11/28 cassette (1.21 ratio). My hybrid has a shimano sora triple 48/38/28 with a 11/32 cassette (0.8 ratio). I know it may seen a small difference in ratio but take my word for it, its the difference between getting up the hill on the bike or walking it up. My goal next year is to do a sportive so want to try and get sorted.
Any further advice would be great apart from getting an elasticated chain! Sara

seb59

Just to add, the ratio's are using the smallest chainring on the front to the largest ring on the cassette. Thanks.

Mikey23

ive been pondering this recently as there were a couple of hills in a recent sportive that i struggled on in my 50/34 11/28 config. had to get off and walk a bit. not sure whether i should go for a 32 or man up!

seb59

To Mikey23. LOL bit difficult for me to 'man up' being a female who wants to look after her knees (and who has to look forward to working till im 65 without any mobility issues!!! )

rubyrider

Let us know how you get on seb59.

I am very similar and I have been geekily comparing ratios of the lowest gears too. I am about to buy a hybrid for winter riding and those 'pub' type rides and have been keenly checking gear ratios!

As I'm getting fitter, I am managing to stay in the saddle, so I'm persevering for the moment. I'm sure local terrain makes a difference though.

cyclinggooner

hi

your current road bike setup of 34 front - 28 rear gives 32 gear inches.
your hybrid with 28 front - 32 rear so gives 23.1 gear inches
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

if you really want the same gearing as the hybrid then replicate it - put a triple crankset on (28/38/48) with a MTB rear derailleur and 11-32 rear cassette. (new shifters, crankset, bottom bracket, front and rear derailleurs, cassette and chain)

alternatively (cheaper and easier - new cassette, chain and rear derailleur) would be to fit a long cage MTB rear derailleur with an 11/12 -36 tooth cassette. that will give you on the compact 34front -36 rear 24.9 gear inches which is close enough - certainly much better than what you have already.

t4tomo

cyclinggooner wrote:

hi

your current road bike setup of 34 front - 28 rear gives 32 gear inches.
your hybrid with 28 front - 32 rear so gives 23.1 gear inches
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

if you really want the same gearing as the hybrid then replicate it - put a triple crankset on (28/38/48) with a MTB rear derailleur and 11-32 rear cassette. (new shifters, crankset, bottom bracket, front and rear derailleurs, cassette and chain)

alternatively (cheaper and easier - new cassette, chain and rear derailleur) would be to fit a long cage MTB rear derailleur with an 11/12 -36 tooth cassette. that will give you on the compact 34front -36 rear 24.9 gear inches which is close enough - certainly much better than what you have already.

Start with the latter as it will be much cheaper. shifters and crank set are the expensive bits, plus you will need same bits even if you decide to go with a triple upfront.

ForumNewbie

seb59 wrote:

Many thanks for your comments. Night_porter, I already have a 34 on my compact . Where I live we have hills either side of village which are used by many serious cyclists (and Wiggle Rut) to train. I can get up them no probs with the hybrid..not on the road bike. I am a complete novice when it comes to bike setups and just picked up what I know from web( very iffy I know but we all have to start somewhere ). LBS changed my compact for exactly the same thing that the bike already had on already thinking I wouldnt know so I have lost confidence in them .
I appreciate that I would have to change chain ?deraileller etc and was prepared to fork out for a whole knew group set if it gives me the gears to get up the hills but looking at the figures it wont. I feel I am fitter now than I have ever been at 53 and realise I probably wont get much fitter so the problem wont go away that way!
My road bike has a Tiagra compact 50/34 and 11/28 cassette (1.21 ratio). My hybrid has a shimano sora triple 48/38/28 with a 11/32 cassette (0.8 ratio). I know it may seen a small difference in ratio but take my word for it, its the difference between getting up the hill on the bike or walking it up. My goal next year is to do a sportive so want to try and get sorted.
Any further advice would be great apart from getting an elasticated chain! Sara

The Eddy Merck (WSD) AFX-1 looks a nice bike. I'm surprised it didn't come with the option of a triple at the front. If you could get the compact changed to that, it would give you a 30*28 low gear which is between your hybrid and your road bike lowest gear - which may be enough to get you up the hills as your road bike will be lighter than your hybrid. You would have to talk to a good LBS to see what the simplist and cheapest way they could give you a lower gear. I recent bought a road bike with same gearing as yours and was worried about getting up the hills on a compact as I'm in my mid 50s and not very fit - but I found as the bike is lighter than my other bikes, the climbing is easier than on my hybrid and audax bikes, despite both have a smaller low gear.

JamesB5446

viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12583566

Wiggo does it so don't feel to bad for not (wo)manning up.

tiredofwhiners

elderone wrote:

tiredofwhiners wrote:

elderone wrote:

my bike runs a 12-26 cassette with a compact front and i find i could do with an easier gear for the hills so ive ordered a 11-32 cassette for the rear which will help.If i get better i can always put them agian.

Good luck with getting the rear derailleur to work with that.

34 on the front and 32 on the rear will be interesting - elasticated chain ?

errrr new chain going on aswell..simples

Let us all know how you get on as 34-32 may require a new longer rear arm to take up all that slack, if your chain is long enough to still cope with 50 front and 11 at the rear. You can alter the length but the rear arm has to be able to keep the chain under tension.