Skip the front derailer? - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

06-30-2004, 05:55 AM

I live in a flat area (Chicago) and use my bike for
exercise rides of 15-40 miles. I have a hybrid type
bike and I have sort of run out of gears. The gear I
use most lets me go 18.5 mph at my preferred cadence.
I'd like to push it up a bit, but the next gear has a big
jump of 2.5 mph to 21mph and I just can't push that
one. So I am thinking of changing chainring and/or
cassette to get closer spacing.

I really don't need more than 7 or 8 gears, if they are
the right gears (in fact I only use 3 at the moment, not
counting the one I can't push). Is it possible to buy a
single chain ring and position it so that there is an
acceptable chain angle to all of the gears in the cassette?
Or is this too "non-standard" to be an option?

Thanks,
Jeff