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14 vs. 16 vs. 18 speed

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14 vs. 16 vs. 18 speed

Old 04-08-21, 08:59 AM
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motopokep
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14 vs. 16 vs. 18 speed

Hello, I'm looking for my first road bike. For same model bike with 14, 16 and 18 speed options, what would be the difference? Would the smallest back gear be the same on all 3, resulting in same top speed? Would the difference be that with less options at middle gears, I would have to work harder uphill?
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Old 04-08-21, 09:13 AM
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It's more proper today to just refer to the speeds of a bike as the number of cogs on the rear.

So you are talking about bikes with 7, 8 and 9 speed rears? Why? Why not get a more current 11 speed bike?

Essentially you need to state how much money you are budgeting for a bike. And will you budget more for a new bike under warranty?


You can go up a hill on a 7 speed bike just as well as a 11 speed bike. Providing they have the same low ratio gears. More speeds give you more options in between the low ratio and high ratio.
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Old 04-08-21, 05:23 PM
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Originally Posted by motopokep
Hello, I'm looking for my first road bike. For same model bike with 14, 16 and 18 speed options, what would be the difference? Would the smallest back gear be the same on all 3, resulting in same top speed? Would the difference be that with less options at middle gears, I would have to work harder uphill?
The number of speeds doesn't give enough information. You need to look at the specifications, which should include the range of the cassette in back, that is, the number of teeth on the largest and smallest cogs in the back. But also, the number of teeth on the chainrings in front. For example, three of my bikes have 20 speeds (2x10). One has a 12-27 tooth cassette in back, and the other has 12-30. You might think that means the latter one has a lower low gear. You'd be wrong because the bike with the 12-27 has a 34 tooth small ring up front, while the one with 12-30 has a 39 tooth small ring.
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Old 04-08-21, 06:40 PM
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OP has been riding a hybrid for 15 years and doesn't understand gears, oh boy. Look, not my intention to shame someone for asking questions in order to learn, but there's a lot of concerning flags with the type of questions you're asking that you should not be picking up a first road bike by looking for online bargains from no-name brands.
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Old 04-08-21, 07:43 PM
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Find the bike you want and if it doesn't have a low enough gear, you can change it. The dealer might help with that. Most likely any new bike you buy will have enough gear range for most riding, unless you have special needs.
The number of gears is not necessarily a concern as long as you have a high enough and low enough gear for your needs.

Bikes with the same number of gears might have very different ratios.
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Old 04-09-21, 09:21 AM
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Originally Posted by surak
OP has been riding a hybrid for 15 years and doesn't understand gears, oh boy. Look, not my intention to shame someone for asking questions in order to learn, but there's a lot of concerning flags with the type of questions you're asking that you should not be picking up a first road bike by looking for online bargains from no-name brands.
There was a time many moons ago when I was into tuning bikes. I watched a few videos, then fine-tuned 4 bikes in my family, 3 of them being 21-speed hybrids, and then a neighbor saw me doing it and asked me to tune his bike. I can't identify sprocket sizes by numbers, but I understand how gears work. The reason for my question here was that I'm not an experienced bike buyer, having bought only 3 multi-speed bikes at big chain stores, all with 21 speeds. Now, I saw a same model bike online with 14, 16, and 18 speeds, and simply wondered if that means that the difference between a 14 and an 18 is that there are fewer middle gears on the back cassette, or the difference is that the 18 speed has 2 more smaller gears, resulting in higher top speed. Before coming here, I reached out to the seller and even manufacturer, but neither has responded so far. My guess would be that there are less middle gears, giving less options for riding uphill, but I could be wrong, as I never bought a road bike. So in reality, my question was not about how gears affect speed, but which gears manufacturers typically skip on in same model bike with less speeds. I tried going to a local reputable bike store to explore bikes, but they're not very friendly, they have this "block post" at the door, a retractable line that doesn't let you cross, a temperature check, a name sign in sheet, an empty store, and staff that wants to get you out of there as quickly as possible, cuz the store is virtually empty and you're not gonna buy anything, they are just there to service customer's bikes nowadays. I spend under a minute there, it was clear they wanted me to leave as they had no inventory. That's why I came on here.
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Old 04-09-21, 09:40 AM
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Originally Posted by motopokep
Now, I saw a same model bike online with 14, 16, and 18 speeds, and simply wondered if that means that the difference between a 14 and an 18 is that there are fewer middle gears on the back cassette, or the difference is that the 18 speed has 2 more smaller gears, resulting in higher top speed.
Can you get the specs on each drivetrain from the bike manufacturer's website? If nothing else, you might be able to discover where the lesser bike might have skipped a gear or a couple of gears vs. the 9-speed.

I think back to my old 70s-era 10-speed bike (2x5) and it really didn't do much very well; there was no granny gear for hill climbing, and even the smallest (fastest) gear wasn't really very fast (which found me riding in "10" most of the time). Nowadays I ride a 2x9 bike and it has plenty of hill climbing gears and the fastest gear is more than fast enough; hard to pedal actually unless I am really flying. But even this bike is considered obsolete compared to the 2x11s out there now.
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Old 04-09-21, 09:51 AM
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Originally Posted by motopokep
So in reality, my question was not about how gears affect speed, but which gears manufacturers typically skip on in same model bike with less speeds. I tried going to a local reputable bike store to explore bikes, but they're not very friendly, they have this "block post" at the door, a retractable line that doesn't let you cross, a temperature check, a name sign in sheet, an empty store, and staff that wants to get you out of there as quickly as possible, cuz the store is virtually empty and you're not gonna buy anything, they are just there to service customer's bikes nowadays. I spend under a minute there, it was clear they wanted me to leave as they had no inventory. That's why I came on here.
Most all new bike specifications for the decent brands of bikes will have the tooth count of the front and rear cogs listed. Though sometime they only list the min and max. If that's the case you can look at the component manufacturer's site and find the tooth count for the in-between cogs.

Not sure what you want us to tell you about all those missing in-between cogs. For me, the more selection of in-between gears I have will allow me to find a ratio that gives me the most comfortable cadence at a sustainable power when having to pace at the speed of others. When I don't ride with others, what ever gears I have I can find a comfortable cadence for a sustainable power output.
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Old 04-09-21, 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by motopokep
Hello, I'm looking for my first road bike. For same model bike with 14, 16 and 18 speed options, what would be the difference? Would the smallest back gear be the same on all 3, resulting in same top speed? Would the difference be that with less options at middle gears, I would have to work harder uphill?
Most likely 2x7, 2x8, 2x9

It's possible one might have better climbing gear than others. Assuming they all have a 34T small chainring, one might have a 30t big cog, while the others might have 26t. The one with the 11-30t cassette in back will have an easier climbing gear.

If all three are 50/34 x 11-28 then the only difference will be how many gear options between top and bottom.
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