EEEEEKKK! My chain came off

[pardes]

I'm not familiar with your shifters, but I looked at the photo of your bike on the bus and it looked to me as if your chain was on the middle gear (in the front) the biggest one is for going the fastest IN THE FRONT and the smallest one in the front is for climbing hills.
In the back, it is the opposite. the biggest gear is for the hardest climbs, and you will move the slowest.

Okay, good. That's what I've been using as my easiest gear. Smallest one on the front and largest one on the rear.

Now then....there is something else I'm confused about. Why are there only two rings on the front and nine on the back if this is supposed to be 27 gears? Shouldn't there be three in front?

[Crankin]

From the way you spoke, it sounded like you never moved your front ring to the granny. Sorry. Without knowing the set up of your particular bike, I can't comment, but I am pretty sure you must have a triple on your hybrid!
As I said, experiment with all of the gears in a safe place. You generally can spin your way up those hills in a very low gear combination on a bike like yours. Sometimes new riders tend to "mash" the gears when they are trying to get up hills. Shift to the easy gear on the front before the hill and then shift down on the right as you need to as you go up the hill. There will be less of a load on your chain that way and you will be less apt to drop it.

[Mr. Bloom]

pardes: I'll apologize for giving bad advice...if you just have two chain rings, the third eye probably won't be helpful.

I checked your model on the Trek site and it looked like it had a triple on the front

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes..._path/fx/76fx/

But that's current model year...and I can't tell from your photo what you have.

[mimitabby]

yes, that's what i did too (checked the website). If you only have two rings on the front, then yes, you were already in the lowest ring. But if you're feeling like you don't have enough gears, maybe you ought to get a 3rd one? (the bike shop can do this for you)

[pardes]

Thanks that's what I'm up to now. I'm looking at the Shimano Deore XT M770 165mm 4 arm Crank 22-32-44. Although I don't have clue about the 165 mm part. I just want the EASY gears.

[DebW]

Thanks that's what I'm up to now. I'm looking at the Shimano Deore XT M770 165mm 4 arm Crank 22-32-44. Although I don't have clue about the 165 mm part. I just want the EASY gears.

165 mm is the length of the crank arm. That length would generally be for a rather short rider.

[KnottedYet]

Are there bolt receiver holes on the spider you have now, that would take a 3rd chainring? My bike came with 2 chainrings (like yours). I needed a granny gear, and my shop was able to just bolt a 3rd ring onto my spider. I think the one I bought cost $19 or $20, and the guys didn't charge me labor to add it on.

(might be cheaper than buying an entire crankset, if your spider has the space for it)

[pardes]

Since I only bought the bike two weeks ago, they are going to exchange the compact double for a triple as well as add a larger ring to the back.

Being really nerdy I figured out what the difference would be for getting easy granny gears. Currently my 1st gear is equivalent to 6th gear on a triple. It's going to make a big difference on roads that I've avoided because it nearly killed me to even walk up them.

Here is the geeky, nerdy, anal retentive table.

[SadieKate]

Good for them. I suspect that they are replacing your cassette completely. I haven't ever seen a cassette with a single loose ring on the inside. They'll probably give you an 11-34 mtn cassette.

[madscot13]

that looks a whole lot nicer!

and good on them for switching out the crankset without giving you grief.

[lph]

I LOVE that gear table

Now all you have to do is practice balance at low speed. Once you can ride really, really slow without falling over there's almost no limit to the hills you can tackle.

[Crankin]

Great job, Pardes. Now, you can follow all of the advice you were given. I think we all thought you had a triple. Your geekiness has stood you well.

[mimitabby]

I think my minimum speed is 3mph!

you ARE nerdy. it took a lot of staring for me to partially comprehend your table.

[pardes]

Yes, I'm the poster child for newbie nerdiness. Generating a gear table in Excel has to rank at the top of the chart.

Thanks for all your replies. Now I'm wondering what can be my next nerdy project with the bike.....Hmmmmmm.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I think my minimum speed is 3mph!

My lowest speed has been 2.3mph, grinding my way up a very steep hill- feels dangerously close to falling over on one side, but I can do it.



Pardes- that is a VERY wide gear range you are getting! You will be able to handle any hill now ....except maybe those that require going backwards. I'm glad for you!...I know first hand how hard it can be to be a new rider in your 50's and trying to get up hills.
Great that your LBS is happy to change this for you on your new bike.

Keep in mind that when you have such a wide range there will be more undesireable gear combinations that will result in chain rubbing ("cross-chaining"). Cross chaining is to be avoided, as it results in both premature wear on the chain and cogs, and also increases the likelihood of your chain dropping off and/or jamming in the hub and chipping your spokes and paint. It might be VERY useful to have the LBS guys demonstrate to you about cross chaining with the bike up on a stand before you take it home.

One thing that helped me figure out my gearing was to think first about what front ring I wanted to be in for the riding situation at hand, and then think about fine tuning the back cogs within that front ring range. It also helped me to try to not be in either of the twoo extreme back gears on either side if I wanted to change rings in the front. This thinking is oversimplified and not always applicable, but it got me through the beginning stage of adapting to a big gear range with minimal chain drop and chain crossing problems.

Keep us posted- I love to read about your bike adventures!