Gearing Question - Need Expert Insights

[Davesnothere]

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

 

[Jeff Wills]

[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

 

[Andrew Douglas]

[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

 

[Davesnothere]

[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

 

[Tom Sherman]

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/Sun-
set005.jpg >.

--
Tom Sherman – Quad Cities (Illinois Side)

 

[Ian]

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