Gears on Standard Bikes Rant

[GilesM]

Sorry, I need a rant, one of my GF friends has a hybrid, normal sort of £300 bike for general riding, all is good, but she has trouble with the steep hills, so I agreed to see what could be done with her bike without spending loads of cash, the current gearing is 53, 39 chainrings and a 12 to 28 eight speed cassette, 53 x 12, that is a 119inch gear, FFS, Ed Clancy only rides a 108 for the flying lap in the Omnium. Surely 44, 28 chainrings with the same cassette would have been more sensible, still a 99 inch top gear, and something more sensible at the lower end for getting up big hills, is it any wonder people have a go at cycling then give up as it's too hard.
Anyway, rant over, the good point is that the front shifter, and front mech will take a triple, so I'm fitting a cheapy mtb 44, 32, 22 triple with a 12 to 30 cassette, that should help things.

 

[raindog]

the current gearing is 53, 39 chainrings

Bloody hell, that's massive gearing for a hybrid. They usually have 48/38/28 triples don't they?

 

[helston90]

Very true- I run 52 x 11 on a flat bar road bike which is 128 inch gear- but only get into that gear twice on a 24 mile commute- at least I'm on a triple though so have plenty of choice!
Good work getting it sorted and keeping another bike/ cyclist on the road!

 

[Melonfish]

Bloody hell, that's massive gearing for a hybrid. They usually have 48/38/28 triples don't they?

yup, tis what mine came with, i do wish i had a bigger big ring mind.

 

[tyred]

I agree entirely. Most bikes are over-geared, people struggle and give up cycling.

 

[Globalti]

I'm pretty sure that the general acceptance of compact gearing, i.e. 50/34 has been responsible for more new converts to road cycling than any other single factor. I know I used to find the gearing tough on my old 10 speed with massive rings and I'm happy to admit that I would have very little use for a 53.

 

[gaz]

What bike is it? Would be interesting to see if that is a stock fitted set up or not.

 

[Longshot]

My Sirrus has a top gear of 118 inches. However, it does have 23 more comfortable gears below!

 

[VamP]

I agree entirely. Most bikes are over-geared, people struggle and give up cycling.

If only those evil manufacturers got the gearing right! Everyone in the UK would be cycling!

 

[Boris Bajic]

Sorry, I need a rant, one of my GF friends has a hybrid, normal sort of £300 bike for general riding, all is good, but she has trouble with the steep hills, so I agreed to see what could be done with her bike without spending loads of cash, the current gearing is 53, 39 chainrings and a 12 to 28 eight speed cassette, 53 x 12, that is a 119inch gear, FFS, Ed Clancy only rides a 108 for the flying lap in the Omnium. Surely 44, 28 chainrings with the same cassette would have been more sensible, still a 99 inch top gear, and something more sensible at the lower end for getting up big hills, is it any wonder people have a go at cycling then give up as it's too hard.
Anyway, rant over, the good point is that the front shifter, and front mech will take a triple, so I'm fitting a cheapy mtb 44, 32, 22 triple with a 12 to 30 cassette, that should help things.

The agreement with this mini-rant is fine and everything is in order, but... I do not find myself offended by that gearing.

It is eccentric, certainly, but it is not perverse, wrong or criminal. Why do I not mind?

1. Many people like to bimble along at 60rpm or less. Not my way. Not what a racer would do... But there's little inherently wrong with it. Comparing the gears on a hybrid with what an elite track racer might use may not be helpful.

2. 39/28 (the lowest available ratio) is pretty low. Somebody buying a hybrid is unlikely to want to tackle the Ventoux.

3. We are (all) blessed these days with enormous ranges of gears. We have somehow become spoilt for choice. The owner of this machine has 39/28 and 53/12 and everything between with (probably) plenty of overlap between chainrings. If the second-smallest on the cassette is 13 or 14, then that might make a pretty nifty ratio with the 39-tooth ring.

4. Certainly I'd expect to see a short-ish triple on a hybrid, but this one might have been cobbled together to a price or sold with a particular market in mind.

The OP's solution is a good one, but I do wonder sometimes at the recent trend to somehow convince ALL cyclists to cruise at 95rpm. In my youth, a shopping bike had one or three speeds and one pedalled at the speed one pedalled at. This sounds like the bicycle equivalent of a 3-cyclinder Vauxhall Corsa, so comparisons with a Maserati may not be appropriate.

Just playing Devil's advocate. Carry on.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Personally I don't like the modern 50/34, I find the 50 too big and the 34 too small, shortly after I got my Verenti I changed the inner ring to a 42 and I spend most of my time on that, I did try a 48 outer but the mech is bolt on not band on so I couldn't adjust it so the 50 went back on, at some point I'm going to change the front mech for a band on and put a 46 outer ring on it

 

[albion]

As said, bikes are not designed for us mere mortals.
I moved my 28/38/48 to the road bike and put a 24/32/42 on the hybrid.

 

[GilesM]

Interesting thoughts, thanks, I agree with those that are saying 39 X 28 is still quite a low gear, it comes in at 37", however this is Scotland, and the option for something much lower is desirable, and so easy, especially with a new bike. I also accept that not everyone wants to rev at 95rpm, but with a 119" gear this is 71rpm at 25mph, most normal people can't ride at this speed on the flat without a strong tale wind for more than a couple of miles, most non cyclist type people out for a ride will free wheel whenever they have a really good tail wind, or down hill section. Anyway parts have been ordered, so all should be sorted very soon.

 

[GilesM]

Personally I don't like the modern 50/34, I find the 50 too big and the 34 too small, shortly after I got my Verenti I changed the inner ring to a 42 and I spend most of my time on that, I did try a 48 outer but the mech is bolt on not band on so I couldn't adjust it so the 50 went back on, at some point I'm going to change the front mech for a band on and put a 46 outer ring on it

I'm starting to be drawn to buying a road bike again, I haven't had one for about 5 years now, it's just been the world of mud and big tyres, so I will be looking at the gears, and I agree with you that 50 chainring is too big for non racing/serious training type riding, I would quite like a 44, 32, with a 12 to 23 cassette, that would be perfect, a range of 37 to 99, on a fairly light, stiff-ish road bike with light tyres, should be exactly what I need, and then you have a nice range of gears around the 69 to 80 in the middle of the cassette on the big ring.

 

[Lee_M]

Personally I don't like the modern 50/34, I find the 50 too big and the 34 too small, shortly after I got my Verenti I changed the inner ring to a 42 and I spend most of my time on that

when I was going up Ditchling on the FNRttC I was grateful for the 34/12, and wished I'd had something smaller on the front