24 vs 27 gears

[Alan Farroll]

Hi,

I have been sourcing a moubtain bike on a budget of about £500 and fancied a Giant Talon 27.5 version 4 but they are all sold out in a medium frame. I can get a version 5 for £400 but it has 24 gears instead of 27. I am buying this as a MTB starter bike but would have to do me a couple of years and I would like to use it for off-road triathlons. Would I be hindered by 24 gears? Especially on uphill climbs?

Thanks

A Farroll

 

[byegad]

Not really, you'll have slightly smaller overall range or bigger steps between gears with the 24. Frankly I owned bikes with 6, 7 8 and 9 gears at the back for several years and rode them all without really noticing the differences.

If you are racing or looking for out and out speed then 27 is the way to go. One thought is that the 24 speed system will, at some time no longer be supported. When that happens you'll either have worn the bike's gearing out and need to spend on new changers as well as cassette and chainrings. Or you'll have moved on the another bike.

 

[HovR]

Not really. What's more important is the range of gears, rather than the number of gears. If you're riding somewhere with lots of steep climbs you'll want a cassette with a large biggest sprocket, somewhere in the 30 to 32 tooth range should be more than sufficient with your triple chainset. Looking on the giant site the cassette is a 34, so plenty low enough.

An upside of going with an 8 speed system is that parts will be cheaper if you break something!

Edit: Looking at the Giant site, the two bikes are almost exactly the same, even down to the geometry. The only difference I can spot is one extra gear on the back and a slightly different chainset/BB combination.

If that's worth the extra £50 to you, then go for it, but otherwise you might be better off spending the extra money on any accessories you still need (new pedals/shoes/helmet etc?).

 

[Big_Dave]

Giants 2015 model range is out now, 27 speed version is now Talon 27.5 3 (£525), and the version 4 is now 24 speed (£475).
The Talons are only recreation mtb's, so don't expect too much out of it if your wanting to race it. You maybe better off looking for a second hand Giant XTC, These are purpose built XC race MTB's, older models go fairly cheap these days.
If you want new then try a different brand, The Voodoo Hoodoo has excellent reviews in the mags, and are about £75 cheaper for roughly the same spec as 27sp Talon.

 

[I like Skol]

I recently rebuilt my 20yr old MTB and moved from 8spd to 9spd simply because the 8spd components available now are from the lower spec ranges and I wanted XT. XT has also now moved on to 10spd but I sourced end of line 9spd parts so I could match my other bikes and keep common spares for all three.
For most of us there is very little difference in day to day use of 8, 9, or 10 spd gears.

 

[TheDoctor]

7 speed cassettes are still easily available, so it'll be a good while before 8 speed ones vanish.

 

[Alan Farroll]

Giants 2015 model range is out now, 27 speed version is now Talon 27.5 3 (£525), and the version 4 is now 24 speed (£475).
The Talons are only recreation mtb's, so don't expect too much out of it if your wanting to race it. You maybe better off looking for a second hand Giant XTC, These are purpose built XC race MTB's, older models go fairly cheap these days.
If you want new then try a different brand, The Voodoo Hoodoo has excellent reviews in the mags, and are about £75 cheaper for roughly the same spec as 27sp Talon.

Is Voodoo a Halfords own brand? If so that might put me off. Although one magazine I looked at recently reviewing under £600 bikes put the Voodoo bizango on the top.

 

[Alan Farroll]

7 speed cassettes are still easily available, so it'll be a good while before 8 speed ones vanish.

Thanks The Doctor

 

[Alan Farroll]

Not really, you'll have slightly smaller overall range or bigger steps between gears with the 24. Frankly I owned bikes with 6, 7 8 and 9 gears at the back for several years and rode them all without really noticing the differences.

If you are racing or looking for out and out speed then 27 is the way to go. One thought is that the 24 speed system will, at some time no longer be supported. When that happens you'll either have worn the bike's gearing out and need to spend on new changers as well as cassette and chainrings. Or you'll have moved on the another bike.

Thanks byegad. I am thinking this might then do me for an entry level mountain bike. I like Giant bikes as I have a Giant road bike. If it can do me for a few years until I get more into off road and then buy a very good mountain bike in a few years.

regards

Alan farroll

 

[Alan Farroll]

Not really. What's more important is the range of gears, rather than the number of gears. If you're riding somewhere with lots of steep climbs you'll want a cassette with a large biggest sprocket, somewhere in the 30 to 32 tooth range should be more than sufficient with your triple chainset. Looking on the giant site the cassette is a 34, so plenty low enough.

An upside of going with an 8 speed system is that parts will be cheaper if you break something!

Edit: Looking at the Giant site, the two bikes are almost exactly the same, even down to the geometry. The only difference I can spot is one extra gear on the back and a slightly different chainset/BB combination.

If that's worth the extra £50 to you, then go for it, but otherwise you might be better off spending the extra money on any accessories you still need (new pedals/shoes/helmet etc?).

Thanks HovR. I already have my helmet etc but I am on a tight budget

I am thinking this might then do me for an entry level mountain bike. I like Giant bikes as I have a Giant road bike. If it can do me for a few years until I get more into off road and then buy a very good mountain bike in a few years.
regards
Alan farroll

 

[Alan Farroll]

Not really. What's more important is the range of gears, rather than the number of gears. If you're riding somewhere with lots of steep climbs you'll want a cassette with a large biggest sprocket, somewhere in the 30 to 32 tooth range should be more than sufficient with your triple chainset. Looking on the giant site the cassette is a 34, so plenty low enough.

An upside of going with an 8 speed system is that parts will be cheaper if you break something!

Edit: Looking at the Giant site, the two bikes are almost exactly the same, even down to the geometry. The only difference I can spot is one extra gear on the back and a slightly different chainset/BB combination.

If that's worth the extra £50 to you, then go for it, but otherwise you might be better off spending the extra money on any accessories you still need (new pedals/shoes/helmet etc?).

Hovr. When you say " you'll want a cassette with a large biggest sprocket, somewhere in the 30 to 32 tooth range" does this mean the number of teeth in the largest cog on the rear cassette? Also do you then mean that even if it is only an 8 speed cassette if the largest cog is 32 or lower then this is as good as a 9 speed rear cassette?

Regards

A farroll

 

[HovR]

When you say " you'll want a cassette with a large biggest sprocket, somewhere in the 30 to 32 tooth range" does this mean the number of teeth in the largest cog on the rear cassette?

Yes, it does!

Also do you then mean that even if it is only an 8 speed cassette if the largest cog is 32 or lower then this is as good as a 9 speed rear cassette?

As long as the 8 speed has the same largest cog as the 9 speed, then your ability to climb hills will be exactly the same. It's not necessarily as good as a cassette with more speeds, as the gaps between the ratios will be slightly larger, but you'll barely notice it, if at all.

 

[Alan Farroll]

Yes, it does!



As long as the 8 speed has the same largest cog as the 9 speed, then your ability to climb hills will be exactly the same. It's not necessarily as good as a cassette with more speeds, as the gaps between the ratios will be slightly larger, but you'll barely notice it, if at all.

Thanks HovR this is all good information. I will be a bike guru eventually. Can I ask then when doing hard climbs you are better off in a rear cog that is less than 32 teeth, and so if the rear cassette has say 10 cogs and the largest is 36 teeth then it is no good for hard climbs? Or am I getting confused?

Thanks again

 

[HovR]

Can I ask then when doing hard climbs you are better off in a rear cog that is less than 32 teeth, and so if the rear cassette has say 10 cogs and the largest is 36 teeth then it is no good for hard climbs? Or am I getting confused?

Thanks again

Getting slightly confused. In terms of getting the lowest possible gear, which will make climbing up hills the easiest, you want a cassette with the biggest possible large cog. So a 36 tooth will give you a lower gear than a 32 tooth, therefore the 36 tooth will give you more hill-climbing ability.

Of course this is somewhat simplified, as the terrain you're riding on will also play a part in your gear selection in order to keep traction.

 

[Cubist]

@Alan Farroll

The Talon 27.5 4 2014 is on sale at Rutland cycling in a medium for £414.
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/15059...y=GBP&gclid=COy7h6j7x8ACFSgFwwodqSQA_g#buyNow