Lower Gearing

[Muddyfox]

I'm loving my new Cannondale Synapse (flat bar) but after having the granny ring on my MTB for the hills im struggling on the Cannondale

current gearing is

Front Rings = 46 ~ 39

Rear Cassette = 26 ~ 12

Would these ratios be considered high ? and what would you alter to lower the gearing ?

The bike is used as a kind of lightweight hybrid for pottering around the lanes in Devon which is very hilly speed is not really an issue for me but i would like to be able to pedal up the hills in some sort of comfort

Simon

 

[MadoneRider1991]

i really dont know how much lower gears you could get, maybe a mtb rear cassette

hope someone has better advice lol

 

[Randochap]

Er, you could get much lower gearing.

I'm not familiar w/ the bike/chainset. All will depend on bolt pattern on front and derailleur cage length on rear.

39 is relatively big for an inside ring, especially if you are used to MTB cranks/gearing.

See your LBS and see what they can do for you. Sounds like you should be looking for at least a 30 on front and 27 on back.

Gearing for long-distance.

 

[Will1985]

It depends on what crankset you have. If you have a double (130bcd in all probability as I suspect this is a Shimano bike), you could get a 38t but it will make naff all difference.

I've looked at your gear inches on Sheldon Brown. There are lots of very similar gear lengths there. A compact with 34t inner ring would help a bit but not as much as I expected. A 12-27 will help a bit more, but beyond that you'll be wanting to go back to a triple.

I'm not a Shimano expert, so someone else could tell you if that would require a different gear lever and front derailleur.

 

[jimboalee]

i would like to be able to pedal up the hills in some sort of comfort

Dream on... Who said cycling was easy.

 

[byegad]

I'd consider the bottom gear as way too high for your kind of riding. A triple and an 11-34 rear cassette would be my route, but if you can fit an 11-34 at the back you'll get a 30" bottom gear rather than the 40" you have now. A triple could get you sub 20" with the 11-34!

 

[chris667]

I'd fit a wider ratio cassette, and a longer cage (mountain bike) rear mech. If you start changing your ratios by fitting a triple at the front, it's going to start running into real money.

 

[MacB]

could you not fit a 30 instead of a 39 then line the rings up so that the 46 is available for the full cassette, ie centred, and just drop to the inner for steep bits. By my calcs you'd have a 9 gear range in the middle ring from 47 to 102 inches. The overdrive/inner ring would give you 3 gears at 31/35/38 inches.

 

[Will1985]

could you not fit a 30 instead of a 39

Needs a triple with 74bcd - the smallest you can put on a 110 is 33t which is rare/not made AFAIK.

The problem with getting a megarange cassette is that you get big jumps between gears all the way up which doesn't make sense to me.

 

[MacB]

ok, then go with new chainset, mtb style, ditch the outer ring and replace with a chainguard, but line up as normal.

 

[RedBike]

I'm struggling to find which model of Cannondale Synapse you've got.
46/39 are rather unconventional gear ratios. I'm surprised that Cannondale would spec' the bike with these as standard.

39 is the standard inside chainring for a conventional double on a road bike; so your lowest gearing is comparable to what you'd find on most racing bikes (but far higher than what you'd normally get on a MTB or tourer.)

46 is actually lower than you'd get on a MTB. I can't understand why Cannondale would put such a relatively low top gear on a bike thats for road use.

I think someone has either changed the parts from standard or you've miss counted somewhere. You will need to find out exactly what parts you've currently got BEFORE anyone can recommend what changes to make.

 

[Muddyfox]

Thank you for all the advice so far

Redbike ... you are right the outer ring has been changed

Taken from original for sale thread

it also came with tiagra crank which I upgraded to FSA which is much better the original ring will be included not the smaller outer that is in the picture

The smaller ring stayed on the bike

The bike is a flat bar Cannondale Synapse Speed

Simon

 

[Muddyfox]

Just a quick Update

I like the bike so much and i cant see me getting rid of it so it's going in to the LBS to have a triple fitted

It seems a small price to pay for something that i'l get so much pleasure from

Simon