upgrade of gears

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MattHB

Proud Daddy
New cassette, new mech (possibly) and a new changer on that side (certainly). Easy but expensive.

Would you see much benefit? It likely that you can just change the cassette to alter the gearing and achieve almost the same effect.

What have you currently got?
 
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dynoram

Regular
New cassette, new mech (possibly) and a new changer on that side (certainly). Easy but expensive.

Would you see much benefit? It likely that you can just change the cassette to alter the gearing and achieve almost the same effect.

What have you currently got?
Hi MattHB. I am bidding on E Bay for a Dawes Odyssey, which of course I may be outbidded. It has 21 gears and I just wondered what would be the easiest and least expensive option if I wanted to change. I live in a hilly area and I am getting on in years, so need as many gears as possible
 

tyred

Legendary Member
Location
Ireland
The actual number of gears is rarely that important. If you ride in a hilly area or go touring, the most important thing is to have a gear low enough to climb big hills. Big gaps at the low end of the gear range don't really matter in practice. If you ride somewhere pretty flat and are more interested in performance, you need close ratio gears in and around your preferred flat land ratio. Either of these extremes or something in between is easily acheiveable with a 7 speed freewheel.
 

Rickshaw Phil

Overconfidentii Vulgaris
Moderator
+1 to what tyred said.

Can I add that 7 speed on the rear can come as either a screw on freewheel or cassette version. If it is a cassette type an upgrade should be quite easy but if it is the more common screw on freewheel you will need a different hub (or complete rear wheel) which might not fit into the dropouts on that bike (freehubs have a wider spacing than most threaded type hubs).

Edit: BTW I have done a quick search for Dawes Odyssey to look at specs and cannot find any references but did find a Claud Butler Odyssey. Is it definitely Dawes?
 
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dynoram

Regular
+1 to what tyred said.

Can I add that 7 speed on the rear can come as either a screw on freewheel or cassette version. If it is a cassette type an upgrade should be quite easy but if it is the more common screw on freewheel you will need a different hub (or complete rear wheel) which might not fit into the dropouts on that bike (freehubs have a wider spacing than most threaded type hubs).

Edit: BTW I have done a quick search for Dawes Odyssey to look at specs and cannot find any references but did find a Claud Butler Odyssey. Is it definitely Dawes?
No, sorry. It is of course a Claud Butler Odyssey. Thank you to all who helped me with my question
 

Sittingduck

Legendary Member
Location
Somewhere flat
More hassle than it's worth, TBH
 

Rickshaw Phil

Overconfidentii Vulgaris
Moderator
No, sorry. It is of course a Claud Butler Odyssey. Thank you to all who helped me with my question
The Claud Butler Odyssey does use the screw on freewheel so I'm afraid upgrading to 24 speed is complicated.

You can however stick to 21 speeds but widen the gear range by using one of these: http://www.cyclelife.com/Product.aspx?pc=2&pt=95&pg=4103 (ignore the picture it looks different to this).
Shimano also do one: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shimano/tourney-7-speed-megarange-freewheel-ec025606 which is more expensive and only has a 14 tooth high gear

A new chain will be needed to cope with the larger cog.

I have the Sturmey Archer/Sunrace version on one of my bikes and find it excellent - nicely geared for fast cruising but with a bottom gear that will climb practically any hill I care to try.:thumbsup:
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
The Claud Butler Odyssey does use the screw on freewheel so I'm afraid upgrading to 24 speed is complicated.

You can however stick to 21 speeds but widen the gear range by using one of these: http://www.cyclelife.com/Product.aspx?pc=2&pt=95&pg=4103 (ignore the picture it looks different to this).
Shimano also do one: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shimano/tourney-7-speed-megarange-freewheel-ec025606 which is more expensive and only has a 14 tooth high gear

A new chain will be needed to cope with the larger cog.

I have the Sturmey Archer/Sunrace version on one of my bikes and find it excellent - nicely geared for fast cruising but with a bottom gear that will climb practically any hill I care to try.:thumbsup:
What he said ...:smile:
I have bikes with 7,8 and 10 speed cassettes and the only time i notice the difference is on the 10 speed as i have a wide range cassette on it .If the gear range on the bike is enough to go as fast as you want and gets you up the hills then i would save your money.
 

sidevalve

Über Member
As said above try 'em out. I'm a returnee after a looong gap and it's pretty hilly round here too but I find I can manage with 14 speed quite well.
 
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dynoram

Regular
Thanks for all this advice, guys. I will give the bike a good testing on the local hills and see if any improvements are necessary. Thanks again
 
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