Chainset or Cassette?

[SH1975]

Hi all,

I am mainly a road user, racking up a fair few miles in the countryside, but riding a mountainbike (2009 Specialized Rockhopper Disc). I have only upgraded the pedals and added road tyres, but due to the farm tracks etc which I regularly use I opted for a more sturdy MTB over a road bike.

The problem I have is often on the flat or downhill I find myself with the energy to go much faster but my MTB cogs make it almost impossible without pedaling so fast I could lose balance.

I assume I can change some of the gearing, but did not know which approach would be best - add teeth at the front to the chainset (currently 44-32-22) or reduce the number of teeth at the back on the cassette (currently 11-34 tooth range).

Can anyone advise me on the best choice here? I always assumes it would be the chainset but I'm sure many of you will have learnt from experience here.

Thanks,

Stewart

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Assuming you have 26" wheels with 1.5" tyres you should hit over 26mph with 44T at the front and 11T at the back with 90rpm at the pedals (which is generally considered a good target to aim for).

It is not possible to have a cassette with less than 11T with conventional wheels. So if you want "higher gears" the only options are a) bigger big chainring or b) larger wheels.

 

[Rob3rt]

And if you get a bigger big chainring, you might need to increase the size of all other chainrings, else the difference will be too large and the chain will struggle to climb up so you will get a decline in shifting performance.

 

[sidevalve]

With a high gear at the back of 11 then you can't really go much highter [you'd end up with a wingnut]. As you say your only option is to change the front. If the tracks arn't really too bad you could just opt to change the full crankset for a more road oriented set, still leaving the large rear [34] to cope with the muddy bits when you need it.

 

[SH1975]

Thanks all, looks like it's a larger chainset and some adjustment to the gears then.

I suppose I was hoping I could change the cassette as this would be much cheaper, but have to go with what works.

Thanks again!

 

[zizou]

The cheapest solution is trying to work on your pedalling technique and learn to spin more. 44x11 is a pretty big gear on the flat and if you feel you are spinning that out you are either a very strong rider or your cadence is a bit low.

Assuming you have 26" wheels with 1.5" tyres you should hit over 26mph with 44T at the front and 11T at the back with 90rpm at the pedals (which is generally considered a good target to aim for).

Think it is more than that, would it not be about 30mph at 90rpm?

 

[Rob3rt]

The cheapest solution is trying to work on your pedalling technique and learn to spin more. 44x11 is a pretty big gear on the flat and if you feel you are spinning that out you are either a very strong rider or your cadence is a bit low.



Think it is more than that, would it not be about 30mph at 90rpm?

Agree.

Quite frankly, this sounds like the users limitation being hit rather than the equipments. I recently messed a big chainring real bad and was stuck in the 34t small ring with a 12-25t cassette on my road bike. I rode like this for about 3 weeks. In these 3 weeks, I did all manner or rides, from flat fast rides, tight circuit rides, interval training/mock racing and some hilly rides with near 40mph descents. It was not as limiting as one might imagine.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Assuming you have 26" wheels with 1.5" tyres you should hit over 26mph with 44T at the front and 11T at the back with 90rpm at the pedals (which is generally considered a good target to aim for).

Think it is more than that, would it not be about 30mph at 90rpm?

Agree.

Huh? Dunno what you all use but Sheldon's calculator shows 26.6mph.

 

[Rob3rt]

I was not agreeing on the absolute speed, I didn't bother to check, but tbh, if you are going even ~27 at 90 rpm, you should be able push your cadence up to 110-120 rpm for a period to ramp up the speed into the 30's, that is cheaper than buying a new chainset.