Gear change help

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Tarj Sahota

Senior Member
Hi all,

I had a question regarding my bike and my friend told me this forum would be a good idea.

Recently, I bought a bike from evan's cycles, and my problem is that they have underestimated the raw strength in my muscular, yet perfectly proportioned, legs. I find the gears are too easy. It's a 7 speed hub gear - see below. Commuting to to and from work, I find I cruise along flat ground on gear 6. I want to make that gear 6 into gear 4. Going on hills, I never seem to go below 3, so gears 1 and 2 never get any use.

The bike I have is the Viva Urban De Luxe Hybrid Bike and I got it from evan's cycles. Here's the link:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/viva/urban-de-luxe-hybrid-bike-ec023201?query=viva urban

If it helps, the one I got was the Black, 56 cm version.

Could you let me know how best to change it? Thanks in advance and let me know if you need more information!

Tarj.
 

HovR

Über Member
Location
Plymouth
The bike currently has a 44 tooth chainring on the front - You could raise that to suit your power level. Alternatively, your bike currently has an 18t sprocket/freewheel on the back. You could lower that to get a higher gear ratio.

The latter option will be cheaper.
 
OP
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Tarj Sahota

Senior Member
The bike currently has a 44 tooth chainring on the front - You could raise that to suit your power level. Alternatively, your bike currently has an 18t sprocket/freewheel on the back. You could lower that to get a higher gear ratio.

The latter option will be cheaper.

Thanks! I really appreciate your help.

Changing the back seems like the best option - also since the front has frame around it. Ok, so my next question is if I need to lower the number of teeth on the back, what should I lower it to? I know I can just ask them, but I don't want them to just guess and get it wrong. I'm no cycling-physicist, but it seems that halving the teeth equals doubling the power(?) In that case going from 18 teeth to around 13 or 14 would be reasonable?
 

HovR

Über Member
Location
Plymouth
Thanks! I really appreciate your help.

Changing the back seems like the best option - also since the front has frame around it. Ok, so my next question is if I need to lower the number of teeth on the back, what should I lower it to? I know I can just ask them, but I don't want them to just guess and get it wrong. I'm no cycling-physicist, but it seems that halving the teeth equals doubling the power(?) In that case going from 18 teeth to around 13 or 14 would be reasonable?

It's worth mentioning that I have no idea how the internals of a hub gears work, so this information may not be totally accurate - But ignoring the hub gear for a second, and pretending your bike is a single speed, your current set up is 64 gear inches. A change to a 14t rear sprocket would bring the gear inches up to 82 - A pretty big jump. Now keep in mind your hub gear will alter the ratio further, so these figures are just a benchmark.

I'd suggest going for a 16t sprocket first. Besides, they're not exactly expensive. Possibly if you have a cooperative LBS they may let you try a gearing setup and swap it out free of cost if you are not satisfied?
 
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OP
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Tarj Sahota

Senior Member
It's worth mentioning that I have no idea how the internals of a hub gears work, so this information may not be totally accurate - But ignoring the hub gear for a second, and pretending your bike is a single speed, your current set up is 64 gear inches. A change to a 14t rear sprocket would bring the gear inches up to 82 - A pretty big jump. Now keep in mind your hub gear will alter the ratio further, so these figures are just a benchmark.

I'd suggest going for a 16t sprocket first. Besides, they're not exactly expensive. Possibly if you have a cooperative LBS they may let you try a gearing setup and swap it out free of cost if you are not satisfied?

Ok it sounds more complicated than I thought, so I will do it your way and test it out. Thanks again. For completeness, I'll post back next week sometime with the teeth size I changed it to.
 
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