Touring bike gears

[Batmancaver]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and I'm currently in work so I will fill in all my profile details later.
I'm 42 and based in north east Walwes and have basically been cycling as long as I have been able.

My bikes at the moment are a Marin Wolf Ridge for when I go off road and a Claud Butler Milano road bike.

I am planning a long distance bike ride for 2011 to raise money for a local wildlife charity and need some simple advice on my road bike.
The route I am thinking of is either the JOGLE or a round trip round the coastline and borders of Wales.

I am thinking of using my Milano for the trip as I currently cant afford a new bike. Travelling light won't be a problem as I used to do Mountain Marathon running (not very well) so still have lots of lightweight gear. My thoughts were to hire a Bob Yak trailer to carry the gear in. Would the drop-outs and rear triangle be strong enough to take a sustained tow do you think?

My main thoughts, however, are with the gears. Currently it is a road/race set up with two chainrings and 9 gears on the cassette. I'll count the teeth later if I need to.

What would be a more suitable set up for a big tour. Presumably I would need to shift up to three chainrings but can anyone recomend a good combination for long distance touring with?

Thanks for your help.
Karl

 

[andym]

There's no perfect setup: the choice of gearing depends on riding style (whether you prefer to ride with a lower or higher cadence); how hilly the places are that you'll be riding; and your fitness.

A typical set-up for an off-the shelf tourer is 48-34-26 (I'm ggoing from memory here so the numbers my be a bit off) with an 11-32 cassette. some pwople go liwer than this with a 44-32-22. If you are fit, and used to using a higher gear you might want to investigate whether a compact double would give you the right range of gearing.

 

[TheDoctor]

If you're travelling light, a compact chainset, MTB rear mech and MTB cassette might be the way to go.
Your current STIs would work this, and they're the most costly parts to change.

 

[HelenD123]

My tourer has 48-38-28 chainrings with a 11-34 cassette. I could still do with lower gears on the hills and will probably get a smaller small chainring when it needs changing. Bear in mind that I don't travel light and am female though so you will probably get away with slightly higher gearing. It all depends how steep the hills are you're intending to get up.

 

[frank9755]

If you're travelling light, a compact chainset, MTB rear mech and MTB cassette might be the way to go.
Your current STIs would work this, and they're the most costly parts to change.

That's definitely the simplest modification and it is what I would do if I were you (assuming your set-up is Shimano - if you have Campag you could probably do something but would need a bit more fiddling). You would need a new mech and cassette. May as well get an 11-34 and, say, an LX mech (medium cage best but long would work). With a compact, it will give you a decent low gear.

I'm the same age as you and am reasonably fit and I've got exactly that on my commuting / wet weather audax bike, and it is fine for my needs. I've not put a touring load on it but I imagine I would get up the hills but prefer to have a lower gear for comfort.

My tourer has an 11-34 with a 24-36-48 triple chainset. That gives me a seriously low gear (19") and I have taken full camping loads up 1 in 5 hills on that. But you would need to change more stuff. As well as your rear cassette and mech you would need new shifters, chainset and bottom bracket and possibly a new front mech.

Although there are some possible shortcuts (it is possible that your existing front mech would work - can't be sure until you try it - and you may have enough space between chainstay and chainset to use an adapter ring (Spa Cycles sells them), which replaces your existing inner with one that you can bolt an inner ring to) at that point it might be easier to sell and get a different bike.

No experience of using a trailer but it may well be a better option than trying to put kit on a bike not designed to take a rack. Some trailers are better than others for long-distance riding, impact on bike stability, etc. Not sure if a Bob-Yak is considered good for touring. The guru of trailers is a guy called MickF on the CTC forum.

 

[Barbelier]

The lower the better.

For my JOGLE had a 11-34 cassette and 22-32-44 chainset. Used the lowest gears frequently for the biggger hills and never pulled the top gears once.

 

[jimboalee]

That's definitely the simplest modification and it is what I would do if I were you (assuming your set-up is Shimano - if you have Campag you could probably do something but would need a bit more fiddling). You would need a new mech and cassette. May as well get an 11-34 and, say, an LX mech (medium cage best but long would work). With a compact, it will give you a decent low gear.

I'm the same age as you and am reasonably fit and I've got exactly that on my commuting / wet weather audax bike, and it is fine for my needs. I've not put a touring load on it but I imagine I would get up the hills but prefer to have a lower gear for comfort.

My tourer has an 11-34 with a 24-36-48 triple chainset. That gives me a seriously low gear (19") and I have taken full camping loads up 1 in 5 hills on that. But you would need to change more stuff. As well as your rear cassette and mech you would need new shifters, chainset and bottom bracket and possibly a new front mech.

Although there are some possible shortcuts (it is possible that your existing front mech would work - can't be sure until you try it - and you may have enough space between chainstay and chainset to use an adapter ring (Spa Cycles sells them), which replaces your existing inner with one that you can bolt an inner ring to) at that point it might be easier to sell and get a different bike.

No experience of using a trailer but it may well be a better option than trying to put kit on a bike not designed to take a rack. Some trailers are better than others for long-distance riding, impact on bike stability, etc. Not sure if a Bob-Yak is considered good for touring. The guru of trailers is a guy called MickF on the CTC forum.

That is what a touring bike should have.

BTW, An 18" gear ( 22 ring, 32 sprocket ) at a 60 cadence gives the same leg rate and speed as walking ( 3 mph ). When you get here, you may as well get off and push at 2.5 mph, take your time and take a bite to eat.

 

[jimboalee]

If your big ring is 48, have a 24 sprocket within the cassette. If the big ring is 44, have a 22 in the cassette. If the big ring is a 42 ( Shimano Alivio 42/32/22 ) have a 21 sprocket somewhere in the pinecone.

These combinations give the same gear as Starley's Safety bike. Gears higher are for the flat and shallow hills. Gears lower are for steeper hills.

On a 42/32/22 coupled with a 13 - 25 ( 9 sp Tiagra ) cassette, the big 42 ring will match up with the 13,14,15,16,17,19 and 21. This means for riding along the flat and up moderate hills, the chain remains on the 42 ring.
When a hill gets to 6%ish, the middle ring is employed.
For hills steeper, it will be at the rider's discretion which gear is used.

 

[HelenD123]

That is what a touring bike should have.

BTW, An 18" gear ( 22 ring, 32 sprocket ) at a 60 cadence gives the same leg rate and speed as walking ( 3 mph ). When you get here, you may as well get off and push at 2.5 mph, take your time and take a bite to eat.

I disagree. I thought this at the start of my tour and would obsess about what speed I was doing uphill, getting off and walking when it dropped really low. In practise, it's always quicker to cycle. It's hard to push a heavily loaded bike uphill and I still had to stop frequently.

 

[willem]

I think not all of these answers were quite as helpful as they might be, given your budget constraints. Unfortunately your question is also less than precise. So lets have a go. Some CB Milano's have 130 bcd cranks with a smallest chainwheel of 39 t, recent models seem to have more suitable 110 mm bcd compact double cranks with 34t for the smallest chainwheel. What does yours have? Since I assume that you are coping with what you currently have, even in Wales, the extent to which you need lower gears is a function of the luggage weight. Take a lot, and you will need seriously lower gears, take little, use your Mountain Marathon experience, and you will only need somewhat lower gears.
Since budget is tight, I would advise going the ultralight route. For that you do not need an expensive trailer: a large saddle bag such as a Carradice Camper Longflap (with support) is probably enough, and much cheaper and much lighter.
Triple cranks are necessary for loaded touring, but not for ultralight. The thing is, cranksets are expensive, and with a triple you will also need new shifters, and a new FD. Instead I would use a cassette with bigger sprockets. You could probably just get away with a 30 t sprocket without replacing the rear derailleur, or 27t otherwise. If you need lower gearing than this (34t), you will need a new rear derailleur. The good news is that a Deore RD is not desperately expensive, and will work with your shifters.
This is as far as I would go with this bike (plus wider and sturdier tyres, and possibly a more upright stem). If that is not enough, I think you would do better to buy a second hand real tourer. As for trailers, I think they are nice, but not cheap. With a light road bike, I would prefer a two wheeled trailer as they do not impose as much stress on the frame as a one wheeler.
Willem

 

[jimboalee]

I disagree. I thought this at the start of my tour and would obsess about what speed I was doing uphill, getting off and walking when it dropped really low. In practise, it's always quicker to cycle. It's hard to push a heavily loaded bike uphill and I still had to stop frequently.

x = x

 

[jimboalee]

To go touring, AND ENJOY IT, it is advisable to have three sprockets that are larger than the smallest chainring.

 

[TheDoctor]

To go touring, AND ENJOY IT, it is advisable to have three sprockets that are larger than the smallest chainring.

Bugger.
I've just realised that I must have hated the weeks tour I did in the Netherlands on a SS.
That's a shame, because I liked it at the time.

 

[asterix]

I disagree. I thought this at the start of my tour and would obsess about what speed I was doing uphill, getting off and walking when it dropped really low. In practise, it's always quicker to cycle. It's hard to push a heavily loaded bike uphill and I still had to stop frequently.

..and even if reduced to walking speed it is easier to cycle than walk.

I've always regretted it more when my low gear is too high than when my high gear is too low!

 

[willem]

I think we need Batmancaver to come back with the facts on his current bike and how well he copes with what he has now.
Willem