So many gears, pointless?

[fossyant]

Tis a thing of wonder isn't it?
I have several 9 speed bikes but only realised that that cassette existed recently when it came already fitted to my Ridgeback Expedition 26inch wheel bike. I have carried a mega amount of junk on that and can I think get up pretty much anything. Costs between £10 and £15 I think.

Or folks could pay pretty much £100 by hopping to chain reaction for a 12 speed Deore (Deore FFS!) cassette.

£100 for a 12 speed cassette is cheap. Don't go looking at SRAM X0 Eagle Cassettes

 

[Blue Hills]

£100 for a 12 speed cassette is cheap. Don't go looking at SRAM X0 Eagle Cassettes

i won't only sram cassette i have is another £15 thing - 7 speed on speed pro dualdrive (21 gears).

I lied on the 12-36 - another threpence needs to be chucked at it:

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/shimano...592?product_shape=standard&article_size=12-36

 

[Grant Fondo]

I went from 21 gears to 30 on my rigid MTB, could have had 33 of course but not losing sleep over it. 26 chainwheel/32 cassette is fairly useless unless you live in the Himilayas. Which I don't.

 

[ChrisEyles]

What gets me is how high the gearing is as stock on most bikes. I swapped out the triple on my tourer for a MTB 42/34/24 crankset and can honestly say 42/11 is as high a gear as I ever need.

My 1960s racer has a top gear of 52/14, which isn't even quite as high as that - again I never need a higher gear, and back in the 60's I assume the pros would have managed to go pretty darn fast with this gearing.

Anyone ever spin out 53/11?! What speed does that work out to, must be around 50mph+!

 

[ChrisEyles]

I think it's been commented before here on CC that what we all really want is a 14-36 8 speed cassette, now that would be sweet paired with a 52/42/30 crank for touring, general riding and a bit of off-roading.

 

[ColinJ]

I went from 21 gears to 30 on my rigid MTB, could have had 33 of course but not losing sleep over it. 26 chainwheel/32 cassette is fairly useless unless you live in the Himilayas. Which I don't.

I have a 22/32 bottom gear on my MTB and I used that quite a lot on some of the more severe offroad Pennine climbs!

 

[Racing roadkill]

Having made the jump from 8 spd to 11, I'm struggling to see the massive benefit of having more, can someone enlighten me? Both cassettes were of a similar range (11-26) I still don't use the smaller end apart from stopping spin out on drops. Even then, never 11t. Gear changes are smooth but the difference is not really perceptible and 26t to the next one down still goes as CLUNK as ever

More available ratios just mean you can flatten out your power output curves, by reducing spiking as you shift gears. It makes for a more comfortable, more efficient and quicker ride. Some people really don’t need to worry too much about that stuff, to be fair, but it’s nice to have the option for those that do

 

[screenman]

Has nobody ever bought something they want rather than need?

 

[carlosfandangus]

I have a 22/32 bottom gear on my MTB and I used that quite a lot on some of the more severe offroad Pennine climbs!

I have that on my MTB, however I cant keep the front down on a gravel path to my house, my gravel bike has 30/32 and I can make it and keep the front down, for some reason (in my head) I select the lowest gear when approaching the short climb, I know if I went one higher I could manage it.

I have 2 x 11 speed bikes and 2 x 9 speed one of the 9 speed (MTB) is a triple the others are double, I cant say that there is much difference, however one 11 speed was bought this way, the other was built, I find the price differential for spares is not really that great for the amount of replacements, I find a good deal and I buy a few, 11 speed cassettes were bought when Tesco had a tie in with Evans, they worked out at £10 each (3 bought) chains are cheap enough too, £10 each or less for SRAM

 

[All uphill]

I must have spent too much time with 3x7.

Dont tell anyone but now I have a bike with 2x11 I habitually change gears in twos. I might as well have a 6 speed cassette/freewheeling.

 

[avecReynolds531]

Great vid here if you haven't already seen it
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALNsQpCL8LY

In the first minute one of the brothers gives his view of gears on modern bikes, brilliant stuff

That's exactly what I thought of too: Norman Taylor saying :...but now they've gone berserk, they've got seven on there and three on here."
Always great to see this wonderful film again!
(...if a 73 degree head angle and 2 and half inches of fork rake was standard for Jack Taylor bikes, that's ok for me...)

 

[Twilkes]

I used 11-32 on an 8 speed with a triple chainring, and I kind of noticed the jumps between gears, but was never that fussed about it. But on a new road bike with 2x10 speed and 11-28 cassette, when I'm trying to time trial or just go as fast as I can I can feel the steps between gears and wish I had something in between. So I guess the faster you want to go and the more efficient you want to be with your cadence, the closer spaced cogs of an 11 speed will help you do that.

 

[Archie_tect]

My Dawes Lightning came with 53/40 and 5-speed Suntour 11-25 freewheel... swapped it for a 12-32 but had to push it up the final hill on the 63m Cyclone B up the Ryals which I can now manage in 30/32 on my Allez Compact.

 

[ColinJ]

Having posted what I did above about triples, big sprockets for climbing, small ones for whizzing along and so on... I have just got back from a short ride on my singlespeed bike and enjoyed spinning its 52/19 gear. It is overgeared for climbing and undergeared for whizzing along, but for undulating rides with gradients no worse than short stretches of 10%, or longer stretches of 6-8%, it is great!

It is funny how when stuck with a single gear I just get on with it, but if I have multiple gears and one gear is a bit too high, and the next lower is a bit too low I find it really irritating!

 

[ColinJ]

I have that on my MTB, however I cant keep the front down on a gravel path to my house, my gravel bike has 30/32 and I can make it and keep the front down, for some reason (in my head) I select the lowest gear when approaching the short climb, I know if I went one higher I could manage it.

Yes, it can be very tricky, and requires a bit of a balancing act - lean forwards a bit to keep the front down; lean forwards too far and the back wheel slips!