Hilly metric century from Todmorden to watch ToB stage 8, Sat 14th Sept, 2019

[GuyBoden]

I think one of THESE should enable my rear mech to cope.

@GuyBoden - which sprocket did you take out to make space for your 42? I saw a suggestion to remove the 17 but that would probably be one of my most used gears. I'd be tempted to remove the 13 if I could. That way I could do most of my flat to fairly undulating riding on the big ring and only do the big jump from 15 to 11 on the rare occasions when I wanted to/was able to ride at 40+ kph (25+ mph).

Colin, I removed the 11T smallest sprocket. It was the simplest solution, as I rarely use the 11T sprocket.

Also, it's a very simple task to fit the 42T sprocket, if you have a 10 speed cassette, because the spacer rings are provided with the 42T sprocket. Other size (9) cassettes will/may need different size spacers.

As you know, a long cage derailleur would make fitting the 42T easier, but I managed by adding an extra long B stop screw to my medium cage Deore. Yes, the Derailleur Hanger Extender seems a good idea.

Have fun.

 

[ColinJ]

Colin, I removed the 11T smallest sprocket. It was the simplest solution, as I rarely use the 11T sprocket.

Also, it's a very simple task to fit the 42T sprocket, if you have a 10 speed cassette, because the spacer rings are provided with the 42T sprocket. Other size (9) cassettes will/may need different size spacers.

As you know, a long cage derailleur would make fitting the 42T easier, but I managed by adding an extra long B stop screw to my medium cage Deore. Yes, the Derailleur Hanger Extender seems a good idea.

Have fun.

Ah, for some reason I thought that the 11 was part of the lockring so I would have to keep it. If I can scrap the 11 then that is definitely what I will do. 53/13 is easily a high enough top gear for me. The highest gear on the bike that I rode on our ToB ride is slightly lower (48/12) and that is fine.

Thinking about it, there may be an issue with the chain catching on the RH seatstay after increasing the size of the smallest sprocket to 13. Did your bike have plenty of clearance?

My CAADX is 10-speed so it will just be a case of shunting sprockets down to make room for the big beast. I assume that the front mech will be okay once I move it up the tube to make room for the bigger big ring. (I have a spare Ultegra front mech which I could use if I need to.)

 

[bigjim]

Hmm... I've just realised that I have the shorter cage version of the rear derailleur, which means that it would be woefully short of capacity (33 teeth vs 45 teeth)! (They are also only supposed to work up to a 34, but I am already getting away with a 36. Guy seems to be getting away with HIS 42, so there is obviously scope for this bodgery... )

I may have to wait until the New Year to be able to afford any other new parts required to make the changes to my bike. Before that I need to get the fork replaced anyway - there is a recall notice on them because they have been failing in use, and causing serious crashes!

Which bike is that Colin that has a fork recall.

 

[bigjim]

Derailleur Hanger Extender seems a good idea.

I tried one of these with a standard rear mech but found that I still needed a long cage mech to achieve enough tension on the longer chain.

 

[Pale Rider]

Ah, for some reason I thought that the 11 was part of the lockring so I would have to keep it. If I can scrap the 11 then that is definitely what I will do. 53/13 is easily a high enough top gear for me. The highest gear on the bike that I rode on our ToB ride is slightly lower (48/12) and that is fine.

Thinking about it, there may be an issue with the chain catching on the RH seatstay after increasing the size of the smallest sprocket to 13. Did your bike have plenty of clearance?

My CAADX is 10-speed so it will just be a case of shunting sprockets down to make room for the big beast. I assume that the front mech will be okay once I move it up the tube to make room for the bigger big ring. (I have a spare Ultegra front mech which I could use if I need to.)

I'm tempted to say you should get out more, but you already get out more than I do.

Changing individual sprockets is the cost effective way to do it.

Some of the wide range mountain bike cassettes such as SRAM Eagle are hundreds to buy.

Fine for weekend warriors, but you use your kit so you don't want to set yourself up for high maintenance costs.

 

[ColinJ]

Which bike is that Colin that has a fork recall.

A specific Cannondale CAADX; thread about the subject HERE.

I tried one of these with a standard rear mech but found that I still needed a long cage mech to achieve enough tension on the longer chain.

Yes, it is possible but I'll give it a go and see how I get on. If necessary I will buy a new rear mech.

I'm tempted to say you should get out more, but you already get out more than I do.

Changing individual sprockets is the cost effective way to do it.

Some of the wide range mountain bike cassettes such as SRAM Eagle are hundreds to buy.

Fine for weekend warriors, but you use your kit so you don't want to set yourself up for high maintenance costs.

I only thought about doing this because Guy told me about the super-cheap HUGE sprockets on Planet X. If I'd thought about it more I might have gone for a 40 instead and bought 2 or 3 at that price, and spread the cost of P&P.

 

[GuyBoden]

Thinking about it, there may be an issue with the chain catching on the RH seatstay after increasing the size of the smallest sprocket to 13. Did your bike have plenty of clearance?

My CAADX is 10-speed so it will just be a case of shunting sprockets down to make room for the big beast. I assume that the front mech will be okay once I move it up the tube to make room for the bigger big ring. (I have a spare Ultegra front mech which I could use if I need to.)

Colin, the chain doesn't catch on my RH seat stay when in the smallest sprocket and I didn't have to adjust the front derailleur.

As mentioned, my only problem was that the rear derailleur was not clearing the 42T sprocket , which I fixed by having a longer B stop screw/bolt.

But, you are using a very different bike.

Have fun.

 

[ColinJ]

Colin, the chain doesn't catch on my RH seat stay when in the smallest sprocket and I didn't have to adjust the front derailleur.

As mentioned, my only problem was that the rear derailleur was not clearing the 42T sprocket , which I fixed by having a longer B stop screw/bolt.

But, you are using a very different bike.

Have fun.

I will have to move the front derailleur because I am changing the rings as well; the current 46/34 to the new 53/39!

I know that some bikes have problems with increasing the size of the smallest sprocket. I can't find anybody online talking about having done it on a CAADX so it looks like I will just have to try it and see if all is good. (I could simply swap the first 2 sprockets round for a quick test.)

 

[ColinJ]

Introducing...







... MEGASPROCKET!!!

Now THAT is what I call a sprocket! (Yes, I know MEGA means a million and I am a few teeth short of that, but... it is MASSIVE and deserves a BIG name!

I'll report back once I have put it on the bike. I could try it out with the old chainrings and chain as long as I remember NOT to use the big ring.

Oh, and I took a look at the RH seat stay - there would not be any problem with chain clearance using a 13 tooth smallest sprocket instead of the current 11.

 

[Pale Rider]

I will have to move the front derailleur because I am changing the rings as well; the current 46/34 to the new 53/39!

I may regret asking, but what is the point of putting bigger rings on the front if you then have to put a mega-sprocket on the back?

 

[ColinJ]

I may regret asking, but what is the point of putting bigger rings on the front if you then have to put a mega-sprocket on the back?

I refer you to my earlier post...

I forgot to take a picture of Guy's impressive 42 tooth gold megasprocket but it impressed me so I have just been on Planet X and bought the last one. (They are still available in silver but those are nearly double the price.) I have paid £9.98 incl. £3.99 p&p, a bargain to solve a problem that I would soon have had with my CAADX...

When I bought the bike, it had 46/36 chainrings and a 12-30 cassette. That meant I was overgeared for steep local climbs and undergeared for fast local descents so I changed the small ring to a 34 and the road cassette for an 11-36 mountain bike one. That gave me a nice low 34/36 climbing gear and a highish 46/11 descending-with-tailwind gear.

Things are about to change, however... My cousin is coming down for the World Cycling Championships next week and he is bringing his old powercranks with him to give to me. He has upgraded to better ones, and I tend to receive his old kit when he does his upgrades. He gave me his Garmin Edge 500 GPS when he switched to a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt. I will be able to use the cranks with the Garmin to see what pitiful power levels I can generate these days. The big catch is that the powercrank comes with 53/39 rings and can't go smaller than a 38 so my nicely lowered climbing gear would have been raised to an uncomfortable ratio again. By using the megasprocket I will end up with a 39/42 climbing gear, actually slightly lower than what I have now. I will also end up with a stupidly high top gear of 53/11 which I can't see me getting a lot of use from,, but I will probably use the 53/15 and 53/13 a lot.