What Gearing Are You Running?
05-28-18, 02:30 PM
#1
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What Gearing Are You Running?
For those of you that tour in the mountains, what gearing are you running front and back?
Thanks!
Thanks!
05-28-18, 03:45 PM
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46x26x24 (Yes. 46, not 48) with a 12x34 in the back.
05-28-18, 03:54 PM
#3
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decades of use.. 50-40-24, & a 13-34t 6 speed freewheel Phil Freewheel Hub.. (friction bar end shifting]
05-28-18, 06:47 PM
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On my Rohloff bike, 36 front & 16 rear, 16.2 to 16.5 gear inches for lowest gear depending on which tire I used. But this is a heavy duty expedition bike for heavy loads.
My two derailleur touring bikes have the same gearing but different wheel sizes (700c and 26 inch). The front is 46/42/24 (triple with half step + granny) and 11/32 Sram eight speed cassette, depending on which bike and which tires are in use, the lowest gear ranges from 19.2 to 20.7 gear inches.
My two derailleur touring bikes have the same gearing but different wheel sizes (700c and 26 inch). The front is 46/42/24 (triple with half step + granny) and 11/32 Sram eight speed cassette, depending on which bike and which tires are in use, the lowest gear ranges from 19.2 to 20.7 gear inches.
05-28-18, 06:59 PM
#5
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I'm running 50-34 chainrings and 11-34 cassette it isn't the greatest as I am in hilly country and it takes 3 days to get out to the outback where it is flatter and then that gearing is suitable. will be going to 46-30 chainrings when existing wear out.
05-28-18, 07:06 PM
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48-36-26x11-34 or 44-34-24x11-32.
Low gear is two feet.
Low gear is two feet.
05-28-18, 08:13 PM
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46/36/26 and 11/26. Also decades of use mostly in Colorado foothills and mountains. The small chain ring gets used once or twice a year, but it sure is nice to have then.
05-29-18, 12:04 AM
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05-29-18, 02:04 AM
#14
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47T x 11-36T on 406 wheel. It took me to 569 masl earlier today...
05-29-18, 04:42 AM
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05-29-18, 07:33 AM
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Likewise. And I use a 170mm crank, 26" wheels. This gives a low of 15.7 gear inches. This allows me to keep a comfortable cadence (80rpm or-so) under almost any condition on a fully loaded Surly at about 70lbs with food and water.
In 2016, I rode from San Fransisco, over Yosemite, down the Owens Valley, across Death Valley (100+ degrees in Sept), then on to Las Vegas-Lake Mead-UT/Zion NP ending at the North rim of the Grand canyon. Over 80,000 feet of climbing. (average around 4k ft/day for 30 days). I don't remember ever going anaerobic. It was all very comfortable; it really is just sitting, relaxing, and making the pedals go 'round, taking in the scenery.
The challenge with this low gearing is keeping the front wheel straight. I'd settle in around 2.6 to 4.0 mph in the lowest gear. Because there isn't much gyroscopic energy at that speed, the skill becomes seeing how narrow a swath of road I'd need to oscillate back and forth as I climbed up the steepest grades. I got it down to about an 6 inch swath.
In 2016, I rode from San Fransisco, over Yosemite, down the Owens Valley, across Death Valley (100+ degrees in Sept), then on to Las Vegas-Lake Mead-UT/Zion NP ending at the North rim of the Grand canyon. Over 80,000 feet of climbing. (average around 4k ft/day for 30 days). I don't remember ever going anaerobic. It was all very comfortable; it really is just sitting, relaxing, and making the pedals go 'round, taking in the scenery.
The challenge with this low gearing is keeping the front wheel straight. I'd settle in around 2.6 to 4.0 mph in the lowest gear. Because there isn't much gyroscopic energy at that speed, the skill becomes seeing how narrow a swath of road I'd need to oscillate back and forth as I climbed up the steepest grades. I got it down to about an 6 inch swath.
05-29-18, 07:38 AM
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42-34-24 14-32 on my 26" I set up for big hills, although the cassette is getting swapped from a 7 to a 9 soon. Low will remain the same at 19.5GI. Worked for me on all but the steepest of grades I hit in Iceland (14%). I put that more on me than the gearing, though, and me not having enough "wobble room" with vehicular traffic on a narrower mountain road.
48-36-26 12-36 on the bike I am currently setting up, getting me down to 19.9GI because I liked it enough on the other bike and I'm walking any lower than 20-ish GI anyhow.
48-36-26 12-36 on the bike I am currently setting up, getting me down to 19.9GI because I liked it enough on the other bike and I'm walking any lower than 20-ish GI anyhow.
05-29-18, 08:59 AM
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Either 46/34/20 11-34 or 46/34/20 11-36 on 700C wheels. That gives me a range of either 113" gear to 16" gear or a 113" gear to a 15" gear. To be honest the 11-34 works a bit better.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
05-29-18, 09:54 AM
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Small chainring is 26t, and the freewheel is 14-28, an old Tri-Color 7-speed, lol. 😋
It actually climbs pretty well, on the rolling hills, once you get away from the mountains.
I imagine I'll upgrade, when I find the right deal. Life's not easy, when you're a natural cheapskate. 😁
It actually climbs pretty well, on the rolling hills, once you get away from the mountains.
I imagine I'll upgrade, when I find the right deal. Life's not easy, when you're a natural cheapskate. 😁
05-29-18, 10:09 AM
#21
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R'off in a 26" wheel 38, 16, in a 20" wheel 53.16
My folding Brompton 16" .. 15t cog 54t chainring w gear box crank
effectively a 21.6t in low range ...
My folding Brompton 16" .. 15t cog 54t chainring w gear box crank
effectively a 21.6t in low range ...
05-29-18, 11:20 AM
#23
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I use 46/34 x 12/36 on my Cervelo RS. I swapped out the 50t chain ring it came with for a 46t one. This gives me nice ratios on the "big" ring for all day riding in flat and rolling terrain, and 103" is high enough for me. I went to a SRAM mountain bike derailleur that works with the 12/36 and it works fine with the Apex shifters that came on the bike. A low of 25" is fine for anything I've encountered so far.
05-29-18, 02:08 PM
#24
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22, 36, 46 front, 12- 36 rear. Running 29er plus tires. 3x9.
