New bike or new gear?
#26
deleteme
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+1 for repacking the rear bearings. The Craigslist list 1993 c-dale garage queen I own required the freewheel removal destruction method.
#27
Senior Member
what is your triple? Did you neglect to write down the midring?
I have an old Blackburn front rack, does nashbar still sell the copy or did they go under?
my old tourer with 24 granny and 13-30 7 speed cassette is about 21 gear inches, so not bad, yours is probably 23,24.
main thing will be to see how bike is with a load.
#28
Senior Member
Getting things in order to start touring. Should I consider a new bike or quality gear, racks, bags and other equipment? Changed the drivetrain on my Trek to a mountain bike Shimano LX group. The bike fits and rides very nice. I was considering a LHT, but keep thinking my Trek will do just fine. Opinions?
I started touring on a converted MTB and thought it was fine to start out, and it was. However, I started to notice things on long rides that made me realize it was not a pure touring bike.
After getting my LHT and putting a few thousand kms on it, I tried to ride the MTB again and found it more uncomfortable than I remember.
Last edited by MarcusT; 05-24-20 at 12:21 AM.
#29
Senior Member
I just replaced an old rusty freewheel with a 13-28 7 speed, 15 bucks I think, sunrace probably, so options are there.
what is your triple? Did you neglect to write down the midring?
I have an old Blackburn front rack, does nashbar still sell the copy or did they go under?
my old tourer with 24 granny and 13-30 7 speed cassette is about 21 gear inches, so not bad, yours is probably 23,24.
main thing will be to see how bike is with a load.
what is your triple? Did you neglect to write down the midring?
I have an old Blackburn front rack, does nashbar still sell the copy or did they go under?
my old tourer with 24 granny and 13-30 7 speed cassette is about 21 gear inches, so not bad, yours is probably 23,24.
main thing will be to see how bike is with a load.
should be able to find a lovely 14:34 shimano megarange 7spd freewheel.
a nice replacement if you'll be adding significant weight to your bike.
would need to check derailleur capacity of course.
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#30
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The 24T chainring is good for low gear, the 26 big sprocket is a bit small. Not sure how big you can go with your existing derailleur. For 3 to 5 day trips, if they are not too hilly you could get by with what you have for the first few trips, then you can think about upgrading later.
#31
Senior Member
#32
Senior Member
By the way, 24 granny with a 26t is 25 gear inches
With a 28 it's 23 gear inches
23 might be ok if you load lightly, are strong, and willing to walk sometimes
it'll come down to how much load, and your knees. Try it out and see only answer
With a 28 it's 23 gear inches
23 might be ok if you load lightly, are strong, and willing to walk sometimes
it'll come down to how much load, and your knees. Try it out and see only answer
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#34
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I say go for the LHT disk version. Brakes are excellent and wide tyres can be fitted with fenders if you want to go off pavement. I have fitted a 36T on the rear to give good climbing gears. The rest of the equipment can be upgraded piecemeal as you can afford it.
#35
Senior Member
I actually considered adjusting the high screw to avoid its use, but in the end figured a new chain was worth a new 13-28 At 15 bucks, worth it as the bike is heavy and ugly but now mechanically all sound, so a solid commuter to be left outside and hopefully not stolen.
#36
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Is there another 7-speed megarange freewheel with closer jumps?
Cheers
#37
Senior Member
I saw one of those at a bike shop just this past Friday. The thing wasn't too bad as far as gear jumps went until you got to the last one which was a jump of 10 teeth from the 24 cog to the 34 cog. WOW!
Is there another 7-speed megarange freewheel with closer jumps?
Cheers
Is there another 7-speed megarange freewheel with closer jumps?
Cheers
#38
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#39
Senior Member
I've only replaced freewheels on low end bikes I've fixed up, so the 6 and 7 speed ones made by sunrace have been fine in the 13-28 range, so haven't really looked further.
#40
Senior Member
I tried looking at the cogs and the first six are reasonable, I think 14,16,18,20,22,24 and then the giraffe jump to 34
I actually considered adjusting the high screw to avoid its use, but in the end figured a new chain was worth a new 13-28 At 15 bucks, worth it as the bike is heavy and ugly but now mechanically all sound, so a solid commuter to be left outside and hopefully not stolen.
I actually considered adjusting the high screw to avoid its use, but in the end figured a new chain was worth a new 13-28 At 15 bucks, worth it as the bike is heavy and ugly but now mechanically all sound, so a solid commuter to be left outside and hopefully not stolen.
designed for loaded touring, not necessary for commuting.
the 14-24 cogs are for regular, everyday riding. reasonable terrain.
the big 34 is for climbing that big 'ol mountain. unreasonable terrain.
you can't reason with a mountain.
@Mieleman might have been a 30 or 32, but i've only ever had the 34 version. MEGA-range, get it?
used that on the NZ/OZ tour. 18 months on a 4-bagger with trailer, max weight with water 175 pounds.
new zealand got some honking big hills, man!
Last edited by saddlesores; 05-24-20 at 10:08 PM.
#41
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there's a reason for that big jump.
designed for loaded touring, not necessary for commuting.
the 14-24 cogs are for regular, everyday riding. reasonable terrain.
the big 34 is for climbing that big 'ol mountain. unreasonable terrain.
you can't reason with a mountain.
@Mieleman might have been a 30 or 32, but i've only ever had the 34 version. MEGA-range, get it?
used that on the NZ/OZ tour. 18 months on a 4-bagger with trailer, max weight with water 175 pounds.
new zealand got some honking big hills, man!
designed for loaded touring, not necessary for commuting.
the 14-24 cogs are for regular, everyday riding. reasonable terrain.
the big 34 is for climbing that big 'ol mountain. unreasonable terrain.
you can't reason with a mountain.
@Mieleman might have been a 30 or 32, but i've only ever had the 34 version. MEGA-range, get it?
used that on the NZ/OZ tour. 18 months on a 4-bagger with trailer, max weight with water 175 pounds.
new zealand got some honking big hills, man!
What's odd is that Shimano doesn't use that same MegaRange on their cassettes. Comparing a 7 speed 11-34 cassette to the MegaRange freewheel, the cassette gives a more progressive shift pattern which has holes but it's also easier to ride since hills tend to be more progressive than abrupt. Considering that the freehub wheel is a better design, it would be worth swapping over to a 7 speed cassette on a new wheel rather than suffer the inevitable bent or broken freewheel hub axle.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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#42
Senior Member
I don't agree. There is thinking behind the 10 tooth jump but there isn't any reasoning. Shimano has always been kind of bad at actual gearing. They don't really put much thought into how the gears are actually going to be used. Their thinking seems to be that people want lots of close gears at the high end and the jumps at the low end can be much larger. The MegaRange freewheel just takes this to its illogically conclusion. sloar's shift patter with the MegaRange would look like this. That jump is just jarring. But Shimano does that across many of its freewheels and cassettes. The concentration on the high end is a racer thing. But most people aren't racers. The MegaRange just encourages mashing and struggling up hills until you give up and drop to the super low gear. That's not good.
What's odd is that Shimano doesn't use that same MegaRange on their cassettes. Comparing a 7 speed 11-34 cassette to the MegaRange freewheel, the cassette gives a more progressive shift pattern which has holes but it's also easier to ride since hills tend to be more progressive than abrupt. Considering that the freehub wheel is a better design, it would be worth swapping over to a 7 speed cassette on a new wheel rather than suffer the inevitable bent or broken freewheel hub axle.
What's odd is that Shimano doesn't use that same MegaRange on their cassettes. Comparing a 7 speed 11-34 cassette to the MegaRange freewheel, the cassette gives a more progressive shift pattern which has holes but it's also easier to ride since hills tend to be more progressive than abrupt. Considering that the freehub wheel is a better design, it would be worth swapping over to a 7 speed cassette on a new wheel rather than suffer the inevitable bent or broken freewheel hub axle.
and yes, going to a cassette rear wheel would be good, but heck, it might be a 27in wheel, and he's already mulling about wanting to do a big tour, maybe a new bike, this is an old school sport tourer, which to us who know from experience means a flexyframe loaded up..... and it might have heelstrike issues, and weak brakes....
at a certain point you gotta balance negatives to positives
plus then there's budget, not us who know that.
but yes, all good points on freewheels.
heck, I don't even know if I could replace my 13-30 seven speed cassette if I wanted.
#43
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Thread Starter
The bike has 700c wheels, I’m pretty happy with the bike the way it is. So if it can’t be a proper touring bike I’m not going to sink any more money into it. Ride it for what it is and search for a tourer. Thanks everyone.
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#44
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This bike is as good as many as is. But doing the same thing over would be ridiculous.
NEW expedition bike = Rohloff14. Defailleurs >> in Garbage.
NEW expedition bike = Rohloff14. Defailleurs >> in Garbage.
#45
Senior Member
hard to complain too much at the time. i needed mountain gearing, that freewheel was available, and could be purchased at a moment's notice in auckland. the 14-24 cogs in combination with the three chainrings i selected were fine for most of my riding. the 34 got me up most of the hills. not the smoothest transition, but so what? drop to the 34 and stop pedaling until lost enough speed, then resume. good enough.