B
Bentheadswb
Guest
Hello All!, I did it...it cost me some money...but I did it! My half-step plus granny crank
experiment with an 8-speed Mega-range 11-34T cassette is a success. The reason I did this was out of
respect for those Half-step touring people of the 70's, sometimes going back is the best experiment
with present components. Destroyed my left knee in a truck accident in 84, doc told me not to run
for long distances and to NEVER, EVER put side load stress on my rebuilt knee. Never had a problem
with my 28-38-48T 170mm arm length crank and 13-28T 6-speed cassette on my 88 MTB running slicks.
Blew out my left knee on a 24-34-42T 175mm crank arm length with an 11-28T recumbent though (700C or
622mm rear wheel) After a few years of thinking about half-stepping the rear cassette and actually
buying an 11-34T Megarange 8-speed cassette...I went for it. A TruVantiv Elita cold-forged 30-42-52
triple with 170mm arms, FSA Ultimax chro-moly ISIS bottom bracket and some tools (Race Face BB ring
tools rock) I slapped the mess together. To change to the half-stepping setup, went with a Salsa 45T
outer chainring (best, stiffest and stoutest chainring I have ever owned) to replace the 52T
stocker. Decided on a 28T Shimano Biopace chainring I had laying around for the granny. The 1999
Shimano RX100 Hybrid front derailluer was adjusted and everything was installed, time to take a spin
in COLD weather to see what she will do. The 42-45T shift is the quickest and most reliable crank
shift I have ever seen! Lightning quick with no problems (as expected from a 3T chainring shift) The
7.1% difference fits nicely between the 13.3% to 18.1% difference between the cassette ratios for a
sweet gearing range. I am presently adjusting to shifting the front derailluer for fine tuning the
ratios while riding in the ever-present winds of N TX. Ahhhhhhhhh, works great. The
fly-in-the-ointment is the 28T Biopace downshift, feels too lumpy. Guess I spin to fast for the
80RPM max cadence of the Biopace chainring. Time to pull the round 24T steel chainring off the old
crank and see what it will
do. I admitt, shifting from a 24T to a 42T is quite a jump, then again, with recumbents we can put
whatever we want on them without flack from roadies. (We are weird anyway riding a bent). I
will test out the 24T tomorrow, if it does not do the jump, time to order a 26T chainring. (I
am known as the odd recumbent rider that orders weird bike parts at the LBS). I am not done
screwing with the crank as of yet, but I can say that ISIS drive is awesome! Stiff, light and
moron-simple to install! It is good to see that some advancements in cycling equal easy
maintenance and installation. Another bonus is TruVantiv includes crank arm bolts with the
crank...FSA gives you crank arm bolts with the bottom bracket so I carry them as spares. Bonus!
All in all, the half-stepping of the 8-speed megarange cassette is a total success! It is great
to "trim" the rear cassette with the front crank (it sounds odd but it works) and still have
wide-range gearing. BTW, the 42T is a "normal" chainring size for the middle and 45T is the
"normal" size for junior racing with the 130/74mm "road" 5-arm crank. It will not go out of
style with all those odd-ball MTB chainring sizes. Life is soooooooooo good!
John H To hell with two step, give me half-step in N TX
experiment with an 8-speed Mega-range 11-34T cassette is a success. The reason I did this was out of
respect for those Half-step touring people of the 70's, sometimes going back is the best experiment
with present components. Destroyed my left knee in a truck accident in 84, doc told me not to run
for long distances and to NEVER, EVER put side load stress on my rebuilt knee. Never had a problem
with my 28-38-48T 170mm arm length crank and 13-28T 6-speed cassette on my 88 MTB running slicks.
Blew out my left knee on a 24-34-42T 175mm crank arm length with an 11-28T recumbent though (700C or
622mm rear wheel) After a few years of thinking about half-stepping the rear cassette and actually
buying an 11-34T Megarange 8-speed cassette...I went for it. A TruVantiv Elita cold-forged 30-42-52
triple with 170mm arms, FSA Ultimax chro-moly ISIS bottom bracket and some tools (Race Face BB ring
tools rock) I slapped the mess together. To change to the half-stepping setup, went with a Salsa 45T
outer chainring (best, stiffest and stoutest chainring I have ever owned) to replace the 52T
stocker. Decided on a 28T Shimano Biopace chainring I had laying around for the granny. The 1999
Shimano RX100 Hybrid front derailluer was adjusted and everything was installed, time to take a spin
in COLD weather to see what she will do. The 42-45T shift is the quickest and most reliable crank
shift I have ever seen! Lightning quick with no problems (as expected from a 3T chainring shift) The
7.1% difference fits nicely between the 13.3% to 18.1% difference between the cassette ratios for a
sweet gearing range. I am presently adjusting to shifting the front derailluer for fine tuning the
ratios while riding in the ever-present winds of N TX. Ahhhhhhhhh, works great. The
fly-in-the-ointment is the 28T Biopace downshift, feels too lumpy. Guess I spin to fast for the
80RPM max cadence of the Biopace chainring. Time to pull the round 24T steel chainring off the old
crank and see what it will
do. I admitt, shifting from a 24T to a 42T is quite a jump, then again, with recumbents we can put
whatever we want on them without flack from roadies. (We are weird anyway riding a bent). I
will test out the 24T tomorrow, if it does not do the jump, time to order a 26T chainring. (I
am known as the odd recumbent rider that orders weird bike parts at the LBS). I am not done
screwing with the crank as of yet, but I can say that ISIS drive is awesome! Stiff, light and
moron-simple to install! It is good to see that some advancements in cycling equal easy
maintenance and installation. Another bonus is TruVantiv includes crank arm bolts with the
crank...FSA gives you crank arm bolts with the bottom bracket so I carry them as spares. Bonus!
All in all, the half-stepping of the 8-speed megarange cassette is a total success! It is great
to "trim" the rear cassette with the front crank (it sounds odd but it works) and still have
wide-range gearing. BTW, the 42T is a "normal" chainring size for the middle and 45T is the
"normal" size for junior racing with the 130/74mm "road" 5-arm crank. It will not go out of
style with all those odd-ball MTB chainring sizes. Life is soooooooooo good!
John H To hell with two step, give me half-step in N TX