Gear ratios for MTB on the road

gcwebbyuk
gcwebbyuk Posts: 1,926
edited September 2014 in Commuting general
What chainrings / cassette do you use on your MTB when cycling mainly on the road?

Since switching to Conti Travel Contacts, I have been mainly in the big ring, and just wondering if I should swap out the cassette and chainrings for something a little bigger/smaller.
StumpJumper HT

Canyon Endurace CF8.0

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Comments

  • Ouija
    Ouija Posts: 1,386
    Most of mine have 11/28 or 11/32 on the back and 26/36/48 on the front if light weight and rigid (i go for 26/32/44 on anything with suspension on it).
  • gcwebbyuk
    gcwebbyuk Posts: 1,926
    Mine is currently running 11-34 on the back, and 44/32/22 on the front.
    StumpJumper HT

    Canyon Endurace CF8.0

    TrainerRoad Career

    Strava
  • dj58
    dj58 Posts: 2,217
    On my rigid forked hardtail mtb with 26" x 1.5" tyres, I have 44/32/20, (O.E spec was 42/32/20) and 11-24 cassette.
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    My old MTB is now my town/commute bike, 44-11 top gear will get me to 40mph or there abouts, so while I do spend a lot of time in the big ring and smaller end of the cassette, I see little reason to change it.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    My commuter (16x1.5 road slick) is 11-26 and a 46T up front, I have previously ridden it with an 11-34 on the back but never used the lowest 4 gears.

    I reckon a semi decent MTB using an 11-332 or 34 would manage most road climbs with a 42 or 44 up front, obviously not all and still be peddling on most descents, so 1x is a good option unless you live in a very hill area. You'll never need the granny in 99.5% of the UK, when you would its not really faster than walking anyway!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • Initialised
    Initialised Posts: 3,047
    gcwebbyuk wrote:
    What chainrings / cassette do you use on your MTB when cycling mainly on the road?

    Since switching to Conti Travel Contacts, I have been mainly in the big ring, and just wondering if I should swap out the cassette and chainrings for something a little bigger/smaller.

    I used to run a rigid MTB for road use a touring triple like 28/38/48 x 11-28 is plenty. I'd run out of gears at around 45mph on the downhill but never really felt 1:1 wasn't enough unless I was off road on a muddy climb.

    On balance I think the ideal setup for an all terrain bike would be 22/36/50 x 11-22 nice close 1t ratios on the back but plenty of range.
    I used to just ride my bike to work but now I find myself going out looking for bigger and bigger hills.

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