mike johnston

I'm building my wife a touring bike. I was going to by a frame, but ended up buying a new long haul trucker.( it's being painted as we speak) Because some of the parts I can reuse and some I can get store credit for.My question is with the crankset. She is not a real strong rider yet so I'm thinking about xt mtb crankset with with a 44 touth big ring. Will this be to slow on the top end? I want her to have plenty of low end so she dosn't get discouraged.

Thanks Mike

jdom

I've got a 26,36,48 crank on my bike right now,I rarely ever use the big ring.Soon I will be replaceing it with a 22,32,44 crank.The original crank is fine for unloaded riding but when loaded I'm allways wishing for something smaller.Funny thing is I have never wished for something bigger,if I'm going that fast I'm coasting anyways.Maybe with a 44 tooth big ring I might actually use it.

ploeg

If this is LHT takes 26" wheels, it will have a lower effective gearing to start with (you're not going as far with every pedal stroke).

A 44 ring will get you wherever you need to go. The only concern would be if she needs to keep up with anybody. When I started out, I had to pedal like a madman to keep up with other folks on my mountain bike.

How long of a crank do you think she'll need? Maybe you want to take a look at this:
https://aebike.com/product/shimano-20...7670a-qc30.htm

(The listing says that this is a 44-32-22, but the FC-M771 crank is 48-36-26, and I think that this is really a 48-36-26.)

nun

This sounds great for touring. For all but the strongest of riders gearing is not a limit to speed.

Cyclebum

Ditto on the mtb chainrings, with a 12-34 cassette. She'll likely top out with a stong tailwind, and certainly down a steep grade, but otherwise, on a loaded bike, she'll really appreciate that combination.

I am considering switching to a 9 or 10 speed cassette simply to reduce the jump between gears, especially from 30 to 34. As I use friction shifting, the lbs says should not be any problems.

NoReg

I don't think the shift would be worth it, I am back on 7 speed which I am not trying to sell anyone on, nor am I finding it any kind of disadvantage. Generally on this board we have simultanious threads about touring on single speeds, IGFs and thirty speeds...

To piggy back on your question though, older stuff I was reading said 9 speed chains can't be operated on with a link driver tool, is that true? What are the options?

fietsbob

I found a gear range from 17" on the low side to 95" on the high side to be fine.
I get it out of my Rohloff hub .

Bike: 26"wheels 16/38 chainrings.

The range of ratios matters more than how many it takes to get there.

44:11 is a damn high gear

Doug64

I think the your strategy is a good one. I think your wife will appreciate the low gears more than the high end. I'm not sure what too slow is, but I never missed the high gears on any of the touring bike I've owned-- just the low gears! My wife and I run 44/32/22 cranks with a 11-34 cassette (700c wheels) . This allows a 3.5 mph uphill speed @ 80 rpm and a top end of about 28 mph before spinning out. We just finished a tour with some short stretches of 15% and the 22-34 was just barely adequate (fully loaded). On the same trip our max speed was 37 mph, and I didn't even think about wanting to pedal to build up more speed.

To They might be referring to Shimano chains. The pins need to be replaced when "breaking" the chian. A standard chain tool works fine. I tried reusing the pin on a relatively new road bike-- chain seperated, jammed rear derailleur into rear wheel, and broke off the derailleur hanger. All for the price of a $2.00 replacement pin!

Deanster04

It will be your wife's bike so you should take her out and let her ride a couple of demo bikes and see how she does. The MTB crankset sounds perfect. I normally ride a 52/39 road crank setup but, my touring bike uses a MTB crankset with a 44 and it works well for touring and general riding. Your last sentence says it all...good luck.

Chris_W

Crankset = 42/26, cassette = 12-28 10-speed (700c wheels). This gives me all the range I want, even on long Alpine passes, plus reasonably closely-spaced gears, which is quite important for my style (spinning the pedals fast, 90+rpm, and always staying within a tight cadence range). The 42 and 26 are mounted on a road triple crankset (74/130mm BCD) with the 42 in the middle position, and a chainguard ring in the outer position.

My shifting is done by a friction down-tube shifter for the front derailleur and a 10-speed STI brake/shifter for the rear derailleur. With this setup, I don't shift up front very much at all - only needing to shift down when I hit a decent incline.

mike johnston

thanks everyone
The bike is back from the painter, and looks great. We've decided to swap out the 48t for a 46t ring, and the 26 for a 24t. while not geared quite as low as 44 & 22 it should help, and is about 1/4 the price of a new crankset.( It leaves more money for Ortlieb, Tubus, Brooks, Giles, Berthroud, Paul, etc etc etc)

Thanks Mike

nun

+1 on the 42/26 chain rings. I have the same set up on a 110/74 triple. I use an 11/34 9 speed cassette so I have a bit more range, but my gears are farther apart.

ClemY

Lately I have gotten a couple of 94/58 Coda cranks on ebay for $25. I am old enough and heavy enough that I really appreciate low gears. I use a 12-32 8 spd cluster with 20-32-42 rings. That gives me a 17-95 gear range which is fine for me, particularly when it gets late in the day and I am hot and tired on a long, steep hill.

I have really come to appreciate indexed shifting with 8 spd. clusters.