Ive looked for a few bikes lately cause i need a new one. Its mainly for a commute but id like to take cycling up as a side hobby for fitness. So i settled on a hybrid. I then looked into hybrid bikes and found one that was more road worthy... it seemed to me the Pinnacle Neon 3 fitted the bill perfectly. Small fast, light and road bike gears. However, even the hardest gear is too easy and my legs spin around to quick when im trying to go fast and i feel capped at about 20-25mph and can't go any faster because the gears wont allow. I dont want a road bike because i fear it will get stolen, does anyone have any fast hybrid bikes they can recommend? Or should i just bite the bullet and go for a road bike? My budget is not very large, only £400-700:S
Difficulty choosing a bike.
- Thread starter Nuttcat
- Start date
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Looking at Evan's listing for the Pinnacle Neon 3, it has a 11-25 cassette, which is fairly standard on road bikes - And in fact I believe you can't go any lower than 11 tooth with current freehub designs.
On the front it has chain ring sizes of 50-34, i.e. a standard road compact. You could go up to 52/53, but this isn't really huge increase.. So I don't believe that changing to a road bike will give you the higher gearing you're looking for.
Edit: Sounds to me like you need to learn to spin your legs faster. In the 50x11 combination at a fairly standard RPM of 90 you should be achieving 32mph (assuming 700c wheels on 28 tires).
On the front it has chain ring sizes of 50-34, i.e. a standard road compact. You could go up to 52/53, but this isn't really huge increase.. So I don't believe that changing to a road bike will give you the higher gearing you're looking for.
Edit: Sounds to me like you need to learn to spin your legs faster. In the 50x11 combination at a fairly standard RPM of 90 you should be achieving 32mph (assuming 700c wheels on 28 tires).
Spinning my legs wasn't making difference - it was at the stage that my pedaling was to fast for the bike. I did just go out for 10minutes on a long straight, went as hard as i could, but i would have thought ( since i am a beginner ) that even on my way back when i was cruising and taking it easy i shouldn't have been in the top gear? (Note: I am a beginner thus my experience is lacking)
There's no way that you should be spinning out in 50x11t at 20 to 25mph. At those speeds in that gearing you'd only be doing 60-70rpm, where 90rpm is the recommended sustainable cadence.
As vickster has hinted at, are you sure you were in the big ring/cog at the front? In the 34x11t combination you'd be doing 22mph at 90rpm, which is a much more reasonable cadence to be spinning out at.
(Cadence is the speed you are spinning your legs, measured in revolutions per minute)
As vickster has hinted at, are you sure you were in the big ring/cog at the front? In the 34x11t combination you'd be doing 22mph at 90rpm, which is a much more reasonable cadence to be spinning out at.
(Cadence is the speed you are spinning your legs, measured in revolutions per minute)
biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
seems fair enough assumptionI think the OP is on a small front ring. Fair question for a beginner
Alex11
Active Member
- Location
- South West
Triban 3!
.Nope front ring was the big one, with a small ring at the back. I can only assume there is something wrong with the bike then. I dont know if I have strong legs or not, i easily max out the quad machine at the gym which is 210kg, would this make a difference? As for my speed i dont have a speedo and it was a quiet long straight, i didn't feel like i was going particularly fast i guessed about 25mph. There were no cars or other cyclists except the person i came with (who i left for dead) so i couldn't judge very accurately.
EDIT:
Also, whether it was maxed out or not, broke or not, i shouldn't be cruising in the highest gear on a 100% working bike surely?
EDIT:
Also, whether it was maxed out or not, broke or not, i shouldn't be cruising in the highest gear on a 100% working bike surely?
MrJamie
Oaf on a Bike
It would explain why you're able to push round a big gear and suggests that you might be spinning out because you cant yet spin your legs fast enough, either that or youre misjudging your speed and going faster than you think
If you have a smartphone you could record your ride with an app like Strava and see how fast you were going.
I see two possibilities here.
1. You're the next Wiggins.
2. You're understandably not used to spinning your legs in the high RPM ranges, so it feels like you're spinning out when doing a lower cadence. With training you'd get used to spinning in the 100+ rpm ranges, and hence go faster.
Solutions? Assuming the rings are removable, and the BCD is correct, you could purchase an abnormally large chain ring such as this. Or train to spin faster as above.
Buying a road bike won't really change anything, as the gearing is practically the same.
I still find it hard to believe that as a new rider you're spinning out in 50x11t.. And there's nothing really that can go wrong with a bike to cause you to spin out faster.
1. You're the next Wiggins.
2. You're understandably not used to spinning your legs in the high RPM ranges, so it feels like you're spinning out when doing a lower cadence. With training you'd get used to spinning in the 100+ rpm ranges, and hence go faster.
Solutions? Assuming the rings are removable, and the BCD is correct, you could purchase an abnormally large chain ring such as this. Or train to spin faster as above.
Buying a road bike won't really change anything, as the gearing is practically the same.
I still find it hard to believe that as a new rider you're spinning out in 50x11t.. And there's nothing really that can go wrong with a bike to cause you to spin out faster.
