So many gears, pointless?

[Blue Hills]

Absolutely but, my point was that we (or those of us less mechanically minded) are 'probably' going to end-up with the number of gears that come as standard on the bike as opposed to leaving the shop with the precise number/ratio of gears that we want. I can't imagine that many shops will accommodate somebody saying to them "I'll take that lovely looking Trek Domane please but, I only want a 7/8 speed cassette on the back".

Compton cycles in south london (more precisely the very helpful Jim) were happy to spec/build up a 9 speed surly LHT for me. From memory it wouldn't have cost any more/much more than the 10 speed which, perversely, seemed to have become standard.

 

[JPBoothy]

Compton cycles in south london (more precisely the very helpful Jim) were happy to spec/build up a 9 speed surly LHT for me. From memory it wouldn't have cost any more/much more than the 10 speed which, perversely, seemed to have become standard.

It's a real find when you discover a helpful/skilful bike mechanic but sadly they tend to be in the smaller shops that struggle to survive. I was quite fortunate that the one from my LBS continued to operate from his house when the shop closed. It is also good when you can go in and chat to them whilst they work rather than having to drop your bike off at the front desk and then have no idea who is actually working on it. I suppose the bigger 'soulless' stores just want to shift bikes rather than be helpful like the little oily gems you would find in the past though

 

[Blue Hills]

May have it wrong, but my understanding is that chrís compton retired and that jim now owns or part owns the shop.
I cycled past a couple of days ago and there was a small queue outside, folk waiting to get bikes seen to i assumed.
I wish them well.
https://www.comptoncycles.co.uk/

 

[ColinJ]

I removed the cassette from one of CX bikes yesterday to give it a thorough 'and long overdue' cleaning and it had me thinking as to why it is that only the last 2/3 sprockets that are separate on a cassette and the larger ones are in a 'block'? Surely separate sprockets would enable you to tailor your gears to suit your own personal needs. Although, I suppose if that option was available to us then the manufacturer/LBS would end up with a stack of the less popular sizes.

I reckon that using a block might be about spreading the load out over a longer length of splines on the freehub?

Trying to avoid what happened to @colly on one of my forum rides when he comically lost transmission when trying to power up a steep ramp from a little valley - see THIS POST.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Just by chance, Jim at Compton's will be doing some work on my bike tomorrow. (Work that I'm too bone idle to do myself)

 

[JPBoothy]

I reckon that using a block might be about spreading the load out over a longer length of splines on the freehub?

Trying to avoid what happened to @colly on one of my forum rides when he comically lost transmission when trying to power up a steep ramp from a little valley - see THIS POST.

Blimey, that must have shocked poor @colly.. I hope that it didn't have that same horrible effect as when you snap a chain? That begs the question of whether or not converting a standard rear wheel to a SS using a spacer kit is a good idea at all then.

 

[ColinJ]

Blimey, that must have shocked poor @colly.. I hope that it didn't have that same horrible effect as when you snap a chain? That begs the question of whether or not converting a standard rear wheel to a SS using a spacer kit is a good idea at all then.

His legs were spinning like crazy but his bike just slowed down and stopped. Fortunately, he was sitting down at the time so he didn't fall off.

I think we both expected that the pawls had failed to engage in his freehub, but then we discovered that all of the other gears still worked!

The SS question has worried me slightly because I have done a conversion using a standard sprocket and a handful of spacers. It is putting an awful lot of pressure on the splines. They are slowly getting damaged but so far the damage is not terminal. I have a spare freehub which I can swap in before failure looks likely!

 

[Tigerbiten]

Surely separate sprockets would enable you to tailor your gears to suit your own personal needs. Although, I suppose if that option was available to us then the manufacturer/LBS would end up with a stack of the less popular sizes.

You can, look for the likes of "miche individual sprockets"
But single sprockets like that tend to sold at a premium.
It's often cheaper to start with two cassette with different ranges.
Split them and drill the rivets out.
Then recombine them to give you an ideal cassette and a lot of left over parts to make a less than ideal cassette.
The main downside is depending on how you mix and match sprockets, some of the shifting ramps may not line up and that can give you less than crisp shifting.

YMMV ............

 

[JPBoothy]

You can, look for the likes of "miche individual sprockets"
But single sprockets like that tend to sold at a premium.
It's often cheaper to start with two cassette with different ranges.
Split them and drill the rivets out.
Then recombine them to give you an ideal cassette and a lot of left over parts to make a less than ideal cassette.
The main downside is depending on how you mix and match sprockets, some of the shifting ramps may not line up and that can give you less than crisp shifting.

YMMV ............

Thank you and @ColinJ for your thorough explanations.. I have one of those annoying "what does that do?" and "how does that work" type minds I'm afraid so that was useful to know..

 

[a.twiddler]

Blimey, that must have shocked poor @colly.. I hope that it didn't have that same horrible effect as when you snap a chain? That begs the question of whether or not converting a standard rear wheel to a SS using a spacer kit is a good idea at all then.

I had a similar experience in the days of screw on freewheels. The chainline on my bike had always been a little awkward, as it was a Viscount Aerospace with press in sealed bottom bracket bearings. These were not a problem, they were commonly available motorcycle type wheel bearings. However, the bottom bracket spindle was a problem as it was hard to find replacements in different lengths. It was never a real issue with a 5 speed rear, but when I upgraded to a 6 speed for some reason I had to put an extra spacer between the freewheel and the hub. I was always a bit concerned about reducing the amount of threads that it screwed on to, but it worked well for several years and I suppose several thousand miles. Perhaps if I didn't have such low lower gears, it might have lasted even longer.

In a hangover from the days when I went far from home in the wilds of Wales (pre mobile phone era) the rear wheel had 40 spokes and a single speed threading on the other side, with a single gear in place. I was always a belt and braces kind of fellow. I tried to make things as disaster proof as possible. I was out on a ride one day, following the towpath of the Trent and Mersey canal near Northwich, Cheshire. I came to Barnton tunnel, changed down, and merrily twiddled up the track that went up and over it. Near the top it steepened so I put a bit of extra effort into it, suddenly finding it ridiculously easy to pedal, and then having no resistance at all. It took a few seconds to realise what had happened by which time my legs were still automatically going round but the bike starting to roll backwards. I grabbed the brakes and stopped. I found I could turn the rear freewheel in both directions by hand. The threads were well and truly stripped. Once I'd got the wheel off and removed the spacers there were a few threads left, so I gingerly screwed it back on, and it held. All I had to do was adjust the rear derailleur stops and I was able to carefully pedal the 10 miles or so home, using just the higher gears. It could have been a lot worse.

A bit off thread maybe, but I thought it might be of interest.

 

[JPBoothy]

I had a similar experience in the days of screw on freewheels. The chainline on my bike had always been a little awkward, as it was a Viscount Aerospace with press in sealed bottom bracket bearings. These were not a problem, they were commonly available motorcycle type wheel bearings. However, the bottom bracket spindle was a problem as it was hard to find replacements in different lengths. It was never a real issue with a 5 speed rear, but when I upgraded to a 6 speed for some reason I had to put an extra spacer between the freewheel and the hub. I was always a bit concerned about reducing the amount of threads that it screwed on to, but it worked well for several years and I suppose several thousand miles. Perhaps if I didn't have such low lower gears, it might have lasted even longer.

In a hangover from the days when I went far from home in the wilds of Wales (pre mobile phone era) the rear wheel had 40 spokes and a single speed threading on the other side, with a single gear in place. I was always a belt and braces kind of fellow. I tried to make things as disaster proof as possible. I was out on a ride one day, following the towpath of the Trent and Mersey canal near Northwich, Cheshire. I came to Barnton tunnel, changed down, and merrily twiddled up the track that went up and over it. Near the top it steepened so I put a bit of extra effort into it, suddenly finding it ridiculously easy to pedal, and then having no resistance at all. It took a few seconds to realise what had happened by which time my legs were still automatically going round but the bike starting to roll backwards. I grabbed the brakes and stopped. I found I could turn the rear freewheel in both directions by hand. The threads were well and truly stripped. Once I'd got the wheel off and removed the spacers there were a few threads left, so I gingerly screwed it back on, and it held. All I had to do was adjust the rear derailleur stops and I was able to carefully pedal the 10 miles or so home, using just the higher gears. It could have been a lot worse.

A bit off thread maybe, but I thought it might be of interest.

It's always a nice feeling when you can fix it in situ and get going again without having to make the call of shame to get a lift home

 

[mjr]

Gears offer massive benefits especially on scenic routes and [...]

How do you figure that? Does nice things to look at make it more difficult to pedal away so you need to do it more slowly or something?

 

[matticus]

Gears offer massive benefits especially on scenic routes

How do you figure that? Does nice things to look at make it more difficult to pedal away so you need to do it more slowly or something?

I think he's using "scenic" as euphemism for "bloody hilly" - it's quite a common usage, though might be mainly an Audax thing?
HTH!

 

[Mike_P]

On the subject of whether cross chaining is an issue I mistakenly found myself on the large ring on a steep climb on Monday and so ended up on a 50-34 combination. Subsequently a clicking noise developed which have I found out to be caused by a slightly bent quick link.

 

[ColinJ]

I think he's using "scenic" as euphemism for "bloody hilly" - it's quite a common usage, though might be mainly an Audax thing?
HTH!

I did a short 'scenic' ride last night - 411 metres of ascent in only 16.8 km. I was heading for greater scenic stats tonight by the time I got to the final summit, but then I ruined the numbers with the descent and a longer flattish ride back.