So many gears, pointless?

[DCBassman]

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.

The other thing about this cassette is that it is very evenly spaced, whereas the 11-34t 8-speed has much more uneven steps. Come to that, the 11-36t version of the same 9-speed is much more uneven, for whatever reason...

 

[Dogtrousers]

Has nobody ever bought something they want rather than need?

Excellent point.

Given that all my cycling is recreational, I don't need to do it at all. My road bike is just a toy. I only use it because I want to, and I only bought it because I wanted it. The whole cycling thing is a pointless endeavour, so I may as well get one I like.

When my Sram Apex shifter died at the same time the big ring wore out I treated myself to replacement 105 gearing. Now, I didn't really need that. I could have stripped off the derailleurs and run it as a single speed, but I wanted gears, because I'm foolish and vain. I went for the new 105 because it had a 34T big sprocket - it's also 11 speed. Now, I didn't need that. 34T gives a nice low gear but I could easily get off and walk up the steepest hills, or just pedal a bit harder, or choose flatter routes, so it's just indulgent frippery.

 

[screenman]

I think there is some on here who would rather not spend any money, or in the least as little as possible, they seem of the opinion that anyone different is wrong.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Some club members and friends spend lots on upgrading from 10 to 11 etc and all say how well the money was spent and if it makes them happy then indeed money well spent but is there any difference to there speed on there bike?

They are hardly likely to admit to anyone else that they spent a shedload of cash changing bits so they could gain two extra ratios that haven't actually made a blind bit of difference, are they?
When people have spent a lot of money on a supposedly better/upgraded version of something, they will try to convince themselves it really is much better and was worth it, even if the real difference was so marginal so as to be hardly noticeable. Once they have convinced themselves, then they will sell the same story to others. No-one wants to admit that they bought something on a whim or due to fashion, it gained them virtually nothing, and by any rational analysis, was a waste of money..

 

[Rusty Nails]

No point wanting something you won't use/have no actual need for.

Oh I dunno. I want a full head of hair, but in practical terms it will not make any difference to my life.

 

[Venod]

No-one wants to admit that they bought something on a whim or due to fashion, it gained them virtually nothing, and by any rational analysis, was a waste of money..

I have just bought a new bike on a whim, I don't need it, I have two others, it will gain me nothing, you could say it was a waste of money, but I will ride it and be happy doing so, I have also bought a couple of watches, I have six, I could wear them all at once I suppose, but I only wear one at a time, life is a journey to be enjoyed along the way, not when you reach your destination.

 

[davidphilips]

Well said John, tbh i am constantly surprised at how much money some spend on cycling, from pedals with ceramic bearings costing hundreds of pounds and just before the lockdown one guy told me he was buying new bottle cages when i said i had lots of them and would give him a pair he told me he had already ordered 2 carbon cages delivered and all for about £120. Know they must be light but what a waste of money.

 

[Ian H]

My bikes are: two at 10x3; one at 8x3; one at 9x2; one at 8x2; one at 1x1. They all fulfill a purpose.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Have a look at Hambini's YouTube cycling channel if you want to dispel all the BS concerning ceramic bearings! Warning, his videos are often a bit sweary - well actually very sweary...

 

[davidphilips]

Have a look at Hambini's YouTube cycling channel if you want to dispel all the BS concerning ceramic bearings! Warning, his videos are often a bit sweary - well actually very sweary...

Yes watch Hambini and usually agree with him and find his videos great, only one that i think is not so good is part 3 of the cheap aero bike build, first 2 where great and looked like an aero bike would be built for very little but on part 3 he then said about buying Di2 and aero wheels starting to look like it will cost thousands?

 

[Mike_P]

The number of gears available is preferably limited through avoiding cross chaining with, on a bike with a double chainwheel, the smaller parts of a cassette being used with the largest chainwheel and the bigger parts of a cassette being used with the smaller chainwheel.

On a 11 speed 11-32 with a 50-34 chainwheel combo, the larger chainwheel has gear ratios of between 4.55 (smallest cogs) and1.56 (largest cogs) while the smaller chainwheel has gear ratios between 3.09 and 1.06 so not using the three biggest cogs with the bigger chainwheel and not using the four smallest cogs with smaller chainwheel gives a continuous run of gear availabilities dropping off the 50 chainwheel to the 34 and from the fourth set of cogs read from the biggest end to seventh set.

 

[Aravis]

I hope to see out my days with a 3x8 setup, which I'm very happy with, even if I've arrived there largely by chance. As has already been pointed out, replacement components at that level are inexpensive and it's often convenient to add them to an online purchase to reach the level for free delivery. When replacing chain and cassette it's a comfort to know I already have at least the next two of each.

It might be worth looking a bit more closely at what happens when you add a sprocket at the back. Being specific, I currently have 42/32/24 rings with an 8-speed 11-13-15-17-19-21-24-28 cassette. A 9-speed 11-28 would very likely have the same plus a 12-tooth, which wouldn't change my life. Instead of four sprockets ideally positioned for the middle chainring there would be five; the same four as now, plus the 13, and there are times when that would be nice to have. But the 32/13 ratio is very nearly the same as 42/17 which I already have in the ideal range for my big ring. I'm seeing nothing to indicate that moving to 3x9 would be worthwhile.

My most dispensable sprocket is undoubtedly the 11, even with a mere 42-tooth big ring, so I could probably be just as happy with 3x7. But I already have the 3x8 brifters.

I've never looked seriously at anything beyond a 9, but I see that an 11-speed cassette with the same range would probably give me 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28. So I'd still have double tooth progressions in the midrange where closer ratios could benefit me the most.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I've never looked seriously at anything beyond a 9, but I see that an 11-speed cassette with the same range would probably give me 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25-28. So I'd still have double tooth progressions in the midrange where closer ratios could benefit me the most.

My most common gearing set up on both hybrid and MTB is 28/38/48 on the front and a 6 speed 14-28 on the back with 14-16-18-21-24-28 sprockets. These gears suit me fine, but even so I rarely ever use the 48/14 combination unless I have a strong tailwind and a good clear stretch of road. 99% of the time I will be in a 48/16 or lower gear. If I look at the 11 speed sprockets you've just quoted, the smallest 3, the 11, 12, and 13T would be utterly pointless for my usage as they would never ever be selected whilst on the big ring. Therefore, any more than 8 speeds would not actually give me any extra gears that I would want to use. In real world utility & leisure cycling, you really don't need gears higher than about 90", and the ones that matter are the low and mid-range ones because they are what you actually ride on for the vast majority of the time.

 

[Tigerbiten]

Close spaced gears tend to come into their own if you do a lot of group riding.
If you ride by yourself it doesn't matter if you cannot ride at exactly 16 mph.
One gear has a slightly too high a cadence that speed and the next gear up has a slightly too slow one.
So you'll tick along at 15.5 or 16.5 depending on which gear you use.
But what happens if a group ride is ticking along a 16 mph.
It's no fun/hard work to ride in that half gear situation.

As for gears, I'm an outlier .....
My old 3x9 setup didn't have enough range to suit me.
So for this new-ish setup I went for the maximized range that was easily possible.
A 3x3x9 setup was halfway there but I looked around something better.
I now run 2x2x14 which gives me 24 unique gears out of 56 with 13.6% between each gear.
My top gear is 19X larger than my first gear.
I tend not to use the bottom 3 gears (sub 4 mph) or the top 3 (over 35 mph) but they are there if I want/need to use them.

YMMV ..........

 

[steveindenmark]

Same here, my Brompton only has 3 and I don’t seem to miss the other 29 that my MTB has.

That obviously depends where you ride. I had 6 Brompton gears in Bulgaria and would love to have had the other 24 from my Koga.

I have a mtb with 1x11 and that is great. I am now looking for a titanium gravel bike with the same gearing.