Chainring Question

ajkerr73

My Dad has a basic road bike which has a 52-39 chainring and a 13-26 cassette.

Its a Shimano 2300 set up.

Whats the cheapest and easiest way to make this set up a bit more "hill friednly" for the old goat??

I'm no bike tech head so if possible keep it simple :-)

cycleclinic

A wider ratio cassette. A 11-28 HG51 8 speed cassette would work.
Also try a compact chainset. 2300 chainsets are less than £40.

Xherdan

thecycleclinic wrote:

A wider ratio cassette. A 11-28 HG51 8 speed cassette would work.
Also try a compact chainset. 2300 chainsets are less than £40.

+1

ajkerr73

Finally getting round to sorting this. I know nowt about BB's.

I can get the new 2400 chainset but it has an octalink BB. How do I find out what kind I have and what kind will fit??

John Clark1

Be careful as there is Octalink 1 and Octalink 2 (I think the difference is the height of where you bolt the cranks on).

Pop down the LBS and they'll be able to tell you.

Alternatively, just buy new new chainrings in the sizes you want and fit them to the existing cranks. 5 minute job.

You'll need to lower the front mech and re-adjust cable whichever route you go down due to the smaller rings but no biggy.

Welsh boy

Re some of the above comments, you DO NOT want an 11-28 cassette. That will only give you a very slightly lower bottom (hill climbing) gear at the expense of a higher gear your father probably wont need and bigger jumps between each of the gears. DO NOT go out and buy chainrings for your existing cranks before checking the PCD (the size of the circle which effectively runs through the centres of the chainring bolts) which could be 130mm (usually the smallest size ring you will get for this is 38 or 39 tooth) or 110mm which is a compact and will go down to 34 teeth. A compact is definitely the way to go which will give you lower gears without the jumps between the gears being too large. You could always buy a new chainset and bottom bracket, one of these chainsets http://www.dotbike.com/p/14345?t=cat&c=37 and one of these bottom brackets http://www.dotbike.com/p/8023/Acor-BSA- ... t=cat&c=19 would cost around £60. Tell the shop what they are for and they will tell you which axle length you need. You might need a tool to remove/replace the existing bottom brackets but they are not too expensive. And remember, left hand pedal has a left hand thread, right hand bottom bracket cup also has a left hand thread!