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What is the smallest chainring that someone has put in their bike?

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What is the smallest chainring that someone has put in their bike?

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Old 12-08-21, 06:05 PM
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grant40
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What is the smallest chainring that someone has put in their bike?

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Old 12-08-21, 06:09 PM
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1 tooth.
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Old 12-08-21, 06:16 PM
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CliffordK
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I think 34T is the smallest ring that I've put on any of my bikes. Maybe I went down to a 30T with a 7703 crankset on one bike.

Mountain Tamer may get you down to 16T if you want, although I'm not sure they regularly stock smaller than 18T?.

Mountain Tamer Quad Plus
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Old 12-08-21, 07:37 PM
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22t as the small ring on an MTB. A friend had a 20t.

That was all a long time ago.
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Old 12-08-21, 08:02 PM
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CliffordK
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This is a good watch.


The guy in the clip uses an idler to create 7.5 gear inches.

I think that would be equivalent to having a 16T front chainring and 56T rear sprocket.
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Old 12-08-21, 08:26 PM
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Four of my current bikes have 20 tooth inner rings. I have had 18 tooth inners and a 16 tooth inner with a Quad adapter.
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Old 12-08-21, 10:21 PM
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22 on a recumbent trike I rode for a while when I had shoulder surgery. 24 on a MTB. 28 on a road bike triple.
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Old 12-08-21, 11:51 PM
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Old 12-09-21, 01:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Canker


When I was "car free" a couple of years ago, there were times when I wanted lower gearing, especially for the 2 small hills I have to go over to get home.



I had planned on moving to a trike for more stability, but started driving again.

As the rider in the clip above discovered, one can adjust the weight on the front by the attachment point. So, connect above the axle and it pulls the front wheel off the ground. Connect below the axle and it could push the front wheel down, unweighting the rear. Connecting at the axle level is probably best.

My bike has a shimmy problem on hills, perhaps due to attaching the trailer behind the rear wheel.

Ideally design a 5th wheel configuration on a trike to get trailer weight onto the bike, and at least as far forward as the rear axle.

Our local bike coop built what they call the tri-hauler. It is front wheel drive, with the cyclist's weight above the front wheel. They do tow a heavy trailer with it, but get a lot of weight on the actual trike too. Their machine is also electric assisted.

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Old 12-09-21, 01:54 AM
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I've got a 24/38T set of front chainrings. Works a treat
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Old 12-09-21, 11:41 AM
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My 1992 Suntour Microdrive XC Pro build had either a 24T or 26T on the granny chainring.
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Old 12-09-21, 04:20 PM
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My RockHopper had a 42-32-22 175mm triple crank when I got it. I replaced it with just a 42 on an old 170mm SR road crank.

With the chain on the 22 ring it would start to drag on the U-brake when shifted to anything much smaller than the middle rear cog, not that that would serve much real riding purpose.

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Old 12-09-21, 05:10 PM
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My homebrewed "K-Mart triple" uses a 22T freewheel cog as the small ring, which gives a 19 inch low when combined with the 34T on the back. This was concocted in '83. Still in use
.
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Old 12-09-21, 05:57 PM
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22 on my touring bike.
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Old 12-12-21, 01:56 AM
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Originally Posted by hockey
22 on my touring bike.

Same here. Purchased an XD600 26-36-46. Replaced the 26t w/a 22t. Smart move.
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Old 12-12-21, 06:25 AM
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I had a 26T that I took off of a used bike10-15 years ago. I gave it to a guy who wanted something similar for a trike. He still uses it.
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Old 12-12-21, 08:55 PM
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I had a 20t on my fat bike until I went 1x and switched to a 26t. I don't have much top end, but don't need it.
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Old 12-12-21, 09:27 PM
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Originally Posted by cyccommute
Four of my current bikes have 20 tooth inner rings. I have had 18 tooth inners and a 16 tooth inner with a Quad adapter.
Along such line, I currently have 18T on my main full-size bike, for 1.24m of development, and in reserve 16T. However, on the main folder I have 20T that yields even lower 1.06m with all the rest I have there. The simple justification is that I take the folder into more challenging places than around home.
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