Hi cliftonites, just a question about gears for the winter. I am thinking about using my Giant as a winter bike. It has a 7 speed cassette and a double chainring with a bottom gear of 39/24. Would this be ok for winter club runs etc or would i be better off getting a compact/triple chainset? Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Thanks, Matt
Winter gearing
Moderator: Moderators
Mine has 39x23 for a bottom gear (but only a 48 big ring).
You'll be fine on 24. After all, some people will be doing club runs on a fixed, which will be an even higher gear!
If you wanted to you could always get a new cassette (much cheaper than trying to convert to a triple). New 7spd cassettes are still out there and if you could find something like a 14-25 or 14-26 that'd be ideal. I only suggest 14up if you can find one to keep the gaps small on a 7 speed. Wether you can still get that in 7 is an open question. Ebay might be the best bet for some new old stock.
You'll be fine on 24. After all, some people will be doing club runs on a fixed, which will be an even higher gear!
If you wanted to you could always get a new cassette (much cheaper than trying to convert to a triple). New 7spd cassettes are still out there and if you could find something like a 14-25 or 14-26 that'd be ideal. I only suggest 14up if you can find one to keep the gaps small on a 7 speed. Wether you can still get that in 7 is an open question. Ebay might be the best bet for some new old stock.
Hi Matt,
Good advise from Arthur, but I wouldn't rush into spending too quickly. Get out and try it first and if possible stick with what you've got. My logic is that you'll be fine on 39x24 on most of the hills that we ride, you'll struggle once a month. So why compromise the 99% of riding (by having large jumps between gears) for the sake of the 1% of riding when things get vertigous?
At the end of the day there's always the old emergency 24" gear (24" = 2 feet, ie get off and walk) for the likes of Blakey Bank, which, by the way, I have no intension of taking us up!
See you out there
Rob
Good advise from Arthur, but I wouldn't rush into spending too quickly. Get out and try it first and if possible stick with what you've got. My logic is that you'll be fine on 39x24 on most of the hills that we ride, you'll struggle once a month. So why compromise the 99% of riding (by having large jumps between gears) for the sake of the 1% of riding when things get vertigous?
At the end of the day there's always the old emergency 24" gear (24" = 2 feet, ie get off and walk) for the likes of Blakey Bank, which, by the way, I have no intension of taking us up!
See you out there
Rob