gears and other things

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romany123

New Member
Location
Nr Colchester
Looking for a bit of advice, as I am new to cycling, but pretty fit. (runner. Martial arts etc)





I am looking for a bike that I can use for training and as a a tourer with the occasional footpath thrown in. I am looking at the moment at a Trek 7.3 or 7.5fx. but am open to any other suggestions.

My wife who has never done any training in her life but is reasonably fit, would also like to come touring, but is not interested in the sports site of cycling. Any suggestions on bikes for her? Budget about £500 to £600 for each bike.



Now for a technical question (well it is for me who hasn’t ridden a bike since i was a kid)



We will probably be moving to Devon (lots of hills) within the next year and I have a question about gears.

Doing a bit of research on the net I came up with this

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/gears.htm



In the section on gear planning he gives his own setup.



Now the questions




(a)
Would you have to get the gears made up for your new bike if you went along this route? Or can you request them as standard?




(b)
Does what he says make sense to the more technically minded of you? As we would not want to get the wrong gearing for what we plan to do.





Thanks in anticipation



Dave
 

chrtho

Well-Known Member
Location
Mancunia
As far as touring goes, you should go for the lowest gear range you can get away with. Running out of high gears is not really a problem - you just coast for a while - but running out of low gears means either a painful struggle or a walk which is something you should never have to resort to. Pushing a laden bike up a steep hill is actually harder than cycling up it at the same pace. Even a bottom gear of 22-34 (16.8 inches) is not too low - I use it regularly (especially in Devon!) while the big chainring is barely used at all. The top gear is still good enough for over 20mph but who wants to go that fast when touring? As KK says "gear down, sit down, and keep the cadence up".

This sort of gearing will almost certainly mean using an MTB chainset - 22/32/44 is the most common. These can be fitted to road bikes - you just need to make sure the front and rear mechs have adequate capacity. At your budget you will probably be buying off the peg but a decent bike shop will swap the parts at a reasonable cost or maybe for free as they are always keen to shift new bikes.

Don't know a thing about 'training', sorry.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
Pushing a laden bike up a steep hill is actually harder than cycling up it at the same pace. Even a bottom gear of 22-34 (16.8 inches) is not too low - I use it regularly (especially in Devon!) while the big chainring is barely used at all. The top gear is still good enough for over 20mph but who wants to go that fast when touring? As KK says "gear down, sit down, and keep the cadence up".

My bottom gear is twenty four inches aka two feet.

I've never needed lower.

There is no shame in dismounting and pushing when the going gets too tough. I defy anyone to cycle up Rosedale Chimney with a full touring set up while remaining seated.
 

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
I am looking for a bike that I can use for training and as a a tourer with the occasional footpath thrown in. I am looking at the moment at a Trek 7.3 or 7.5fx. but am open to any other suggestions.

My wife who has never done any training in her life but is reasonably fit, would also like to come touring, but is not interested in the sports site of cycling. Any suggestions on bikes for her? Budget about £500 to £600 for each bike.

Have a look at the Decathlon b'Twin Riverside 7 hybrid @ £600. It's ready to tour and has features usually found on more expensive bikes:

Hydraulic brakes (rim not disc)
Hub dynamo and complete lighting system
Shimano Deore drive train (better spec than the Trek)

I bought a Decathlon b'Twin hybrid in Orleans when my touring bike's fram fractured while on tour in France. It was a case of needs must at the time but it was a purchase that I have not regretted. I've done over 3,000km of touring with thebike and found it comfortable and durable. It cost me 400 euros and has a lower spec drive train. Having said that, it would be nigh on impossible to obtain a bike of identical specification for the price.

Decathlon bikes are under-rated. If you can get to a store go and have a look at one.

Doing a bit of research on the net I came up with this

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/gears.htm


The late Ken Kifer was a lifestyle cyclist whose life was centred around cycling. While his treatises are sound they primarily served his personal needs and do not necessarily suit everyone. As a beginner I'd not jump in and get a custom cassette made up from the outset. I'd simply ride what was provided with the bike from the outset then consider later on whether or not to seek alternative cassettes. To have one custom assembled is not particularly cheap. A Marchisio rear cassette made up of individual sprokets and spacers will cost around £70 and you will be expected to specify the individual sprockets that you want to have included in the build. Until you have direct experience of an off the shelf cassette I'd reserve commissioning a rear cassette build until you've identified any deficiencies.

If you are already fit the Trek or the Decathlon will meet your needs as far as gearing goes.

FWIW I've cycle toured in Devon and Cornwall with a fully laden tourer with the gearing range found on the Decathlon bike. The Trek has too high gearing for touring in my opinion but as I've said in another posting, there's nothing wrong with having to get off and push.
 
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romany123

New Member
Location
Nr Colchester
Thanks for that guys

Starting out on a new sport and buying gear by just reading the sales blurb could be a costly mistake, so your advice is really appreciated. As I have mentioned in an earlier post I am switching to cycling due to repeated running injuries.

We are both looking forward to cycling but didn’t want to get started until we had some sound advice.

Seems like we joined the right forum



Thank you

David & Caroline
 
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romany123

New Member
Location
Nr Colchester
Well I bit the bullet and have ordered a Trek 7.5fx for me and a Trek 7.3fx for Caroline + all the additional gear we will need, mudguards panniers, pannier racks and a car rack to lug them home.

Looking forward to trying them out on Friday at the Evans store in Lakeland, should be fun.



Thanks for all your help.

Dave
 
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