Modifying gears for hills: Front or Rear?

raffy wrote:
Greetings,



I have a 1998 Bianchi Veloce with two chain rings and a 9 speed cog

and this is fine for most of my riding here in Indiana.

However, I could use more gears for hillier terrain.

All existing hardware is Campagnolo Veloce.

Should I change my front chain ring to a compact 50/34

or change my rear derailleur to a long cage so I can change my cog to a
larger gear?

(A 26 is the largest my existing derailleur will accommodate.)


Not true. If the chain is the correct length, you can put the 13-28 on
there w/o problem.

Do the cog first as it's the cheapest. If ya still need lower gears,
then the FSA Gossamer compact works well-$175.

Compact chain ring or larger cog?



PS: I am sorry if this has been covered recently.

Ron Ruff wrote:
It would be cheapest and easiest to just get a 13-28 rear cluster (and
hope it works with your current der.), but if you want close gear
ratios *and* lower gears, a triple or compact crank will be necessary.

I hope that the 110 bolt circle becomes the new road standard, with a
good selection of rings available from 34 to 55 teeth, so you can get
just what you want. A 34-48 or 36-50 just makes more sense for average
riders in hilly areas... at least with the commonly available cogsets
that start with 11 or 12 teeth. I rarely even use a 53-13... if I'm
going over 35 mph, then it's downhill and I can just tuck and coast.

TA chainrings are now available in 110mm BCD from 34 to 56, 1 tooth
increments. BUT I really doubt 110mm will become any standard.

Note that although 34-50 is the most common, this is a pretty big jump
in ratios. It should work ok though (adequate ratio overlap), if you
have a wide range gear cluster... like at least a 12-26, otherwise I
think a 34-48 or 36-50 would make more sense.

-Ron

raffy wrote:
Greetings,
I have a 1998 Bianchi Veloce with two chain rings and a 9 speed cog
and this is fine for most of my riding here in Indiana.
However, I could use more gears for hillier terrain.
All existing hardware is Campagnolo Veloce.
Should I change my front chain ring to a compact 50/34
or change my rear derailleur to a long cage so I can change my cog to a
larger gear?
(A 26 is the largest my existing derailleur will accommodate.)
Compact chain ring or larger cog?

I have a 1998 Chorus short cage rear derailleur and it accomodates a 28
tooth rear cog. QBP sells just the 28 tooth cog. On a Veloce 9 speed
13-26 cassette, all loose cogs, you can just replace the 26 cog with
the 28 cog. The short cage rear derailleur handles the 5 tooth jump
from 23 to 28 just fine. Given the high QBP cost $27.95, it might make
sense to you just to buy a 13-28 9 speed Veloce cassette from mail
order places for about $40.

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/k7.html#campagnolo

I recently rode TRIRI in SW Indiana. They had some hills needing
triple gears for all but the strongest and fastest riders. I've heard
the middle and upper parts of Indiana are not as rugged. Nashbar sells
the Veloce long cage rear derailleur for $55, triple front derailleur
for $45, Centaur triple crankset for $90, and AC-H bottom bracket for
$30. $220 is not cheap. But you will have low enough gears to get up
about anything you want from now on. Much, much lower gears than any
110 mm bcd crankset can give you.

wrote:
raffy wrote:
Greetings,
I have a 1998 Bianchi Veloce with two chain rings and a 9 speed cog
and this is fine for most of my riding here in Indiana.
However, I could use more gears for hillier terrain.
All existing hardware is Campagnolo Veloce.
Should I change my front chain ring to a compact 50/34
or change my rear derailleur to a long cage so I can change my cog to a
larger gear?
(A 26 is the largest my existing derailleur will accommodate.)
Compact chain ring or larger cog?

I have a 1998 Chorus short cage rear derailleur and it accomodates a 28
tooth rear cog. QBP sells just the 28 tooth cog. On a Veloce 9 speed
13-26 cassette, all loose cogs, you can just replace the 26 cog with
the 28 cog. The short cage rear derailleur handles the 5 tooth jump
from 23 to 28 just fine. Given the high QBP cost $27.95, it might make
sense to you just to buy a 13-28 9 speed Veloce cassette from mail
order places for about $40.

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/k7.html#campagnolo

I should have mentioned changing the 26 tooth cog to a 28 tooth cog
makes a small noticeable difference. But if your current setup is
"fine for most of my riding here in Indiana" then just going to a 28
cog in back will probably not be low enough. Unless you are currently
running something like a 21 tooth large cog now.

A usually reliable source wrote:

TA chainrings are now available in 110mm BCD from 34 to 56, 1 tooth
increments.

Actually, TA starts at 33 teeth. They're the only manufacturer who
makes this size.

BUT I really doubt 110mm will become any standard.

Is this a joke? 110 is probably the most widely used BCD standard in
history!

It has been around since the early '80s at least, and is still going strong.

It also offers the largest range of chainring sizes of any modern
system, only challenged by the endangered species TA 5 vis pattern.

Sheldon "Thanks, Sugino!" Brown
+--------------------------------------------------+
| Conscience is the inner voice which warns us |
| that someone might be looking. |
| --H.L. Mencken |
+--------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

On Sun, 10 Jul 2005 23:12:11 -0400, Doug Taylor
wrote:

I agree that the 110 bcd should become standard, but think that
cogsets have to designed by the manufacturers to accommodate the
smaller front rings, be they 34-48, 34-50, or 36-50.

In answer to my own question, I found one company which has addressed
the issue:

http://www.interlocracing.com/cassettes_steel.html

e.g.:
ten speed:
11/12/13/15/17/19/21/23/25/28

nine speed:
11/12/14/16/18/20/22/25/28