My first MTB, vacation pics, and advice needed.....

[Triskeliongirl]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. The guys in my LBS say I am a S, not XS. The bike I have has a standover of 28.5" and is a S (15.5"). My cycling inseam is 30.5" and I am 5'4". My road bike is a 48cm cervelo RS w 650C wheels and it fits me like a glove. I have found some 29ers (Julianas) that give me the 28.5" standover and work with an english threaded bottom bracket (requirement of my custom crank), so those are also future candidates. The 27.5" wheel is also attractive. But for now I need to select chain rings for the custom crank. Do you guys think I am making a mistake if I go with 22/38, even if I don't have my final bike picked out yet (or decide to never upgrade, or wait a few years before upgrading). This gearing will get me nice an low on the bike I have since its a 9sp 11/34, but if I get a new bike, even with bigger wheels, I can go up to 36 or even 42 so I will have lots of options. Or is 22 ridiculously low?

I should add that this is hard, because while I love my LBS, at this point in time they only carry specialized which uses a BB30 bottom bracket, have fixed position FDs (not good for adjusting over my custom elliptical offset rings), and most models have high standover. They will also do orders from MOOTs, but those are very expensive, and also don't offer much in standover on the 27.5 models. The Moots YBB was recommended by Cassie here, but its just not clear to me why it will be so much better than the bike I have already. Also, I didn't feel beat up on the hardtail, so not sure I even need the weight of the YBB. I guess what I am really trying to understand is why I would enjoy a more modern bike. That is why I think I need more time on the bike I have, to see what I want next.

[emily_in_nc]

Or is 22 ridiculously low?

For most riding, yes, but for some of the hills we have climbed on gravel, I've used mine and was very glad to have it! You'd be in the 38 most of the time, though.

[Triskeliongirl]

I am thinking about it, cuz we were in the mountains, and there was a lot of stuff I couldn't get up in my 34, remembering that we are on dirt, not paved roads, with a bike that weighs 30 lb (and someday I may add groceries, etc. to that). But I could also get a 24 bottom too. I notice a 24/38 is standard in XTR, so perhaps that shifts better. I assumed I could have a 16 tooth gap since that is what I have on my road bike (50/34). I picked 22 cuz that was the lowest gear on the original triple that came on the bike.

[Triskeliongirl]

Actually, I just researched it, and the shimano 10 speed stuff FD has a limit of 14 teeth difference between front rings. Since they offer a standard 24/38 setup I am thinking to just go with that. Even though my current system is 9 speed, if I encounter any issues with it shifting I can always either change out the FD for the shim no 10 spd, or even upgrade the whole system to 10 spd (then giving me a 36 rear cog if I need it), and it will be more forward compatable with future bikes I might buy. So, unless you guys advise otherwise, that is what I think I will do.

Emily, nice to hear you still enjoy MTBing! I thought at one point you told me you preferred your hard tail (that was when you had the titus racer X) but maybe what you meant was the style of riding, not the bike type. I agree that I don't want to do super technical stuff, but I do want to try more real mountain biking as long as it isn't super technical. When at home, working, with limited time, if its a choice of road or mountain I will pick road. But when I am retired and have time for both, I think I will enjoy both. I also really like the MTB trails in Portugal, nicer than the MTB parks we have here at home. And there are so many I have yet to explore, the TransPortugal, TransAlgarve, more stages of the Algarviana (I only rode 3 of them). I think once I have the crank set, there will be more flexibility to test ride new bikes, maybe even as rentals first, to sort out what I want longer term. But there will be lots of skill building that I can do on the bike I have first.

[Triskeliongirl]

Hmmm, now I am not sure again. Shimano's 9 spd double was 22/36. So I know the 9 spd stuff will work with 14 teeth diff, so I guess this means the 24/38 will work too. Just wonder if I go with the 24 if I will regret not having the 22 on the low end, although it would be nice to get the 38 on the high end. So, I guess I am still leaning towards 24/38, but would love more input.

In summary, even though I am doing custom, stock cranksets for shimano 9 speed doubles were 22/36 and for shimano 10 speeds doubles 24/28. Trying to decide which type of custom rings to order on my custom crank system, to use now with my older 30 pound 9 speed MTB, and in the future with a possible newer 10 speed set up.

[Becky]

I've found that, with a 22T low chain ring, I don't have enough forward momentum to feel stable, especially in the lowest cogs. (ETA: this is in my local terrain, YMMV.) And that's on a 29er- on a 26" wheel, that 22T chainring will "feel" even lower. I greatly prefer the 26T ring, paired with an 11-36T cassette (10-speed on a 29er). I think that the reason that the 9-speed doubles were 22-36 was because there wasn't an option for a 36T cog on the cassettes. IIRC, that started with the 10-speed stuff. For reference, I'm now running 26/38T chainrings and a 11-36 cassette on my 29er.

If it were me, I'd play around with a gear calculator and look at how the combinations of chainrings, wheel size, and cassette impact gear inches.

[TigerMom]

I agree that a 2005 Gary Fisher is not that old. I think you should try riding some more on your current bike, then demo some 27.5 and 29ers.

I am 5ft 1in, but I love the 29ers more than the 27.5. I feel a 29er has better grip descending. Since I go pretty slow on switchbacks, the tighter handling on the 27.5 didn't really differ for me on a 29er. But on a steep descent, I definitely felt more confident and "grippier" on my 29er than the 27.5. I am a MUCH better descender now on my Specialized Fate Hardtail 29er compared to my Santa Cruz Juliana 26er one year ago. I do miss fully sitting down on the non-rocky descents on the full suspension (I always have to keep my buttock up at least 1 cm on any descents on my hardtail or the saddle bucks me).

If you have a lot of back pain from rocks or need to fully sit more often, I would recommend your future bike to be a full suspension. If your budget allows, get the remote locks so that you can lock out both the front and rear suspensions on your handle bar for climbing.

I wish I liked the 27.5 more since they are lighter and Liv Giant has some awesome colors on their women's bikes.

[Triskeliongirl]

Thanks for all the great advice. I ended up ordering 24/38 rings for my new custom crankset, but what is really cool, is that he is making it so I can interchange parts with my road cranks, and use it on either a mountain or road bike. Its essentially a road triple with a long axle BB to accommodate the beefier seat stays on a MTB. On a MTB, I will use just the inner 2 chain rings, and on a road bike I will use just the outer 2 chain rings, when I want compact doubles. But triples are also options on both. I just need to change out bottom brackets depending on what I want to do.

The outer 2 chain rings will be 94 BCD, so they will accommodate road rings in the range of 30-52 (same as my road compact doubles that I have already). The innermost ring will be 74mm BCD so it can accommodate rings in the range of 24-30. So in the future if I change my mind about gearing I will have a lot of flexibility.

I like that even if I don't adapt to serious MTBing, I could still use the new crank on a cyclocross bike if I decide I just want something light that gets me over packed dirt.

Once I have the crank and BB though, I can also start test riding MTBs. One idea I have is to go to one of those trek for women skills clinics, and see if I can find a shop that would work with me to rent bikes (must be willing to install my custom crank), maybe even with a rent to own option in there. Then I can see for myself what kind of bike I might like best, and how if I really just s--k at it, or if I could get better with some training. Its much harder for me since I can't just walk into any bike shop and test ride anything. I have to find bikes with english threaded bottom brackets, FDs on clamps w a good range of adjustability (cuz my rings are also elliptical and offset), and then a shop that is willing to mount my crank for a test ride or rental.

My gut feeling though is that if I can't ever be comfortable riding the bike I have over moderately rocky terrain, I am not going to adapt well to MTBing. My husband had no problem riding my 26er and his 29er over stuff I couldn't do, so that tells me it wasn't the bike. One day we got into some stuff I couldn't handle, so while I walked out, he rode each of our bikes sequentially out. Made it easier than my having to push my bike out!

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, nice to hear you still enjoy MTBing! I thought at one point you told me you preferred your hard tail (that was when you had the titus racer X) but maybe what you meant was the style of riding, not the bike type.

No, I can't imagine why I would have said that. Once I got my Racer X, I never rode my hardtail again. It was heavier and although it fit me well and was a nice looking bike, I just never went back to it after getting a fullie. And I rode them both on the same trails and roads so there was no difference in style of riding I did with either. When I got the lighter bike, I was finally able to keep up with the woman I rode with after work on the park trails instead of falling way behind on the heavier bike.

I think you'll be fine with the 24/38 so long as you stick with the 26" wheels. There's not such a huge difference between a 22 and 24, and you may appreciate the higher top end, as you say.