Gears gears gear..what to choose?

Hello all..

I am new to road cycling. I road a few thousand miles last year. I got
new bike about July last year. I did not know much about road bikes whe
I purchased it and I think the gearing my not be ther best for me

I am sure gearing is like favorite colors. Everybody has one and the
are mostly different

I mostly wanted to talk about compact cranksets and what my riding wil
be like...

I have a 13-29 now. Med cage derail. Standard size Front...

Ok....It is an OK setup....not great but OK...

The top two rear gears hit the top cog of the derail when I am in them
SO...here is my plan and here is the situation...

I am getting a 12-25...I will ride that this year until July. I am goin
to France to ride a tour at Alp De Huez. I have been informed that ther
in no flat option. :

I am a so so rider....not a racer but I like to ride hard and think I a
fast..... :

When I go to France I plan on getting a compact set of cranks. 50-34 an
keeping my 12-25....

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/bike-gears.ht

Here is a HTML file of my gear calc'

I want to know what you guys think.....and I don't want to know abou
what a geek you think I am or that I have too much free time on m
hands.....I have been bitten by the bug of road cycling. I like it. :

Here are a few other pic's of me and my bike.

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/MS150.JP

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/my_ride.jp

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/hooters.jp

PS anyone going to be at the Jalapeno Hundred this weekend
http://www.harlingen.com/jalapeno.ht

Me and my girlfriend will be. Let me know and we can say hi and mayb
ride a few miles....

Bif


-

bstephens wrote:
Hello all...
I am new to road cycling. I road a few thousand miles last year. I got a
new bike about July last year. I did not know much about road bikes when
I purchased it and I think the gearing my not be ther best for me.
I am sure gearing is like favorite colors. Everybody has one and they
are mostly different.
I mostly wanted to talk about compact cranksets and what my riding will
be like....
I have a 13-29 now. Med cage derail. Standard size Front....
Ok....It is an OK setup....not great but OK....
The top two rear gears hit the top cog of the derail when I am in them.
SO...here is my plan and here is the situation....
I am getting a 12-25...I will ride that this year until July. I am going
to France to ride a tour at Alp De Huez. I have been informed that there
in no flat option.
I am a so so rider....not a racer but I like to ride hard and think I am
fast.....
When I go to France I plan on getting a compact set of cranks. 50-34 and
keeping my 12-25.....
http://www.vsstech.net/biff/bike-gears.htm
Here is a HTML file of my gear calc's
I want to know what you guys think.....and I don't want to know about
what a geek you think I am or that I have too much free time on my
hands.....I have been bitten by the bug of road cycling. I like it.
Here are a few other pic's of me and my bike..
http://www.vsstech.net/biff/MS150.JPG
http://www.vsstech.net/biff/my_ride.jpg
http://www.vsstech.net/biff/hooters.jpg
PS anyone going to be at the Jalapeno Hundred this weekend?
http://www.harlingen.com/jalapeno.htm
Me and my girlfriend will be. Let me know and we can say hi and maybe
ride a few miles.....
Biff


Deraileur jockey wheels hitting 29T sprockets is indicative of
deraileur adjustment problem, not a reason to change ratios. The trip t
France might be a reason to change, but with no indication of where yo
are riding now and handling the hills, load you’ll be touring with
there is insufficient info on the ratio changes

For the derailleur, try this

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.htm

See adjustment 4


-

bstephens wrote:
Thank you for the quick reply.....
I am in Oklahoma....will ride over Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Kansas.
Pretty flat but with some rolling hills. The lack of altitude breathing
and mountain ride will effect me I am sure.
Touring is a strong word and out of place really (sorry about that) We
will be leaving from one location every day. We will be on an Alp though
so the riding will be hard I am sure.....
The second part:
I have tried and tried......asked many times and mentioned each time I
was NEAR a bike shop about the problem. My guess is that the bike.....a
TCR Giant and not really made for such a big cassette. It would seem
that the derail hanger would need to be just a bit longer. I have asked
about this and there is not a longer one available.
It has made the noise since the start of the bike and I really (I
promise) have had more than a few bike shops look at it...they all say
they can fix it and it is still there when I get it back...
Hope this helps.......

Biff


The proposed ratio change has essentially the same bottom end as you
current setup. That’s a lot of trouble to only save a few ounces i
sprocket and chainring weight, particularly since the weight saving
would be offset by the lower efficiency of the smaller sprockets

A longer cage might give you more clearance on the big sprockets, bu
since your angle of inclination is wrong, the resulting change woul
leave your derailleur excessively far away from small sprockets fo
smooth shifting. It would be a lot less effort to adjust the inclinatio
adjust screw and have the derailleur work optimally on the large an
small sprockets than replacing the arm and have the derailleur shif
less smoothly

For the France trip- If in doubt, I’d want to have more climbin
ability, so a lower gear ratio is in order. Changing front chainring
often leads to unexpected headaches with the front derailleur-at minimu
you need some adjustment and/or positioning changes, might need a ne
front derailleur

Take a look at this thread: http://www.cyclingforums.com/t88848.htm

Or you might go with an 11/34 or 12/34 Megarange cassette. Better t
have too low a bottom than too high. That would need a rear derailleu
change to a long cage ratio. Mountain bike long cage derailleurs easil
shift on that cassette. A long cage derailleur has more chainwra
takein/takeout than short or medium cage derailleur at the expense o
shifting quality


-

On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 05:34:58 +0000, bstephens wrote:

I am getting a 12-25...I will ride that this year until July. I am going
to France to ride a tour at Alp De Huez. I have been informed that there
in no flat option.

I am a so so rider....not a racer but I like to ride hard and think I am
fast.....

When I go to France I plan on getting a compact set of cranks. 50-34 and
keeping my 12-25.....

Why wait? That 12-25 with a 50/34 will give you much better (IMO) gearing
than the 12-25 with the 52/39. You lose a minimal amount by dropping
from the 52 to a 50, and gain utility going to the 34. Besides, you
should not try a long tour with untested equipment. Get the adjustments
dialed in over the Spring.


PS anyone going to be at the Jalapeno Hundred this weekend?
http://www.harlingen.com/jalapeno.htm

Wish I were. Looks good. Y'all have fun, now.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

As already mentioned, your rear derailleur is not in adjustment if it
is hitting the cogs. Try turning the B screw in more, or all the way
in. I am pretty sure turning the B screw in moves the derailleur
pulleys farther away from the cogs. The B screw is the small screw on
the back of the rear derailleur near the frame's derailleur hanger.

As for your gearing, you currently have 39x29 as your low. 35.64 gear
inches. (Formula is 39 divided by 29 times wheel diameter of 26.5
inches.) Assuming you have the 99.99% standard 39 tooth inner
chainring. You propose changing your gearing to a low of 34x25.
36.04 gear inches. And you are going to go ride up Alpe d'Huez. More
power to you.

Your high gear with 53x13 is 108.04 gear inches. Your proposed new
high gear of 50x12 will be 110.42 gear inches. I have no doubt you
will be faster down the mountains in your higher gear.

I'm curious how you concluded your current Campagnolo gear setup is
not great but OK, while your new gear setup will presumably be great?


stephens wrote in message ...
Hello all...

I am new to road cycling. I road a few thousand miles last year. I got a
new bike about July last year. I did not know much about road bikes when
I purchased it and I think the gearing my not be ther best for me.

I am sure gearing is like favorite colors. Everybody has one and they
are mostly different.

I mostly wanted to talk about compact cranksets and what my riding will
be like....

I have a 13-29 now. Med cage derail. Standard size Front....

Ok....It is an OK setup....not great but OK....


The top two rear gears hit the top cog of the derail when I am in them.
SO...here is my plan and here is the situation....


I am getting a 12-25...I will ride that this year until July. I am going
to France to ride a tour at Alp De Huez. I have been informed that there
in no flat option.

I am a so so rider....not a racer but I like to ride hard and think I am
fast.....

When I go to France I plan on getting a compact set of cranks. 50-34 and
keeping my 12-25.....

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/bike-gears.htm

Here is a HTML file of my gear calc's

I want to know what you guys think.....and I don't want to know about
what a geek you think I am or that I have too much free time on my
hands.....I have been bitten by the bug of road cycling. I like it.


Here are a few other pic's of me and my bike..

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/MS150.JPG

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/my_ride.jpg

http://www.vsstech.net/biff/hooters.jpg


PS anyone going to be at the Jalapeno Hundred this weekend?
http://www.harlingen.com/jalapeno.htm

Me and my girlfriend will be. Let me know and we can say hi and maybe
ride a few miles.....

Biff



--

Or you might go with an 11/34 or 12/34 Megarange cassette. Better to
have too low a bottom than too high. That would need a rear derailleur
change to a long cage ratio. Mountain bike long cage derailleurs easily
shift on that cassette. A long cage derailleur has more chainwrap
takein/takeout than short or medium cage derailleur at the expense of
shifting quality.

He has Campagnolo if his 13-29 cassette statement was correct. With
Campagnolo 13-29 is the Megarange cassette. And 13-29 is only
available in 10 speed, so he cannot use a Shimano 9 speed cassette as
a substitute for a Campagnolo 9 speed wheel, as some folks do. If he
wants lower gears, he has to get lower chainrings on his crank.
Triple could easily do that by just changing the crank, bottom
bracket, and maybe front derailleur. $180 for Centaur 9 speed from
Nashbar which will work just fine on a 10 speed bike because the
crank, bottom bracket, and front deraillleur don't really care if its
9 or 10 speed.

On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 16:03:14 -0800, Russell Seaton wrote:

He has Campagnolo if his 13-29 cassette statement was correct. With
Campagnolo 13-29 is the Megarange cassette. And 13-29 is only
available in 10 speed, so he cannot use a Shimano 9 speed cassette as
a substitute for a Campagnolo 9 speed wheel, as some folks do. If he
wants lower gears, he has to get lower chainrings on his crank.

Well, as was pointed out, he is simultaneously changing the cranks to
50/34 and getting a tighter cassette, a 12-25. He does not accomplish a
whole lot that way, except to get slightly smaller gaps. However, he
could use the 13-29 and get somewhat lower gears.

Triple could easily do that by just changing
the crank, bottom bracket,
and maybe front derailleur.

Rear derailleur, too, since he would need a long cage.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

Russell Seaton wrote:
Or you might go with an 11/34 or 12/34 Megarange cassette. Better to
have too low a bottom than too high. That would need a rear derailleur
change to a long cage ratio. Mountain bike long cage derailleurs
easily shift on that cassette. A long cage derailleur has more
chainwrap takein/takeout than short or medium cage derailleur at the
expense of shifting quality.
He has Campagnolo if his 13-29 cassette statement was correct. With
Campagnolo 13-29 is the Megarange cassette. And 13-29 is only available
in 10 speed, so he cannot use a Shimano 9 speed cassette as a substitute
for a Campagnolo 9 speed wheel, as some folks do. If he wants lower
gears, he has to get lower chainrings on his crank. Triple could easily
do that by just changing the crank, bottom bracket, and maybe front
derailleur. $180 for Centaur 9 speed from Nashbar which will work just
fine on a 10 speed bike because the crank, bottom bracket, and front
deraillleur don't really care if its 9 or 10 speed.



That is correct, it is a Record setup...sorr for the oversite..

B



--

Triple could easily do that by just changing
the crank, bottom bracket,
and maybe front derailleur.

Rear derailleur, too, since he would need a long cage.

He has a Campagnolo medium cage rear derailleur already according to
his statement. A medium cage rear derailleur will work just fine with
a triple and a 29 rear cog. He does not need the slightly longer long
cage rear derailleur. Unless he just wants to spend money for a new
rear derailleur.