milesofsmiles

I have an 18 speed mountain bike which I like. I would like to have a couple more gears for climbing though. Buying a new/different bike is not an option but changing the gears/sprockets is. I haven't used my highest gears ever while riding. I don't do speed, 20 mph is the max so far and call me a wimp but that's about fast enough on a bike for me. I want more power. I was looking at 21 and 24 speed bikes this week and I was wondering about changing my front sprocket(s). I want to put a smaller first gear on the front so my first 6 gears will have more power. Is this a good idea, feasible or a waste of time.

milesofsmiles

Well, I just went and counted the teeth on my smallest front sprocket, 28, and I noticed it's about as small as I could put on there, there wouldn't be any room for the screws that hold it on. So I guess I would have to change the rear cassette. Any suggestions?

escarpment

you want a new cassette with wider or a higher range. telling us what kind of parts you have can get you some answers.

jimc101

Guessing if you have an 18 speed (6x3), it's going to be 6 speed freewheel (cassettes are 7-11 speed, with some very rare exceptions) on the back, if this is the case, to upgrade to 21 or 24 speed would probably cost the same as a complete bike, due to having to replace so much of the drive train / rear wheel,

milesofsmiles

It's an 18 speed (6x3). I don't want to change it to a 21 or 24 speed. I want to keep it an 18 speed but change the sizes (or size) of the gear (or gears) in the cassette. What I was thinking is take one or two smallest rear gears off and add one or two larger ones keeping at an 18 speed with a lot more power in the 1-6 range. I would spend more time in the 7-12 gears for speed. The tech at the bike shop where I went yesterday said I might have to change the length of my chain if I did this to compensate for the new gears.

Daspydyr 

Chain length is a big issue. It might be easiest to just buy a different cassette as mentioned above. Trying to change out a couple of gears can have surprise problems with the rear derailleur.

Like you, I would rather be able to climb than have a big upper end speed on my MTB. What year and make is your bike? WE might be able to come up with something more specific for help.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-Deor...item5d44460700

This 13 - 30 cassette is on Ebay for $6.00 at this time. Seems to be the tallest Cogs I could find for a 6 speed. It is an XT, so compatibility might be an issue.

milesofsmiles

OK, here goes. Your probably going to roll yours but it's a Huffy Rock Creek, 26",18 speed, dual suspension bike. I know, it's a BSO but I love it. I bought it mainly because of the dual suspension. Your probably going to say it's not worth the effort or money but I have limited funds and I'm not going to get another bike for a while. While I'm riding this I am deciding what I do and don't like about it and what I want on one later when I do get a better one. Right now I just want to make this upgrade. The cassette on this bike goes from 28 teeth at gear 1 to 14 at gear 6 (I don't know how to say that in bike lingo). I've heard of gears at 32 and 35 teeth recently.

escarpment

Im thinking about this and I doubt you really need different gearing, If you are in the smallest front ring and the largest back cog I cant imagine you would really need a higher ratio.

u just gota exercise more!!!

if you have your heart set on this you will need a new back freewheel. And probably a new chain. and if you dont have a chainwhip and a lockring tool you will need to pay a shop another 5-10 bucks to switch the freewheel/cassette out.

Daspydyr 

We all dance with the girl we brought. And we all wish we have something Brian Lopes would be proud of. I'm running a 36 right now and its good. I just can't find anything else. If you go too tall, then your rear deraileur might not have room for it.

Some slug suggested to me that I needed to improve the motor when I asked a similar question. Kinda like what Escarpment suggested. There is some real wisdom there. BUT my motto is, why get good when you can buy equipment?

milesofsmiles

Well, I'm spending equal amount of time looking into the gears and the exercising. Stayed tuned to see which one wins out.

DX-MAN

miles, I won't say you won't/can't find a 6-speed freewheel with lower (higher number of teeth) gears; I will say it'd be TOUGH to do. And it is because, yup, you have a big-box bike. Not a lot of selection out there for 'upgrade parts' for those, and in 6-speed? WOW. A better bet would be a different crank. Is yours a 1-piece or a 3-piece?

What I'm thinking is, get a replacement crank that will match from a 24-inch-wheeled bike, should have smaller chainrings.....

milesofsmiles

I was quickly coming to the conclusion that there aren't a lot of options in the 6-speed freewheel range. it has a 3 piece crank by the way. I was just looking at my old 24" MTB before I read this thinking something on the order of what you said, "to bad I could use those front sprockets". That's the only option I think.

milesofsmiles

DX-MAN, now I'm curious, This is sounding possible. I looked at my bike after watching a youtube video about replacing a bike crank and it looks feasible, as long as I can get a smaller chainrigns to fit. I had almost given up on the whole idea. This is what I wanted to do in the first place.

ThermionicScott 

6-speed freewheels with lower range aren't hard to find at all -- it's surprising that someone with access to Internet would be so confident that you'd fail in your quest.

Shimano makes a 14-34 "MegaRange" which may require a different rear derailleur. IRD makes some 6-speeds that go down to a 32: https://www.interlocracing.com/freewheelbreakdown.html

Which crank model do you have (got pics)? At least for old-school mountain bikes, the granny ring could be as small as 24T, which would help you out.

milesofsmiles

ThermionicScott, thanks for the info. Now I can look at this from both ends and see which is the better solution. I will see about getting the crank model number and pics. I bought this bike new almost 3 months ago. I check the front gears, they're 28/38/48. I just saw one on the internet that is 22/32/44. My crank is 8" and the one I just mentioned is 7", would that make much of a difference in the pedaling?

dminor 

Quote of the week.

milesofsmiles

Switch the front and rear gears on this and you have what I want,

milesofsmiles

I found this, how does it work, special derailleur? https://www.amazon.com/Cycling-Bicycl...0064215&sr=1-9

dminor 

Same dreailleur, as long as the cage is long enough. Mega-Ranges shift a little clunkily into that big cog but they do shift. I had an 8-speed Mega-Range years ago that gave me my needed stump-puller gear and worked satisfactorily.

Daspydyr 

And the fork is mounted backwards on this baby! I would hate to see the rider after he winds this up and has the front end fold under him!

Zephyr11

I don't know about you, but I dance with whoever the heck I want to dance with.

Daspydyr 

YEAH, I have heard that Pint Sized Gnar Shredders who are good with scalpels are notorious that way.

Besides, look at that string of Dance Partners you got in the garage! I am so boring.

milesofsmiles

OK, my front gears are 48-38-28, standard set I guess. I found a set 42-32-24 and 42-32-22. Can any one here tell me if there is a chart or what ever that can tell you in power and speed what the difference is in these sizes. The reason I'm asking that on set drops my grannie gear by four teeth, the other by six. Will two teeth make that much of a difference in that size gear? The price difference is minimal from what I can see.

floating dutchy

It's basic maths, the difference between a 28 tooth and a 24 tooth is will give you a gear that is a big the gear that you have times 24/28. or a gear that is 86% of the size.

MisterK

I run a 2x8 with 22-32 up fron and 13-32 in the rear. I'm debating going single ring up front with a 30t ring. Yes they make them. Atleast raceface does

Edit: in addition, 2 teeth is about a 5% difference in resistance.