Granny Gear??

[Eden]

mmmmmm - your "granny gear" is going to mean something different to different people... for some it may just be the smallest on whatever crankset they use. Most people use it to refer to the easiest gears on a triple. For others still (especially those who intend to carry heavy loads up steep hills), they may modify a road bike with a long cage front derailleur to allow a smaller front ring and a mt bike cassette on the back to get their "granny gears".

Pretty much the term just kind of grew out of referring to a gear small enough that your granny wouldn't find it difficult.... its not really a specific gear ratio....

[txred9876]

[QUOTE=road bike with a long cage front derailleur to allow a smaller front ring and a mt bike cassette on the back to get their "granny gears".
[/QUOTE]

I was told my bike was setup with a mt bike front (3 rings) with a 9 ring back.

Is it strange to have it setup that way?

I have a cannondale dual assault hybrid

tina

[Thorn]

Is it strange to have it setup that way?

Only if it isn't right for you. If it works and it has the gears you want when you need them, then it is "normal" and every one else's bike is "strange".

Double vs. Triple vs. Compact Double....oh dem's fightin' wurds. Mention that and, egads, the discussion board goes nuts--it is a very cycling relgious issue. I don't know what the distribution of bikes vs. crank configuration is--generally, the racier the bike, the more likely it will have a standard double; the more relaxed and targeted at the weekend rider, the more likely it has a triple.

...my bike comes complete with a great granny gear...that is, when I get off and walk it. It has been a while since I had to succomb to using the great granny, but it is always nice to know she's there and waiting....

[txred9876]

Only if it isn't right for you. If it works and it has the gears you want when you need them, then it is "normal" and every one else's bike is "strange".

Double vs. Triple vs. Compact Double....oh dem's fightin' wurds. Mention that and, egads, the discussion board goes nuts--it is a very cycling relgious issue. I don't know what the distribution of bikes vs. crank configuration is--generally, the racier the bike, the more likely it will have a standard double; the more relaxed and targeted at the weekend rider, the more likely it has a triple.

...my bike comes complete with a great granny gear...that is, when I get off and walk it. It has been a while since I had to succomb to using the great granny, but it is always nice to know she's there and waiting....

I just got back from having my friend look at my bike. He said I have racing gears on the back and mtb (cant remember what he called it) on the front (it has the three rings).

Tina

[lph]

Only if it isn't right for you. If it works and it has the gears you want when you need them, then it is "normal" and every one else's bike is "strange".

Double vs. Triple vs. Compact Double....oh dem's fightin' wurds. Mention that and, egads, the discussion board goes nuts--it is a very cycling relgious issue. I don't know what the distribution of bikes vs. crank configuration is--generally, the racier the bike, the more likely it will have a standard double; the more relaxed and targeted at the weekend rider, the more likely it has a triple.

...my bike comes complete with a great granny gear...that is, when I get off and walk it. It has been a while since I had to succomb to using the great granny, but it is always nice to know she's there and waiting....

I've never understood this, but then I've never been much part of the cycling "scene" either. In Norway we have some rides and races that go up GREAT BIG HILLS that last for a really LONG TIME, these can be really hard and it seems really tiny gears are very popular - hardly grannylike. We don't have a big roadie contigent at all and for most people a "bike" is a mtb, so grannies are everywhere.

[Thorn]

I've never understood this, but then I've never been much part of the cycling "scene" either. In Norway we have some rides and races that go up GREAT BIG HILLS that last for a really LONG TIME, these can be really hard and it seems really tiny gears are very popular - hardly grannylike. We don't have a big roadie contigent at all and for most people a "bike" is a mtb, so grannies are everywhere.

Yeah, I don't get it either and I guess why I think it is so important to grab your inner self confidence and shout that *your* bike is normal because it works for *you* in *your* terrain, whatever that bike may be. There is no one-true bike. No shame in a granny gear--I kinda like dropping into the granny and spinning up the hill. I see so many more wild flowers on the climb when I can enjoy it.

But, what do I know? I don't race. I just like to get on my bike and ride and ride and ride and ..... (well, until I have to get off of it and go into work so that I can earn enough money to provide it with pretty things like tires and tubes and saddles and a new coat of wax....)

[Eden]

No - hybrids are generally heavier bikes and often have lower gearing. A triple on the front isn't particular to mt bikes, many road bikes come that way as well, though the standard triple for a road bike is usually in the area of 32, 42, 50 and mt bikes are more like a 22, 32, 42

ack.... no need to fight... different bikes/gearing for different uses.....

[ny biker]

For me, the granny gear is the easiest gear combination - smallest chain ring and largest cog.

[Kalidurga]

For me, the granny gear is the easiest gear combination - smallest chain ring and largest cog.

That's what I've always understood, too. In which case, every bike with more than one gear has a granny.

[Crankin]

I've always had a triple and make liberal use of my granny gear combinations. Sure, as the season goes on, I use harder and harder gears on some small hills, but I don't see why I should be mashing and struggling just to say I didn't use the granny. Besides, I am old enough to be a granny .
Indigoiis, you can tell your DH that my DH, who is a very strong rider, has gone from a double, to a compact, to a triple. He could care less what others think. We ride some big hills and the fact that every time we come home, we climb a 10-15% grade had quite a bit to do with him getting a triple on his current bike.

[SadieKate]

That's what I've always understood, too. In which case, every bike with more than one gear has a granny.

Huh. I think if I walked into a bike shop (or talked to someone who tours with a load) and referred to a low gear of 39x23 as a granny, they'd either fall down laughing or be struck speechless.

In 25 years of pretty serious bikie-dom, I've never heard anyone call the lowest gear on a double crankset a granny.

Just my experience.

[OakLeaf]

+1. I always heard the term to refer to the smallest chainring in a triple.

I never thought about how sexist AND ageist the term is until recently. Now, I'll say "puppy gear" or "baby chainring" or just "smallest chainring" when I don't feel like being cute.

[hilldweller]

Huh. I think if I walked into a bike shop (or talked to someone who tours with a load) and referred to a low gear of 39x23 as a granny, they'd either fall down laughing or be struck speechless.

In 25 years of pretty serious bikie-dom, I've never heard anyone call the lowest gear on a double crankset a granny.

Just my experience.

But they do with compacts, which are still nowhere as low as a triple. Or at least the shop I talked to does. My bike has a lowest gear of 34x25 and I'm debating whether I'm going to need some proper granny (or even great-great-granny ) gears.