Attention Equipment Geeks! I have a rear cassette question

**Adventure Girl** · 08-22-2005, 07:37 AM

Another way.... Count each tooth twice, then divide by 2!

**SadieKate** · 08-22-2005, 07:39 AM

Your secret is safe with us!

**slinkedog** · 08-22-2005, 07:45 AM

Oh no, it's posted here for God and everybody to see just how stupid I truly am.

**slinkedog** · 08-22-2005, 10:04 AM

Just so you aren't in suspense, it is a 12/25. I think I want a cassette with a 34 for my little gear. I think it would help my climbing immensely.

**SadieKate** · 08-22-2005, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by slinkedog

Just so you aren't in suspense, it is a 12/25. I think I want a cassette with a 34 for my little gear. I think it would help my climbing immensely.

Whoosh! I've been holding my breath. Inquiring minds wanted to know!

Me likes 34! The kneesies think 34 is super nifty. Just remember, the 34 might want a new derailleur.

**slinkedog** · 08-22-2005, 10:21 AM

Oh, I didn't know that. Well, Christmas is coming. Maybe I'll ask for a new rear cassette and derailleur from Santa. I'd like a new front derailleur, too. Mine is kinda wacky.

**DirtDiva** · 08-22-2005, 12:27 PM

Well, here's hoping Santa hooks you up.

**eofelis** · 08-24-2005, 06:04 PM

Originally Posted by slinkedog

Just so you aren't in suspense, it is a 12/25. I think I want a cassette with a 34 for my little gear. I think it would help my climbing immensely.

All 4 of my bikes have 12-34 cassettes on them. And they aren't all mtn bikes! My road bike has one too. I can climb damn near anything. I love it!!!!

**slinkedog** · 08-24-2005, 08:11 PM

Hey Surly and SadieKate... do you guys have a triple in the front? I'm concerned that if I get a 34 with my 30 in the front, I'll be spinning out if I'm in both my littlest gears.

**maryellen** · 08-25-2005, 01:28 AM

not if you're going up serious hills . . . trust me on this, I had the rear cassette swapped out before going on my recent AIDS ride and I adjusted to the new gearing real fast and real gratefully

**eofelis** · 08-25-2005, 06:25 AM

Originally Posted by slinkedog

Hey Surly and SadieKate... do you guys have a triple in the front? I'm concerned that if I get a 34 with my 30 in the front, I'll be spinning out if I'm in both my littlest gears.

Yup, I have an Ultegra triple on the front. My lowest gears are 30-34. I don't have any issues with "spinning out". I'm not sure where you live, but we have a few hills here in Colorado......

My Trek 520 touring bike, which I use as a back-up and foul weather road bike has even lower gears: a 24-34 on the low end. Compare to my mtn bikes with 22-34 on the low end.

**SadieKate** · 08-25-2005, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by slinkedog

Hey Surly and SadieKate... do you guys have a triple in the front? I'm concerned that if I get a 34 with my 30 in the front, I'll be spinning out if I'm in both my littlest gears.

My Litespeed (which I brought to San Anselmo) is my "flatland" bike. I can ride it in hills but would have a very difficult time riding something like Diablo. I could probably make it to the base of the 17% grade but it would be painful. The granny gear is a 30 and the cassette has a 26. Sometimes I swap to a 28 when I think I might need a "safety" gear for the unexpected - like the aptly named "Happy Valley Rd" on the TopHat Classic.

My new Kelly Bonestock which I built for riding the gonzo hills included in the TE Girl's Hill Training Program has a 26 granny gear and a 34 cassette. I only need that lowest gear for the top of Diablo or when riding at high elevation where there seems to be a lack of oxygen. The crankset has a gearing of 48, 36, 26 which means I have several selections for low gearing. It's not just the 34 cog, it is the 2 or 3 next smaller ones in combo with the 26 granny which make the biggest difference for me so I can maintain a nice cadence before I ever hit the really, really steep stuff when the 34 is necessary.

Having had 4 operations for acute and chronic chondromalacia (softening of the patella cartilage), I am acutely aware of knee pain that can keep me off the bike. I also think people need to really examine the "one-size fits all" approach to gears sold on most roadbikes and evaluate it for the terrain on which they ride, their own fitness levels, knee issues, etc. Last I checked, neither we nor our home riding terrain is "one-size."

You and Santa should visit www.sheldonbrown.com and his gearing calculator. Put in the various crank ring and cassette options you're thinking about and look at the gear inches. You'll see how all this works.

**tprevost** · 02-20-2006, 02:00 PM

Hey Slinkedog!

Did you ever get your gearing changed out! I was reading all of the old posts and was so glad I came upon yours (and Bikerz's); it reminded me that I needed to make some adjustments on my own bike. I ended up putting a 12/27 (was 12/25) on the back and changing the two smaller chainrings (I have a triple) from 30/42/52 to 27/39/52. That was the combination that is apparently going to work on my bike with the least number of side effects; hopefully that will give me a reasonable granny. The touring bike I have ridden up to this point has a small chainring of 23 so I'm a little worried about the hills on the new bike!

Thanks everyone for sharing what your solutions have been; very helpful stuff!

Tracy

**bcipam** · 02-21-2006, 06:49 AM

Originally Posted by slinkedog

Just so you aren't in suspense, it is a 12/25. I think I want a cassette with a 34 for my little gear. I think it would help my climbing immensely.

I bought my Lemond Zurich with a 12/25. I had them put on a 27 and eventually got convinced to change out the rear Ultegra derailleur and cassette for an XTR derailleur and cassette which now gives me 12/34. At times I wished I hadn't done this and just struggled with the 27 to make me a stronger climber but with all the touring I've done through Utah and other states I am soooo glad for the 34. I don't go into it as much as before but glad it's there when needed.

Just a word of caution: need to find a good mechanic to make the proper adjustments. In the beginning I could not drop into the 30,32 and 34 found a good mechanic and now the shifting is very smooth - not as smooth of course as the 25 or 27 but works OK for me. You also lose some "fine tuning" by moving the cassette up. But then, I can climb up almost anything.

**slinkedog** · 02-21-2006, 08:12 AM

Hey tprevost! I'm not sure how much of a difference it has made just because I put it on right before my son started soccer last year, at which point I essentially stopped riding my bike. So I didn't get a lot of chances to go do some of my benchmark hills for comparison. I'm sure it is helpful, though. I'm still tempted to try a mtb cassette in the back. We'll see.

We'd LOVE to ride with you. I'm very bad on hills and slow on the ones I can make it up. We'll be great riding partners!

Thread: Attention Equipment Geeks! I have a rear cassette question

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