Update on my gearing issue - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

12-27-2004, 10:14 AM

So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?

Preston

12-27-2004, 11:41 AM

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
<me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:

>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>
>Preston

11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
that.

The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
changes in terrain

12-27-2004, 11:41 AM

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
<me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:

>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>
>Preston

11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
that.

The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
changes in terrain

12-27-2004, 11:41 AM

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
<me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:

>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>
>Preston

11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
that.

The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
changes in terrain

12-27-2004, 11:41 AM

On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
<me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:

>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>
>Preston

11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
that.

The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
changes in terrain

12-27-2004, 12:19 PM

On 2004-12-27, Dan Daniel <ddandan.remove@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
><me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:
>
>>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>>
>>Preston
>
> 11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
> will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
> and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
> pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
> that.
>
> The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
> don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
> come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
> changes in terrain

I agree. That's a large part why I wasn't intimidated by the shift down to
9 gears. But I did quickly realize I needed those hill-climbing gears
where I live. And once I started learning (as of last night) the ins and
outs of gear ratios and the math behind it, it became clear that my 30 in
the front and 28 in the back (on my road bike) was FAR different than the
42 in the front and 26 in the back that came stock. And yeah, it will be
fun to actually use my legs, like you said, rather than have a gear for
every inch of terrain change.

This bike shop is very friendly and very easy to work with. What a breath
of fresh air.

Oh, and for the record, the dynamo rocks. Quite a bit of light for
seemingly know resistance. I'm quite impressed. I mean, I climbed the
monster hill with THAT gearing, with the dynamo. So the dynamo can't be
having anything but a very minimal impact.

Preston

12-27-2004, 12:19 PM

On 2004-12-27, Dan Daniel <ddandan.remove@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
><me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:
>
>>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>>
>>Preston
>
> 11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
> will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
> and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
> pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
> that.
>
> The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
> don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
> come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
> changes in terrain

I agree. That's a large part why I wasn't intimidated by the shift down to
9 gears. But I did quickly realize I needed those hill-climbing gears
where I live. And once I started learning (as of last night) the ins and
outs of gear ratios and the math behind it, it became clear that my 30 in
the front and 28 in the back (on my road bike) was FAR different than the
42 in the front and 26 in the back that came stock. And yeah, it will be
fun to actually use my legs, like you said, rather than have a gear for
every inch of terrain change.

This bike shop is very friendly and very easy to work with. What a breath
of fresh air.

Oh, and for the record, the dynamo rocks. Quite a bit of light for
seemingly know resistance. I'm quite impressed. I mean, I climbed the
monster hill with THAT gearing, with the dynamo. So the dynamo can't be
having anything but a very minimal impact.

Preston

12-27-2004, 12:19 PM

On 2004-12-27, Dan Daniel <ddandan.remove@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
><me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:
>
>>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>>
>>Preston
>
> 11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
> will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
> and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
> pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
> that.
>
> The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
> don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
> come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
> changes in terrain

I agree. That's a large part why I wasn't intimidated by the shift down to
9 gears. But I did quickly realize I needed those hill-climbing gears
where I live. And once I started learning (as of last night) the ins and
outs of gear ratios and the math behind it, it became clear that my 30 in
the front and 28 in the back (on my road bike) was FAR different than the
42 in the front and 26 in the back that came stock. And yeah, it will be
fun to actually use my legs, like you said, rather than have a gear for
every inch of terrain change.

This bike shop is very friendly and very easy to work with. What a breath
of fresh air.

Oh, and for the record, the dynamo rocks. Quite a bit of light for
seemingly know resistance. I'm quite impressed. I mean, I climbed the
monster hill with THAT gearing, with the dynamo. So the dynamo can't be
having anything but a very minimal impact.

Preston

12-27-2004, 12:19 PM

On 2004-12-27, Dan Daniel <ddandan.remove@pacbell.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 27 Dec 2004 12:14:54 -0600, Preston Crawford
><me@prestoncrawford.com> wrote:
>
>>So I talked to the shop today. They were on top of things. As a few of you
>>on rec.bicycles.misc or rec.bicycles.tech (I didn't cross-post, but posted
>>in both forums) predicted. They suggested I widen the rear cassette. So I
>>think they're putting a mountain bike derailleur and something like a
>>36/11 on the back. Then they're going to put a 39 on the front. I think
>>that should do the trick. Right now I'm running (confirmed this morning
>>now that I have a bit of an education in gearing, etc.) a 30 on the front
>>of my road bike with a 28 on the back. What do you guys think?
>>
>>Preston
>
> 11-34 and 39 up front should be nice. 96 to 31 gear inch range. Hills
> will be a slight bit harder but darn close to the road bike gearing,
> and you shouldn't be spinning out on downhills. You might feel a bit
> pushed on some hills at first, but standing to pedal will take care of
> that.
>
> The spacing between gears might seem strange at first. Accept that you
> don't need to be spinning a constant cadence all the time and you'll
> come to enjoy using your legs rather than the shift lever to deal with
> changes in terrain

I agree. That's a large part why I wasn't intimidated by the shift down to
9 gears. But I did quickly realize I needed those hill-climbing gears
where I live. And once I started learning (as of last night) the ins and
outs of gear ratios and the math behind it, it became clear that my 30 in
the front and 28 in the back (on my road bike) was FAR different than the
42 in the front and 26 in the back that came stock. And yeah, it will be
fun to actually use my legs, like you said, rather than have a gear for
every inch of terrain change.

This bike shop is very friendly and very easy to work with. What a breath
of fresh air.

Oh, and for the record, the dynamo rocks. Quite a bit of light for
seemingly know resistance. I'm quite impressed. I mean, I climbed the
monster hill with THAT gearing, with the dynamo. So the dynamo can't be
having anything but a very minimal impact.

Preston

12-27-2004, 12:55 PM

Hey preston ol buddy! Your gears are obviously too wide. Try a tea
cozy. That might be more festive. You never know, even with baggage!
Something could fall off