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MTB speed increase ideas
Hi all,
A friend of mine just got his first MTB. It's an entry-level beast, and used for commuting right now. My friend wants to extract more speed out of the thing. I checked it out, and his gearing is one culprit....a 42T large ring and a 12T sprocket is his fastest gear combination. He took it back for a tune-up (general sporting goods store), and they indicated something about using a 9T or 10T sprocket!?! Does such a thing even exist? I told my friend to forget about it, but it piqued my curiosity.... In the meantime, I've got a cassette with an 11T sprocket to 'upgrade' his bike, and I'll suggest a chainring swap from a 42T to a 44T. This will buy him a little more speed. Are there any other obvious speed improvements to be made? Slicks will reduce rolling resistance, but I'm reluctant to suggest them because the bike will still be used for some light-duty off-road use. Since the speed problem is due to him 'spinning out', slicks won't appreciably change his top speed anyway. Can anyone recommend a suitable semi-slick that can be used for fire/gravel roads and/or light trail use? Cheers, Dave |
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#2
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MTB speed increase ideas
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#3
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MTB speed increase ideas
wrote in message ups.com... Hi all, A friend of mine just got his first MTB. It's an entry-level beast, and used for commuting right now. My friend wants to extract more speed out of the thing. I checked it out, and his gearing is one culprit....a 42T large ring and a 12T sprocket is his fastest gear combination. He took it back for a tune-up (general sporting goods store), and they indicated something about using a 9T or 10T sprocket!?! Does such a thing even exist? I told my friend to forget about it, but it piqued my curiosity.... In the meantime, I've got a cassette with an 11T sprocket to 'upgrade' his bike, and I'll suggest a chainring swap from a 42T to a 44T. This will buy him a little more speed. Are there any other obvious speed improvements to be made? Slicks will reduce rolling resistance, but I'm reluctant to suggest them because the bike will still be used for some light-duty off-road use. Since the speed problem is due to him 'spinning out', slicks won't appreciably change his top speed anyway. Can anyone recommend a suitable semi-slick that can be used for fire/gravel roads and/or light trail use? Cheers, Dave Perhaps cycle continuously uphill? I jest of course however i was wondering what the primary function of his riding is? if its a fitness thing and weight of the bike isn't an issue then perhaps somehow (i'll muse on exactly how) add weight to the bike, in a balanced matter of course. This would both stop him 'spinning out' as quickly and if he's able to push the extra weight at a high ratio his top speed would be significantly increased. this might cause braking/breaking issues mind. |
#4
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MTB speed increase ideas
"bill" wrote: Any sprocket less that 13 teeth is stupid. It wears too fast, and the percentage change in gearing from one to the next is too great for fine-tuning your cadence. The only reason it is acceptable on a road bike is that you are working with a 53 or 54 tooth chainring and so the relative change in ratios are still almost acceptable. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sorry, but the relative change in ratios is not affected by the size of the chainrings. The change from 12 T to 10 T would be 17%. |
#5
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MTB speed increase ideas
bill wrote:
... "Spinning out" is not a problem for someone who can spin. I can spin 150 RPM at a road speed of 25 MPH and keep at it for 20 minutes. Clark Kent Baka! LOL Bill, I'd pay money to see you spin 150 RPM for /half/ a minute! (This on the purple girl's Huffy or another marvel of rolling efficiency?) It takes practice. Knobbies make a lot of wind resistance as well as tread squirm. If you want to go fast, you have to reduce drag. Jsut remember that slicks lower you gear ratios noticably and you need bigger chainrings to compensate. Someone else can take that one. I ride a road bike with road racing tubulars on gravel and dirt roads all the time. Ah, yes, the off-road centuries in blue jeans. Maybe Neil Diamond can do a song about you! "Bull**** on the rocks...ain't no surprise. Just pour me a drink, and I'll tell you some lies" Might be a hit! LOL |
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#7
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MTB speed increase ideas
In article . com,
" writes: Are there any other obvious speed improvements to be made? Slicks will reduce rolling resistance, but I'm reluctant to suggest them because the bike will still be used for some light-duty off-road use. Since the speed problem is due to him 'spinning out', slicks won't appreciably change his top speed anyway. Can anyone recommend a suitable semi-slick that can be used for fire/gravel roads and/or light trail use? Some folks like Continental Town & Country tires for such purposes. These have an inverse tread. I've read some complaints of inverse tread tires being lousy mudders, though. I expect they'd be no worse than slicks on slippery mud (or wet grass for that matter.) They should be okay on dry hardpack and finer gravel than egg gravel. There are other brands of inverse tread MTB tires as well. IIRC, Kenda and Cheng Shin make some. cheers, Tom -- -- Nothing is safe from me. Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca |
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#9
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MTB speed increase ideas
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:47:59 GMT, "Bill Sornson"
wrote: bill wrote: ... "Spinning out" is not a problem for someone who can spin. I can spin 150 RPM at a road speed of 25 MPH and keep at it for 20 minutes. Clark Kent Baka! LOL Bill, I'd pay money to see you spin 150 RPM for /half/ a minute! (This on the purple girl's Huffy or another marvel of rolling efficiency?) It takes practice. Knobbies make a lot of wind resistance as well as tread squirm. If you want to go fast, you have to reduce drag. Jsut remember that slicks lower you gear ratios noticably and you need bigger chainrings to compensate. Someone else can take that one. I ride a road bike with road racing tubulars on gravel and dirt roads all the time. Ah, yes, the off-road centuries in blue jeans. Maybe Neil Diamond can do a song about you! "Bull**** on the rocks...ain't no surprise. Just pour me a drink, and I'll tell you some lies" Might be a hit! LOL Sorni, I think this is a different "Bill." |
#10
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MTB speed increase ideas
R Brickston wrote:
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:47:59 GMT, "Bill Sornson" wrote: bill wrote: ... "Spinning out" is not a problem for someone who can spin. I can spin 150 RPM at a road speed of 25 MPH and keep at it for 20 minutes. Clark Kent Baka! LOL Bill, I'd pay money to see you spin 150 RPM for /half/ a minute! (This on the purple girl's Huffy or another marvel of rolling efficiency?) It takes practice. Knobbies make a lot of wind resistance as well as tread squirm. If you want to go fast, you have to reduce drag. Jsut remember that slicks lower you gear ratios noticably and you need bigger chainrings to compensate. Someone else can take that one. I ride a road bike with road racing tubulars on gravel and dirt roads all the time. Ah, yes, the off-road centuries in blue jeans. Maybe Neil Diamond can do a song about you! "Bull**** on the rocks...ain't no surprise. Just pour me a drink, and I'll tell you some lies" Might be a hit! LOL Sorni, I think this is a different "Bill." Rats. You're right, of course. The "road racing tubulars" should have tipped me off, but that spinning 150 RPM for 20 minutes is just so...BAKA! My apologies, Iron Bill. Hope you liked the song, at least |
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