much difference on a hill using 26 or 28 cog?

Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 - 28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x 28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6 gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28 cogs.

Cheers

On Thu, 24 Oct 2019 22:14:37 -0700, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I
have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I
have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 -
28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x
28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6
gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding
uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY
interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28
cogs.

It really is a YMMV as to your style and where you ride. On one hand the
26 teeth are grat when you have a steep hill or are tired at the end of
the day, but sometimes it was jus as easy to get off and walk.
In general I found the 28" more usefull.

if you are worried a bit of rust, go riding more often.
I

On Friday, 25 October 2019 01:23:45 UTC-4, news18 wrote:
On Thu, 24 Oct 2019 22:14:37 -0700, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I
have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I
have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 -
28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x
28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6
gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding
uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY
interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28
cogs.

It really is a YMMV as to your style and where you ride. On one hand the
26 teeth are grat when you have a steep hill or are tired at the end of
the day, but sometimes it was jus as easy to get off and walk.
In general I found the 28" more usefull.

if you are worried a bit of rust, go riding more often.
I

I ride a LOT hence my user name for this newsgroup. LOL VBEG

Cheers

On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 12:14:39 AM UTC-5, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 - 28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x 28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6 gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28 cogs.

Cheers

Is it a VERY NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE? No. Is it noticeable if you ride both bikes back to back and climb the same hill? And really, really need the low gear. Yes. In the vast majority of riding and hill climbing you are NOT at the very limit of your ability and at the absolute last watt of power or tenth of a gear inch limit. So you can switch between 26 or 27 or 28 tooth big cogs and not really have any difference. You may have to stand more and grunt and groan more and press harder and slower with the 26 than the 28 cog. But you'll still get to the top of the hill with either.

I have bikes with 53-42 rings and 13-26 or 13-28 cassettes. I can climb the same hills with either.

On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 8:13:34 AM UTC+2, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, 25 October 2019 01:23:45 UTC-4, news18 wrote:
On Thu, 24 Oct 2019 22:14:37 -0700, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I
have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I
have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 -
28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x
28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6
gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding
uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY
interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28
cogs.

It really is a YMMV as to your style and where you ride. On one hand the
26 teeth are grat when you have a steep hill or are tired at the end of
the day, but sometimes it was jus as easy to get off and walk.
In general I found the 28" more usefull.

if you are worried a bit of rust, go riding more often.
I

I ride a LOT hence my user name for this newsgroup. LOL VBEG

Cheers

If you ride a lot I would expect that you know. It is a more than 7% difference and that is a lot if you climbing at the limit. The latter is the key to your question. Do you climb a lot at the limit?

Lou

On Thu, 24 Oct 2019 22:14:37 -0700 (PDT), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 - 28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x 28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6 gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28 cogs.

Cheers

Yes, I'd say so. Or at least I can certainly tell the difference. And
I do have a bike that has those two gear ratios - 42 - 26 and 42 -
28.

Whether the difference would be critical probably depends largely on
you and where you ride. If you can just barely make the hill on the
28 tooth cog than the 26 tooth is not going to make it :-)

I would comment that if I were doing it I'd put it on and go...
Maybe want to change it later, but maybe not.
--
cheers,

John B.

On 25/10/2019 1:14 a.m., Sir Ridesalot wrote:
Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 - 28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x 28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6 gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28 cogs.

Cheers


I think noticeable depends on a few things. The hill, the conditions,
your ability etc. But yes, if you're on a hill where the 26 is
difficult, the 28 should be noticeably better.

On 10/25/2019 12:14 AM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 - 28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x 28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6 gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28 cogs.

Cheers


It's about 7%. If you're unhappy with the not-so-low gear,
you can always trim the big tab on an HG sprocket and swap
it into your UG stack.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Friday, October 25, 2019 at 1:14:39 AM UTC-4, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
Okay folks here's something bicycling related.

I have a number of bicycles with freehubs that use UNIGLIDE cassettes. I have one I want to change because the cogs are pretty rusty looking. I have a nice newish 13 - 26 cassette to use instead of the original 13 - 28 cassette.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x 28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6 gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding uphill?

NO! I am not changing freehubs or wheels to Hyperglide. I'm ONLY interested in answers discussing the difference between the 26 and 28 cogs.

Cheers

I'd think of it as equivalent to shifting one gear, maybe less. As others said,
it probably matters only if you're at your limit.

- Frank Krygowski

On Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 10:14:39 PM UTC-7, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator and gear inches I see that a 42 x 28 combination is 40.5 gear inches whilst a 42 x 26 combination is 43.6 gear inches. Is that a very noticeable difference if one is riding uphill?

How about a direct experiment? Assuming your cassettes aren't riveted together (or if they are, assuming you're prepared to grind off rivet heads), leave out one of the smaller sprockets from the 13-26, and assemble the rest, adding your 28, then go for a ride that involves the climbing you're concerned about.

Of course you'll notice the missing sprocket on the flats or descending, but that's not the point of this. Once climbing, limit yourself to the 26 at first and see if find yourself wanting the 28. When you do, see if it really makes a difference for you.

There are of course a bunch of variants of sprocket combinations you could try for this that might not leave as obvious a gap as my initial suggestion - e.g. you could substitute the new 26 for the second largest sprocket (24?) of the 13-28, or some other such.

I think results will vary a lot depending on your fitness relative to the local geography. When I lived in Toronto, I had a 28, and later 30 large sprocket on one bike, but seldom missed it when riding another bike with a 24. Now that I'm older, heavier, and in the SF Bay area where all the good rides of interest involve some amount of climbing, the 24 became a barrier which I addressed by going to a triple crank.

-Luns