Gearing for touring

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thistler

Guru
Location
Happy Valley
I'm going to use my Secteur for touring until I can afford to buy a dedicated touring bike.

The gearing on it is : 52 x 39 x 30,  Shimano HG-50, 8-speed, 12-25t

If the bike is fully loaded, are these gears going to be too high? If so, what size should I be looking at? Is this something I can replace myself? Looking ont' web it doesn't look very complicated...  :whistle:
 

TheDoctor

Noble and true, with a heart of steel
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
Not hard to do. A 12-27 cassette will drop straight on, or 12-32 with a cheap MTB rear mech.
You could also go for a smaller inner ring - 28 or 26T.
 

TheDoctor

Noble and true, with a heart of steel
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
I'm just looking at fitting new gearing to my tourer.
I think I've convinced myself that 42/32/22 and 13/26 is the way to go.
Gives me a top I can spin up to 30+mph and a bottom that'll go up brick walls, and most of the steps are quite small - 8 inches or less..
*bashes spreadsheet a bit more*
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
You won't want a 52T for loaded touring.
Generally cheaper to just swop out the cassette, but I think i'd be tempted by this too, swopping the 28 granny for a 26.

And if you wanted to be really sneaky on the back end.... see if you can find a 30T sprocket and a spacer to put behind your existing 25T, and lose the 12T off the small end so it starts at a 13T. Your existing mech is rated at 27T max but it will likely cope with 30T if the chain is right length, whereas you would (almost certainly) need a MTB mech for a 12-32.
 

mcshroom

Bionic Subsonic
If the largest tooth on the casette is greater than about 30 then you are probably going to have to fit a mountain bike rear mech as well as a cassette. This isn't that difficult to do (guide here) and shimano mtb rear mechs work with sti shifters just like road ones but it is an eextra expense.

I currently ride a Dawes Vantage Tourer and it comes with a 48-38-28 front and 11-32 rear and I find at the bottom end of the low range I can get down to below 3mph (where handling becomes difficult) so I'm not sure how much lower you would want to go. What sort of routes are you thinking about touring, and what is you tolerence for getting off and walking if needs be?

Oh and also for reference the Claud Butler Regent is a tourer and specced with a 30-42-52 and 11-30, so it really is up to personal choice.
 

Crankarm

Guru
Location
Nr Cambridge
As said where are you planning to tour - Holland or the Alps? How much weight will you be carrying - on your bike and on yourself? How strong a cyclist are you?

You just need a long cage rear mech which you will probably already have with the road triple chainset. You could go with a 12-27 cassette and try a 28 front ring for any steep climbs you wish to do. I wouldn't rush out and buy a new lower geared chainset as this stage just fit a cassette with a larger inner sprocket. Many Shimamo cassettes have the larger sprockets on carriers which makes it difficult to mix and match for your own selection. If you keep your triple road chain set which I don't see why you shouldn't at this stage and go for a 12-28 cassette just make sure you are mindful of the chain line and don't use 52 x 28 or 30 x 12 combinations of rings and sprockets. Always try to keep the chain line in the middle rather than crossing form one side to t'other. It will mean your chain, rings and sprockets will last longer.
I believe SRAM cassettes will fit where Shimano variants do. SRAM tend to be cheaper than Shimano.

My bike has an Ultegra triple front chainset 53-42-30 and a12-25 8 spd cassette (unbranded & heavy) at the rear. But I can swap the rear wheel for another which is a Campag Record hub with either the option of 11-21 or 13-26 set of sprockets again 8 spd. This wheel swap doesn't affect shifting as the rear mech and 8 spd Shimano shifters remain the same. There isn't a slope I have not been able to get up, .............. yet .......................

HTH.
 
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thistler

thistler

Guru
Location
Happy Valley
Thanks for the replies!

No Alps for me - most likely just the Lincolnshire Wolds to begin with.  There are some very long hills but they aren't all that steep. I am quite strong... getting off and walking didn't occur to me but it wouldn't be a problem to take off my cycling shoes and swap them if necessary. Talk about over (or in my case under) thinking things.   :whistle:  I'll have everything in rear panniers, so will hope to keep things pretty light. 

I don't really want to spend much setting up the Secteur for touring as I plan on buying a dedicated tourer as soon as I have the money, but I will look into a new cassette. I did get new wheels (Spa cycles, handbuilt 36h, Tiagra) so feel pretty confident they will be okay.. 

Thanks again, I am very grateful for your help! 
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
It obviously all depends upon just how 'fully loaded' the bike is.

By the time you've got enough weight on the bike to warrent changing the gearing you'll also have to much weight for the bike!

The Sectur should be fine with two LIGHT rear panniers, but it's just not designed to cope with being 'fully loaded'.
 
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thistler

thistler

Guru
Location
Happy Valley
It obviously all depends upon just how 'fully loaded' the bike is.

By the time you've got enough weight on the bike to warrent changing the gearing you'll also have to much weight for the bike!

The Sectur should be fine with two LIGHT rear panniers, but it's just not designed to cope with being 'fully loaded'.
Thanks - what kind of weights are we talking about here?
 

Davidc

Guru
Location
Somerset UK
Can't add much, but I would warn you that the Megarange cassette (The 11-34 one) has a big gap at the bottom (26 to 34). I was lucky to try one out before buying and kept my 12-32 with more even spacing even though I liked the closer spacing of the rest on the 11-34. The reason I could try it was that its owner didn't like it for that reason - and only told me so after I'd said I didn't want to buy it.

Lincolnshire - why do you want gears in the first place :biggrin:.
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
Thanks - what kind of weights are we talking about here?

It all depends upon which model you've got. The base models have got a 'basic' A1 aluminium frame but the higher end models have FACT carbon seatstays with Zertz inserts.

The base models should easily cope with a pannier rack and an light load, but i've no idea how the higher end carbon frames would cope with a load. I don't even know if you can safely fit a pannier rack to the part carbon frames?

I wouldn't worry about carrying two small panniers, ie a few clothes, backpacking tent, etc
But if you're looking to carry everything including the kitchen sink (ie enough stuff for a week or two) then the Secteur probably isn't going to be suitable.

Also, although 25mm tyres will be perfectly adequate for lighter loads (unless you fancy going off-road) you will find that with HEAVY loads you could really do with something a little wider. Unfortunately, I don't think the Secteur will take a wide touring tyre, it certainly wont have the clearance for a wide tyre and mud-guards.

By the time you've bought a new rear mech, cassette, chain, mud-guards, pannier racks and new tyres you will have spent a fortune!
 
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thistler

thistler

Guru
Location
Happy Valley
Thanks - I can see spending more money on the Secteur wouldn't make sense. I have the basic model. I did buy the 36h 700c wheels with a view to being able to use them on a touring bike in the future.

I have a Trek Navigator (ladies loop frame) that I need to sell, so will replace it with something cheapish that is capable of touring but can be used as a shopping/errand bike. I'm still kicking myself for not bidding on the Dawes Horizon that went for £52 a few days ago. I often see Horizons and Vantages going for well under £200 so will wait and buy something like that. I would eventually like a 26" tourer (LHT, Thorn etc) but there is no rush to get one and it will certainly be awhile before I can raise that kind of money anyway.

I feel like such a ditherer. I appreciate everyone's patience and advice!
 
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