Converting to Road Bike.

[RecordAceFromNew]

Been thinking about changing bike today and I reckon I would lose £500 on the sale of the Bad Boy 2 .. so would changing the gearing come to more than £500.

Hardly. Don't know which chainset you have, but if it is a Shimano chance is all you need to do to match the Sirrus Comp is to replace the outer ring with this for the princely sum of £26, remove the inner ring, and move the front mech up by 12mm.

It is likely you also need a new chain that is longer by 1 or 2 pairs of links, and a longer inner cable for the front mech.

 

[Smurfy]

The bike has a FSA triple chainring and SLX for the other stuff..

Some people would be able to tell straightaway just by looking at the bike what you can and can't reuse with higher gearing.

For me, the first step would be to get the number off the back of the front mech and rear mech. For SLX it will be something like FD-M6XX or RD-M6XX (where XX is some combination of numbers). The number will probably be stamped on the back of the cage, facing the seat tube, or facing the spokes for the rear mech.

Next, go here, and find your SLX components in the MTB section. Then download the relevant tech sheets, in which you'll find a section titled 'specifications' which tells you what the front and rear mech is capable of.

 

[Boon 51]

Hardly. Don't know which chainset you have, but if it is a Shimano chance is all you need to do to match the Sirrus Comp is to replace the outer ring with this for the princely sum of £26, remove the inner ring, and move the front mech up by 12mm.

It is likely you also need a new chain that is longer by 1 or 2 pairs of links, and a longer inner cable for the front mech.

This is a good idea as well, but I would change from a 11/34T to a 11/36T as I'm at it..
Cheers

 

[sreten]

It has 700cc rims and 25cc Gatorskins fitted but what it lacks is flat and down hill speed with only a 42 outer..
I do agree with getting fitter, I am loads fitter than 6 months ago, hense the change from a 42/32/28 to a road 50/34 front.

Hi,

I live with a 52 / 14 highest gear on my road bike, 42 / 11 is a little higher, except I've a 30mm rear tyre.
Just a thought, but say just changing the 42 chainring to a 48 might be all you really need to do,
new chain of course. I can't imagine anyone needing more than 48 / 11 on a flat bar bicycle.

I notice the latest BB2 runs 48/36/26 front with a 12 to 32 10 speed rear.

rgds, sreten.

 

[Boon 51]

@ sreten..

Where I am at the moment..short version..

Had a road bike and couldn't get up hills with the 11/28 rear cassette and I lost a stone and a half in weight due to the effort. As I only weighed 10st 8lbs this was too much to be healthy so I decided to buy a hybrid, which I feel is more comfortable at my age (62). I found the BB2 but it was advertised at Evans Cycles with a 48/32/26 front so on a trip to the UK I got one which I took back home with me to Spain. (After a very short while I noticed in fact the gearing was 42/32/26 but I carried on anyway as it was too far to take the bike back.)
Many people on here said you need to get fitter so with the help of some whey protein and a better diet I've put on weight and got stronger so climbing the mountains now is easy.
My last ride was 130kms with 1700 m of climbing at an average of 15mph so I'm well happy with my progress.
Unfortunately I've now grown out of the 42/32/26 triple due to better fitness and I'm looking at a 48/32 or 48/34 fronts as going on the straights and down hills has become very tiresome with the triple. I love the BB2 but just need to alter the gearing to improve my speed on the flat and down hill.
The two bikes in mind with the right gearing are..
Specialized Crosstrail which I have with 48/32..11/36T gearing and a Sirrus Comp with 50/34.. 11/36T
So If I could achive this by changing the gears that would be good?

 

[sreten]

Hi,
Why can't you just change your big ring to 48 ?
rgds, sreten.

 

[Boon 51]

Hi,
Why can't you just change your big ring to 48 ?
rgds, sreten.

Just my opinion but a triple is OK on my mtb but not on my other bikes as I've grown out of it.
So I thinking remove the 26 inner to leave the 42/32 then change the 42 to 48 plus change the 11/34T to a 11/36T cassette.
Might need new chain but all in all a good move I think?

Cheers.

 

[Smurfy]

Just my opinion but a triple is OK on my mtb but not on my other bikes as I've grown out of it.
So I thinking remove the 26 inner to leave the 42/32 then change the 42 to 48 plus change the 11/34T to a 11/36T cassette.
Might need new chain but all in all a good move I think?

Cheers.

If you want to compare gears without spending any money, your best bet is this gear calculator.

http://www.gear-calculator.com/#

Use your mouse to drag the chainrings and sprockets to different combinations (more sprockets and a triple chainring can be added by dragging a sprocket or chainring off the pile of sprockets/chainrings on the far left)

When you've set up a system, click the 'compare' button to add another system for comparison. Note that the effect of going from 12T to 11T will be far greater than going from 50T to 51T.

Hope that helps