Gearing Question - Need Expert Insights



D

DavesNotHere

Guest
Just got a slightly used Challenge Hurricaine. Has 9 speeds and a
mountain drive on the front axel. (www.schlumpf.ch/md_engl.htm). I had
the local bikeshop put it together. I'm wondering if they could have
done something wrong in set-up or if there is another explanation to
my problem. The problem is that I basically have one gear (#9).
Everything below #9 goes from too easy (#8 and 7) to "maybe if I was
going up Mt. Everest this would be good" easy (gears 6 to 1).

I can't imagine a bike with such great reviews would be like this.
Engaging the montain-drive only made peddling easier.

Any thoughtd, recommendations or suggestions would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks - Dave
 
[email protected] (DavesNotHere) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Just got a slightly used Challenge Hurricaine. Has 9 speeds and a
> mountain drive on the front axel. (www.schlumpf.ch/md_engl.htm). I had
> the local bikeshop put it together. I'm wondering if they could have
> done something wrong in set-up or if there is another explanation to
> my problem. The problem is that I basically have one gear (#9).
> Everything below #9 goes from too easy (#8 and 7) to "maybe if I was
> going up Mt. Everest this would be good" easy (gears 6 to 1).
>
> I can't imagine a bike with such great reviews would be like this.
> Engaging the montain-drive only made peddling easier.
>
> Any thoughtd, recommendations or suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks - Dave


It would be helpful to know how many teeth are on the cassette cogs in
the rear and the chainring in the front.

Combining a Mountain Drive with a 20" drive wheel is darn strange
unless you plan on pulling trucks out of ditches. Are you sure you
didn't want a Speed Drive http://www.schlumpf.ch/sd_engl.htm ?

Jeff
 
[email protected] (Jeff Wills) wrote in message news:
> Combining a Mountain Drive with a 20" drive wheel is darn strange
> unless you plan on pulling trucks out of ditches. Are you sure you
> didn't want a Speed Drive http://www.schlumpf.ch/sd_engl.htm ?
>
> Jeff


Actually, Jeff, it's not strange at all. I have a MD on my Pharobike,
with a 65T chainring and an 11-32 cassette.

This gives me a gear range of something like 17-108 gear inches
(depends on the tire I'm using). Much wider than is possible with
derailleurs with that size wheel.

The problem with the SD is that the overdrive ratio isn't that large,
so you don't get the wide range of gearing (which is really the point
of going to the MD in the first place).

I may at some point pick up the new HSD, which gives a 2.5x
overdrive...same amount as the MD only in reverse...so I can keep my
wide range gearing. It would also save a fair bit of weight and
improve the chain lines.

Andy Douglas
Catrike
 
[email protected] (Andrew Douglas) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> [email protected] (Jeff Wills) wrote in message news:
> > Combining a Mountain Drive with a 20" drive wheel is darn strange
> > unless you plan on pulling trucks out of ditches. Are you sure you
> > didn't want a Speed Drive http://www.schlumpf.ch/sd_engl.htm ?
> >
> > Jeff

>
> Actually, Jeff, it's not strange at all. I have a MD on my Pharobike,
> with a 65T chainring and an 11-32 cassette.
>
> This gives me a gear range of something like 17-108 gear inches
> (depends on the tire I'm using). Much wider than is possible with
> derailleurs with that size wheel.
>
> The problem with the SD is that the overdrive ratio isn't that large,
> so you don't get the wide range of gearing (which is really the point
> of going to the MD in the first place).
>
> I may at some point pick up the new HSD, which gives a 2.5x
> overdrive...same amount as the MD only in reverse...so I can keep my
> wide range gearing. It would also save a fair bit of weight and
> improve the chain lines.
>
> Andy Douglas
> Catrike


Here's the latest: Took the bike back to my LBS this afternoon. Got
someone who was a little smarter about bikes this time. He confirmed
that the mountain-drive was not engaging in the direct-drive mode.
I'm rolling the dice and hoping they can fix it since they readily
admitted it was nothing they knew about. I printed the manual for
them, so hopefully that will help. Thanks for your input and
suggestions - Dave
 
Andrew Douglas wrote:

> Actually, Jeff, it's not strange at all. I have a MD on my Pharobike,
> with a 65T chainring and an 11-32 cassette.
>
> This gives me a gear range of something like 17-108 gear inches
> (depends on the tire I'm using). Much wider than is possible with
> derailleurs with that size wheel....


My Sunset [1] has the same size wheels as the Pharobike Lowfat, but the
use of the 13/20 step-up combined with a 44/32/22 crank and 11-34
cassette provides a gearing range of 19-120 inches.

Thank you for providing me with yet another opportunity to post
something about my Sunset. ;)

[1] < http://www.ihpva.org/incoming/2002/sunset/Sunset001.jpg >,
< http://www.ihpva.org/incoming/2002/sunset/Sunset005.jpg >.

--
Tom Sherman – Quad Cities (Illinois Side)
 
What size is your front sprocket?

--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk

> From: [email protected] (DavesNotHere)
> Organization: http://groups.google.com
> Newsgroups: alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent
> Date: 25 Apr 2004 15:07:50 -0700
> Subject: Gearing Question - Need Expert Insights
>
> Just got a slightly used Challenge Hurricaine. Has 9 speeds and a
> mountain drive on the front axel. (www.schlumpf.ch/md_engl.htm). I had
> the local bikeshop put it together. I'm wondering if they could have
> done something wrong in set-up or if there is another explanation to
> my problem. The problem is that I basically have one gear (#9).
> Everything below #9 goes from too easy (#8 and 7) to "maybe if I was
> going up Mt. Everest this would be good" easy (gears 6 to 1).
>
> I can't imagine a bike with such great reviews would be like this.
> Engaging the montain-drive only made peddling easier.
>
> Any thoughtd, recommendations or suggestions would be greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks - Dave