Upgrade Gears on Hybrid

[Recycler]

Why don't you swap bikes with your mate for a ride or two?. You'll then find out if it's you or the bike and you may get a better idea of what needs to be done.

 

[I like Skol]

Why don't you swap bikes with your mate for a ride or two?. You'll then find out if it's you or the bike and you may get a better idea of what needs to be done.

^^^^ This I like because it may be the truth and then some! It's not always about the bike.

My experience of riding a hybrid is that it can hold it's own even on the 100 mile forum rides I take part in from time to time. The very first thing I did when I got my hybrid was to remove the 11-32 cassette and replace with a 12-26, which has since been swapped to an 11-25 when the 12-26 wore out. This give a closer spread of gears more suited to road use so you find yourself in the sweet spot of pedalling cadence more of the time.

I personally believe there is an awful lot of pseudo-scientific crap spouted about tyre weight and rolling resistance. Obviously a tyre with a minimal tread will roll much better than one with huge squidgy knobbles but the important factor in minimising rolling resistance is to keep the pressure up. The weight consideration often cited is that weight lost from the wheels is more important/effective than weight lost from the bike but this is only relevant when thinking about accelarating the bike. Once the bike is travelling at a steady speed the weight saving might as well be from anywhere on the bike and will only matter when climbing, on the level at a steady speed you are only fighting against wind resistance and mechanical drag. Skinnier tyres are not hugely faster than a matching tyre with a fatter cross section if both tyres have the same tread and are kept at high pressures but the skinnier tyre gives a more uncomfortable ride and is more likely to suffer tyre or rim damage in the event of pothole encounters. The other thing about shaving weight from the bike or bike wheels is that most of the time this pales into insignificance next to the weight of the rider and all the rubbish often carried in bags, rucksacks, saddlepacks and pockets.

The tyres that my GT came with have been great and I will probably try to track down the same again when replacement time comes. Schwalbe Roadcruisers in 700x35 with reflective sidewalls and puncture protection. Now at about 3,500 miles and I estimate they should last to at least the 6000 mile mark. I have had a fair few punctures but as most of these have been due to large spikes and nails rather than glass shards and thorns (still one or two of those though) I can't really blame the tyres and my habit of riding across the rubbish strewn no-mans land between lanes at busy junctions probably contributes to this enormously? Running these tyres at the maximum allowed of 65psi seems to give the same drag as my roadbike on 23c tyres.

To summarise from the above waffle, consider changing the cassette and maybe swap to a set of tyres that have minimal tread and a high pressure rating.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

To summarise from the above waffle, consider changing the cassette and maybe swap to a set of tyres that have minimal tread and a high pressure rating.

Okay but you have noted that the OP has a screw on freewheel not a cassette? The link to the bike spec shows it has a TZ31 which is one of these.

There isn't a huge choice in close ratio freewheels. 13-24 and 13-25 from Sunrace seem to be the only ones easily available.

 

[chrisb1357]

Cheers for the above and some good reading there.

Think i will just leave the bike as it is for now or maybe just change the tyres and tube. What sort of tyres would my bike wheels support upto

Chris

 

[Pauluk]

chrisb, you need to check your internal rim width. If you don't know this you can measure it. If you have a vernier caliper just deflate the tire. Without removing the tire or tube, measure the rim wall and the outer rim.

The inner rim = outer rim - 2 X rim wall.

Its more accurate if you remove the tire but not really necessary as long as you measure at the right points.

Tire width min = inner rim X 1.4
Tire width max = inner rim X 2

That being said I've had 45C on a 17mm inner rim without incident so the above is only a very conservative guide. Just be careful that you don't go too thin on a 17mm hybrid rim, if that's what yours' are.

If you are in any doubt look at sheldonbrown's website:

http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html