Bikes...

[J-Lo]

Hi people,

Got my new (old) bike the other day, after looking forward to the day for weeks!

Everything is brilliant with it. The only concern I have is that it is a road racing bike. Thus, it doesnt really have any lower gears that I think I might struggle without where I want to go (I live in the very hilly north yorkshire dales). I know where I want to go, it is on-road, but hilly and my mountain bike is abit heavy for the task. I cant complain though as the new bike was custom made annd sports campagnola, shimano, and durace components, and I didnt pay a penny (got it from a generous uncle who used to race on it).

Suppose I just need to get out and test it now see how I get on. Im not un-fit by any means, just on all my other bikes ive always had low gears to get me up the steepest of hills. This bike just has 2 cogs on the front, and 8 on the back, without what I would call low gears.

 

[Sittingduck]

Is it a compact chainset?

 

[J-Lo]

Sorry to sound silly, but whats that when its at home? (i am relatively new to the functioning sides of a bike lol)

 

[Sittingduck]

okay - it's the sizing of the chainset (front cogs that the pedals attach to). If you count the teeth on the rings it will be 50 on the big one and 34 (sometimes 36) on the small one if it's a "Compact". Traditional ones are something like 52 on big and 39 on small. Also count the teeth on the biggest gear cog at the back... It will probably be about 25 teeth right?

 

[J-Lo]

Give me 30mins and i'll go and have a count and get back to you. Am I right in thinking compact offers high gears but low gears also? Just so i dont confuse, lets say i dont have compact, what would the benefits be of it and how cheap could i get one? (if thats what your getting at).

cheers for the help!

 

[Sittingduck]

Give me 30mins and i'll go and have a count and get back to you. Am I right in thinking compact offers high gears but low gears also? Just so i dont confuse, lets say i dont have compact, what would the benefits be of it and how cheap could i get one? (if thats what your getting at).

cheers for the help!

No - it offers lower gears throughout. Gear "inches" can be calculated by inputting the chainring / sprocket sizes into online tools like this one. The lower the number - the easier the gear...

If it's a compact you will probably have something like 35 inch - 100 inch gears at the bottom and top ends respectively. You would be able to work out the gear inches of the old MTB for the gears you like to use and work out the if the same gear lengths arfe available or if not how much difference there will be, for the new road bike.

 

[J-Lo]

Ok just counted. Ive got 50 on the front largest. I counted 39 (give or take a couple) on the front smaller one.

And odly I counted either 21 or 22 on the largest on the back.

What does that mean then

EDIT: Just to add that online 'tool' looks like I need a translation.

 

[Sittingduck]

It means your lowest gear is about 47 inches. You might well struggle going up steep stuff. Sounds odd to have a 39-50 setup on the front to me. Could consider swaping out for a different cassette (cluster of rear gears) something that has a larger big sprocket of say 26 or 27 teeth but with that 39 tooth ring on the front it will never produce a gear for very hilly terrain. Short term advice would be to give it a go for a couple of weeks and see if it's feasable to use in the area. You can expect to see decent improvement in hill climbing but if it's very hilly you might cause injury trying to gring up them in a 47 inch gear IMHO.

Best of luck to ya!
SD

p.s. are you heavy - if so you have my sympathies

 

[J-Lo]

In case these help, heres some pics:

 

[wafflycat]

OOOH! a Brian Rourke... a classic frameset that, looked after should last a lifetime. Lucky you! Look after it!

If it were mine...

I'm a fan of triple chainsets. I'd be changing the gearing to a triple chainset on the front and a lower gear on the back (increase number of cogs on biggest sprocket at rear).

If you have a look at my tourer & road bikes above - you'll see that both have triple chainsets, and the tourer in particular has quite a wide range of sprockets at the back. The lowest gear is good on steep hills. The only thing that stops me getting up a hill on that bike is me...

 

[jimboalee]

A 653 Brain Rourke, Chrome triangle.

What's it weigh?

 

[J-Lo]

OOOH! a Brian Rourke... a classic frameset that, looked after should last a lifetime. Lucky you! Look after it!

If it were mine...

I'm a fan of triple chainsets. I'd be changing the gearing to a triple chainset on the front and a lower gear on the back (increase number of cogs on biggest sprocket at rear).

If you have a look at my tourer & road bikes above - you'll see that both have triple chainsets, and the tourer in particular has quite a wide range of sprockets at the back. The lowest gear is good on steep hills. The only thing that stops me getting up a hill on that bike is me...

Hi mate,

Thanks for the reply!

Please remember that your talking to me (a sort of newbie) when it comes to bikes. So what your saying is I could just get a new front chainset (I think its called) with 3 cogs (which would give me lower gears?) if I combined it with 1 larger cog on the back?

That all sounds very well, but how much could I expect to pay to get a half decent one (but on a low budget). More importantly, how difficult would it be to fix it up? Baring in mind im not a bike expert, although aslong as i have some instructions I should be fine.

Are there any sizes I need to find out/or how do I ensure the new components will fit the bike?

Any help is appreciated as im not sure what to look for and where to start for!

Cheers, jamie.

EDIT: Just to add - if you did have some time and dont mind helping out if you could maybe post some links to the kind of stuff I need so I atleast know what it looks like lol

 

[J-Lo]

A 653 Brain Rourke, Chrome triangle.

What's it weigh?

Thanks for that! To be honest I dont have a clue what model it is, and certainly dont know its weight. All I know is that it is as light as a feather (from my view anyway).

 

[Sittingduck]

Nice bike - but not for a hilly area. I'll take her off your hands for say... £25?

 

[Scoosh]

Ok just counted. Ive got 50 on the front largest. I counted 39 (give or take a couple) on the front smaller one.

And odly I counted either 21 or 22 on the largest on the back.

What does that mean then

EDIT: Just to add that online 'tool' looks like I need a translation.

I think it means you will need to train hard and get 'well fit' before you go dancing up your local hills

Lovely bike though