veganbikes

I don't think giving up is a sensible solution. I am unsure why the local shop struggled and then went into debt as a result of your bike if the story is true but a true custom built bike wouldn't have that issue. A frame builder would be able to build a frame to your specs and body measurements, then install components that would work without too much issue if they are knowledgeable. I would reach out to Zinn Cycles, Bilenky Cycle Works and Rodriguez (R+E) cycles and see what they say. It wouldn't be hard to have a good conversation and they can build you your dream bike.

I know in the many bikes we have built up for customers they have all been pretty happy with the results and we haven't gone into debt as a result of those builds. However in a couple cases we did have to swap out some components mid build because of the eccentricities of the frame chosen but if it is custom made those eccentricities go along with the components you want or the components the builder has chosen to meet your requests.

All of my current bikes save for one have been frame up builds just like your shop has done but everything is working fine together and I had one minor issue but that was on a frame I had previously but got updated over the years so my favorite brake housing was not compatible so I switched and no problem. They removed the braze ons they had in favor of completely removeable guides because it was a fixed gear bike and on a track you don't need brakes and on the streets people think that skidding and locking up their ankles and knees and slowing down is the same as actual braking.

LarrySellerz

The standard “cheap hybrid” like a Giant Escape 3 (or the other identical bikes) comes with a 28-38-48 tripple crank with a 14-34 7 speed cassette. That low end might be good enough for you, less than 1 to 1. Surprised nobody said this yet.

PDKL45

The Marin Larkspur (I posted a link to Marin above) is basically what you're looking for. They have a few others with step-through frames and low enough gearing that would suit you as well.

But the Larkspur looks to be basically what you're after. If you want more backsweep on it, throw on some Moon Cruiser 31.8 bars. https://www.ergotec.de/en/products/l...ugel-31-8.html

Need a lower gear? Just switch out the chainring.

https://www.marinbikes.com/bikes/2023-larkspur-2

Lombard

The OP already said they need 17 gear inches. A 28/34 combo fails to achieve that.

shelbyfv

Oooops.

Herzlos

A ladies mountain/hybrid might give you a low enough standover. Like the Liv Alight: https://www.liv-cycling.com/gb/alight-3

It's got 700x38c wheels, 28/38/48 cranks and a 14-34 7 speed cassette at the back, with a wider upright seat. I'm sure you could drop it to 700x32c if you wanted, but personally I'd leave the 38mm on unless they were causing problems. You may need to change the handlebar for sweep/rise too but I think you'd have to do that on anything that wasn't a Dutch style shopper.

Admittedly, the 28/34 gives you 22" gear inch, so you'd need to swap the cranks out for something with a 22 lowest cog. for 17.5".

17" gearing is seriously low though. My mountain bike with 32/46 only goes as low as 18.9" and that barely seems to move. Would electric assist be a better option in the longer term, if you can otherwise find a bike that doesn't have low enough gearing.

Calsun

With older bikes the rear derailleurs would max out at 32 teeth for the rear cog and maybe a 22t front chainring made some sense. Now there are rear derailleurs with long cages that easily handle 11-44t cassettes and provide the same gear range without the need for a 22t front chainring. Suggest doing some test rides on city bikes at local shops.

Check out the REI "urban" bikes like this one with 48/34/28 chainrings and a 11-32 rear cassette and 700x40 tires.
https://www.rei.com/product/121700/c...p-through-bike

Eric F 

With 700 x 32 tires, you would need...

32/52 = 16.7 gear-inches
30/50 = 16.3 gear-inches
28/46 = 16.6 gear-inches
26/42 = 16.8 gear-inches
24/40 = 16.3 gear-inches
22/36 = 16.6 gear-inches

I have not yet seen a smaller chainring than 22T, or cog larger than 52T, so these are pretty much all your options to get to <17 gear-inches.

I have a 32/52 on my MTB. It's a seriously low (seriously slow) gear.

t2p

on my hybrid with the triple (w / 22t small ring) I went with 11-32 cassette - provides just under 19 gear inches (with 700x35 tires)

11-34 cassette would provide just under 18 gear inches - just an inch difference when compared to 11-32 - so I went with 11-32

for reference

both are very similar to our vintage 26” MTB’s with compact crank w / 22t small ring and 11-28 or 11-30 cassette ... (sufficient)

both gravel bikes - 650b 1x with 40t and 10-42 and 700c 2x 48-31 with 11-34 provide around 25 gear inches

GetUpnGo

Yesterday I tested a Giant Live Flourish 4. https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/flourish-4

It was a size small, supposedly for 5'1" to 5'8". I'm 5.5". I was amazed at the added comfort of a smaller bike compared to my current bike. Most importantly, I felt no neck strain. I loved the step-through frame! I really liked the easy shifting and good brakes. However, I need about one more inch of seat height than this bike provides. With the seat at its maximum height, my knee was fully extended with my foot flat on the pedal, but I've never liked that position. The size medium was a bit too big for me, similar to my current bike.

This bike has a lowest gear of 42 x 34 = 33" and a highest gear of 42 x 14 = 81". 33" is not sufficient for where I live. After rereading the above posts, I conclude that I don't need 3 chainrings as I never use the largest one now. Two would be sufficient. To get 17" with 34T in the rear I would need 22T in the front. Would it be possible to install a second chainring on this bike? What changes would that entail?

The flat handlebar is also a problem. The reach on the small bike is good, but I don't like the hand position of a flat bar. I doubt that a bike this small would allow me to use an upright swept back bar.

Also, apparently the Tourney is Shimano's entry-level derailleur. Not sure I can be picky about that, given my needs (and what I can afford). In any case, I'm encouraged by my short test ride yesterday and motivated to pursue a step-through frame.

sean.hwy

go back to post #3




those are bikes are perfect for you. You should be able to climb anything with a 51 rear cassette. Might want to drop the front chainring to 38 or 36T

• Cassette SunRace 11-Speed, 11-51T

  
  
  
  
  

shelbyfv

^^^Again, OP seems pretty sure he needs 17 inches.

veganbikes

No Tourney is Shimano's line of bottom end parts. Entry level would be more Tiagra/105 on the road side and Alivio/Deore on the mountain side. I don't like to use entry level for the bottom end of parts as I don't think that is a good entry as it is not quality reliable parts that will last a decent amount of time, hold their tune reasonably well and are slightly modern enough to be relevant. When looking for entry level I want something that will last a while and I can enjoy with fewer problems. I think when a lot of people buy the bottom of the line bike they can easily get frustrated and give up which I have seen or they end up spending more money down the line that didn't need to be spent if they had put some of it at the initial purchase.

If you do like step through bikes, the Specialized Roll 3.0 Low Entry would be a good one to check out, very comfortable and easy to ride and nice and upright and better quality then the Liv which unfortunately looks like it only comes in the bottom end version these days.

sean.hwy

Just swap out the front chainring.

32T front 51T back = 17 inches

32T front and 11T back still good for 18 to 20 mph which plenty fast enough for that kind of non aero bike with lots stuff hanging on it.

https://bikeschool.com/resources/gear-calculator
https://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence

Herzlos

That's hardly fair, there are any awful lot of Tourney bikes out there working just fine. You seem to be implying that they are substandard but they are fine for most people in most cases.

Herzlos

You'd need to add a front derailleur with shifter, and change the crankset out. Depending on the size of the seat tube you may have difficulty mounting one.

You could of course just change the 14-34 to something like an 11-36, and the 42t chainring for a 36t. Both would be pretty simple replacements.

Have you looked at the Flourish Disc 3 (https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/flourish-disc-3-2023) which has a 38:42 lowest gear, or the Flourish FS (https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/flourish-fs-disc-2023) which has a 42:46 lowest gear?

Another option is to go for smaller wheels - 650b will give you a little bit lower gearing without having much impact, and Liv has an Alight with 24" wheels.

Trakhak

True. When I was doing single-track riding from the late '80s to the mid-'90s with a Cannondale Beast of the East (26" front wheel, 24" rear), I broke about a dozen rear derailleurs because of the low ground clearance. I bought cheaper and cheaper derailleurs and finally settled on a Tourney, which lasted, if anything, longer than the more expensive ones. Cured me of at least some of my bike-shop-employee snobbery about entry-level equipment.

veganbikes

They are at the bottom of the line for Shimano's named groupsets that is just a factual statement. I would say they are parts for a bike and for very infrequent minimal riding they are something that could come on that bike and have some functionality. I would not say they are good by any stretch nor are they something I would recommend to someone. They do exist and because companies are willing to put it on their products and sell those products and people are willing to buy it, it is true that there are a lot of them out there. Sheer volume is not always a good indicator of something being good or quality.

indyfabz

So did you scrap the whole thing? I had new wheels built for my first touring bike when the set it came with proved inadequate for what I was carrying.

Herzlos

You're trying to distinguish "bottom end" from "entry level" implying that the bottom end is something that should be ignored for everyone, and claiming they are terrible. As I said, there are probably more Tourney groupsets on bikes than the rest of the Shimano lineup combined, doing more miles, and I'm sure you'll have been passed by riders with Tourney groupsets (I certainly have). The entry level bikes from most of the reputable bike manufacturers use Tourney, so unless you're trying to claim that Giant make bikes that aren't meant for use, they are entry level.

I'm not saying they are great and you should run out and buy one, but I wouldn't avoid them either, especially for the style and budget of bike the OP is looking for.
I don't actually have any Tourney bikes, but that's because I wanted other stuff and not because I dislike Tourney.

veganbikes

Yes I am I don't like just saying entry level because it is the cheapest bike in the line up. Not saying it needs to be ignored I gave a good purpose to them for occasional riders looking for the cheapest they can get.

Volume ≠ Quality, also because a larger bike manufacturer uses it also does not make it quality. It is designed to hit a price point not necessarily be reliable or anything like that but be suitable to hit a price point.

Herzlos

What would that make something below entry level, then?

Indeed, but high volume doesn't mean low quality either, it just means you're more likely to find complaints or snobbery.
Plucking numbers out of the air for an example:
If product A has a 1% failure rate over 1 year, but sells 1,000,000 units, there's 10,000 reported failures.
If product B has a 2% failure rate over 1 year, but sells 10,000 units, then there's only 2,000 reported failures.

Which is the most reliable?

Again, I'm not saying Tourney is the pinnacle of bike technology, but it's well proven tech that's been around for years and works fine. Tourney bikes likely outsell anything else by an order of magnitude, so you're going to get an order of magnitude more complaints about them, especially when it's not really aimed at the enthusiasts demographic in that you can assume someone buying a 105 groupset is going to be more interested in maintaining the bike than someone buying a Tourney.

Maelochs

Seems to me that with a little care for compatibility, and given wolftooth extenders and long-cage derailleurs, it shouldn't be a problem to put some really low gears on Any frame. As far as buying one off the shelf .... well, if you want something very specific, you probably have to pay more or work more. I don't see why you would need a custom frame, though ..... If ti were me i would find a frame which fits my needs and then start researching drive train options. A mountain-bike triple with a 22 low shouldn't be hard to find, and with 46- and 52-tooth cassettes out there ...... you could gear a bike so low you would need to do a trackstand to ride it in the lowest ratio .... too slow to ride, almost. 22x52? if you could balance you could climb trees.