Gears for an older person

[pubrunner]

My elderly father (80 in September) is 'struggling' (only slightly) with his current chainset (compact 50/34) & 12/28 at the rear. He lives in a hilly region.

He has an old steel framed Pennine and I'd like to lower the gearing on this bike. It has gear changers on the downtube and has a seven speed freewheel on 130mm spacing.

I happen to have a spare NOS 7 speed 13/30 freewheel; if I were to purchase a Oxale 2 chainset (44/29) would these work together ? It would give him a lowest gear of 29/30 which should be fine. He virtually never uses the 50 ring of the compact, so I think that the 44 of the Oxale 2 would be just the job. Out of interest, what kinds of speeds could be attained with the high gear of 44/13 ? - with a fitter rider ?

A problem which might occur is that on the 29 chainring, only the lowest 3 or 4 gears at the back should be used - in the interests of smooth running.

Would the front derraileur be able to cope with such a setup ?

He is adamant that he does not want a triple chainset !

I hope that my suggested combination would work, as it may give the old boy a few more years of cycling.

Thank you for any suggestions/advice

 

[jimboalee]

Have a look at the TA Cyclotourist chainsets at Spa Cycles.

44/13 should get 17.5 mph at 150ish Watts or 20 mph at 200ish Watts. 65 and 75 rpm.

For large differences in chainring size, a long cage rear mech might be necessary.


What you are describing is a 'tourist' set up. Low gears for heaving loads and climbing; and no fast gears.

 

[peanut]

44/13 should get 17.5 mph at 150ish Watts or 20 mph at 200ish Watts. 65 and 75 rpm.

bugga I can only manage 120watts flat out on an exercise bike in the gym
If an 80 year old chap can get 150 watts I'm giving up

On a serious note pubrunner. Have you or your Dad considered changing to a straight handlebar / and using some twistgear sti gears ? it would be a lot easier and safer to use than down tube levers.

I expect your Dad probably doesn't use the gears effectively because it is so difficult to keep in the right ratio using friction or sis downtube levers .

 

[RedBike]

With a 700x25 wheel (2086mm) pedalled at 90rom
Using 44/13= 3.38
x 90 rpm = 304.65 wheel revs per min
x 2.086m = 635 meters/min
= 38km/hr = 24mph (I think)

You will need a MTB mech to cope with a 30tooth cassette.

bugga I can only manage 120watts flat out on an exercise bike in the gym
If an 80 year old chap can get 150 watts I'm giving up

From what i've read 150watts MAX power out does seem a little low. Although it's not a bad average for a ride. Take a look at this. http://bikecalculator.com/veloUS.html
Perhaps the gyms bike isn't calibrated correctly?

Just for comparison heres a few graphs showing my power output. (And i'm out of shape!) http://redbikes.blogspot.com/search/label/Turbo

I've tried my best to calibrate the turbo as accurately as possible but that doesn't mean thses figures aren't wildly inaccurate.

 

[jimboalee]

Redbike.

Your maths are 10/10.


Maybe the gym machine was displaying Horse Power and the decimal dot had broken ( 1.20 hp )

 

[PpPete]

On a serious note pubrunner. Have you or your Dad considered changing to a straight handlebar / and using some twistgear sti gears ? it would be a lot easier and safer to use than down tube levers.

.

He's enough of real cyclist not to want a triple - he's probably got decades of experience of downtube shifters. Nothing unsafe about them.
And flat bars will only reduce his efficiency.

so difficult to keep in the right ratio using friction or sis downtube levers .

Why do you think it's difficult to "keep in the right ratio" using downtube levers? I'll grant that STI are more convenient, but if you grew up with friction downtube shifters there is nothing "difficult" about them - just needs a light touch and a bit of practice to make accurate & timely changes. Practice is one thing Pubrunner's dad is probably not short of.

 

[peanut]

He's enough of real cyclist not to want a triple - he's probably got decades of experience of downtube shifters. Nothing unsafe about them.
And flat bars will only reduce his efficiency.


Why do you think it's difficult to "keep in the right ratio" using downtube levers? I'll grant that STI are more convenient, but if you grew up with friction downtube shifters there is nothing "difficult" about them - just needs a light touch and a bit of practice to make accurate & timely changes. Practice is one thing Pubrunner's dad is probably not short of.

no need to get upset and defensive chum .
I was just trying to be helpful and offer some advice. the op posted requesting advice remember .

The reason it is not so easy to maintain an even cadence and suitable gear ration is because it is not always convenient to take one hand off the handlebars to change gear .
STi's make it possible to change gear even when climbing out of the saddle. Try that with tube shifters.

For your information I have been cycling for a mere 50 years and well remember 5 speed friction gears .In fact I still have all my friction and sis gear levers from the 70's

by the way what is a 'real cyclist ' ? and straight bars do not decrease efficiency either. you need to get some persprective chum just because someone has a different view to yours doesn't mean you are wrong. There are many solutions to any given problem

 

[mickle]

'I didn't become to old to ride a bicycle, I became old because I stopped riding a bicycle'.

I think your proposed new set-up will work perfectly well. I would check the 'tooth difference' capacity and 'max sprocket' capacity of the rear mech first though.