I am presently using a 50/34 chainring but I'm looking at changed it to a triple for touring. What is a good triple combination for touring.
I use a Sugio XD600 46-36-26. I used to use a Shimano Tiagra 52-42-30, butThe Hunter said:I am presently using a 50/34 chainring but I'm looking at changed it to a triple for touring. What is a good triple combination for touring.
My cassette is 11-13-15-18-21-24-28. When thinking about your gearing obviously you have to consider both the crank and the rear sprokets. If you wanted a real "granny gear" you could install a 9 speed cassette like agclark8 said:I agree with the commets above, My Felt Trevisa, 700c trekking bike, has 25/32/42 and 11-30 8 speed. These gears have been quite adequate for all situations so far.
The Hunter said:I am presently using a 50/34 chainring but I'm looking at changed it to a triple for touring. What is a good triple combination for touring.
Wow that sems like a big gap between gear ratios, I'm not familiar with the requirements of tandems is the 54 to 26 spread something to do with that?geoffs said:We use a 54-39-26 with a 11-34 on our 26" wheel tandem which gives us a gear range of 19" to 122". We were only doing 9kmh up some of the hills but after climbing 40kms with gradients up to 10% but at least our knees were still fine.
Tandems descend at bit quicker than singles do so although we need the high gear on a single a 50 or a 52 would be fine. All depends on wether you like to pedal downhill or not
Cheers
Geoff
nun said:Wow that sems like a big gap between gear ratios, I'm not familiar with the requirements of tandems is the 54 to 26 spread something to do with that?
Sorry just read your post more carfull, its the descending speed that needs the 54, still your gears havd a big spread. Does that cause any problems?
You will need to make sure that you buy a front derailleur that will work with a triple. Shimano mountain bike parts will not work, 44 teeth maximum. Suggest a 105.The Hunter said:I am presently using a 50/34 chainring but I'm looking at changed it to a triple for touring. What is a good triple combination for touring.
After looking at the specs for a number of good touring bikes and with a good number of miles ridden with my 46-36-26 and 7 speed 11-28 cassette I think my ultimate gearing set up would beendcat said:For awhile I had a 53/39/24 setup with the 11-32 cassette (also using an Ultegra front derailleur) . At first there was a random tendency for the chain to drop off to the inside when downshifting (maybe once every 10 times). I eventually got it to work but there was one other problem - a stock 114 link chain was too short to work in the big/big combo. I didn't think that would be a problem since I already knew that crosschaining was BAD. Unfortunately, I once forgot that I was in the big chainring up front and tried to downshift, and... Well, the drivetrain siezed and the rear tire skidded to a stop. The rear derailleur was toast. Still, if you want maximum gear range, this setup WILL work if your bike is smaller than mine (or has shorter chainstays) or if you splice in a few more links. (I have a 60cm Surly Long Haul Trucker). Since I rarely used the 53 I decided it made more sense to replace it with a 48 instead.
With the 46/36/24 and an 11-34 the range is 113 down to 19. But as you point out the gearing is only one aspect of getting over a hill. I've seen many postings where they say "a pound here and a pound there won't make much difference". Its generally in discussions about frames, but I think it leads people to the conclusion that weight isn't a factor is comfortable touring. From my limited experience I think it is a big factor in enjopying a ride. Cycling is exhilerating when you feel "on to of the gear" you know when you are zipping along keeping up good rpms and you don't even feel it, but it can suck when the thighs are burning pushing a loaded bike up a steep hill. So my attitude is to save weight at every opportunity, I carn't imagine why someone would load a bike down to the extent that two people couldn't lift it up. here are my strategies:geoffs said:just for fun I entered in the ratios for a 50 34 front with a 12-34 casette into Sheldons gear calculator and got a range of 27 to 112 gear inches but there is a lot of duplication. If a 11-34 is used the range is wider (122) but on a single thats most probably a bit high unless you have legs like Sean Eadie.
Try loading the bike up for touring, find a few hill and see what workd for you. By using Sheldon's online gear calc you can try out different combinations so you get the best gear range foryour load and level of fitness.
We helped an English guy carry his incredibly overloaded trike down the steps side of the harbour bridge a while ago. The two of us could only just lift the bike with the panniers attached.
Cheers
Geoff
I agree with you on almost everything, but it depends on what your goals are regarding electronics. Photography is one of my big hobbies, and I can't imagine doing a big tour and settling for the **** cam built into a PDA.nun said:5) Electronics, I think its important to carry something for emergencies like a cell phone, but, I've seen lits with mp3 players cameras laptops etc. Now you can get these amazing PDA cell phone combos. They even have MP3 players and cameras incorported. So get all of your electronic items in one and access to the internet. An example is the Palm Treo
http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo650/details.epl
it weights less than half a pound. Amazing.
I'll conceed that photographers among us will want a good digital camera, but I think most folks basically want to send e-postcards back to people and the majority of pictures are of cyclists with bikes at the top of a pass or on a bridge so the cameras in phones are fine for this. The GPS is another device that you'd have to take separately, but I think the cell phone/PDA combo is far better than the cell phone and separate pocket mail.rsheard said:I agree with you on almost everything, but it depends on what your goals are regarding electronics. Photography is one of my big hobbies, and I can't imagine doing a big tour and settling for the **** cam built into a PDA.
I certainly wouldn't want to lug around my laptop or my bulky DSLR--ugh--but I can see myself taking a cell phone, a GPS device (mounted on the bike), a PocketMail composer to send e-mails and update my journal from the road, and some kind of small, but advanced digital camera. I'm still on the fence about whether I'd take my iPod, maybe the Shuffle. (That's a safety concern more than a weight issue. I want to hear the cars coming from behind me.) The problem, of course, is also the battery rechargers.
I still think the entire electronics ensemble will be no more than 2 or 3 pounds. But for someone who wants to journal the tour while in route, there aren't too many ways around carrying a few devices.
I guarantee I'll lose more weight before I start the trip than my electronics will weigh altogether.
I've considered the Blackberry (or similar unit) to replace the cellphone/pocketmail combo, but two issues make me pause. First, the Blackberry unit and whatever plan you have to sign up for is considerably more expensive. I already have a cellphone (prepaid, inexpensive plan) and the Pocketmail unit is $50 or $100, depending upon the model. And the monthly plan for Pocketmail is much cheaper and can be canceled after the 3 months of the trip.nun said:I'll conceed that photographers among us will want a good digital camera, but I think most folks basically want to send e-postcards back to people and the majority of pictures are of cyclists with bikes at the top of a pass or on a bridge so the cameras in phones are fine for this. The GPS is another device that you'd have to take separately, but I think the cell phone/PDA combo is far better than the cell phone and separate pocket mail.
nun said:1) Yourself, I'm 30lbs over weight, so loosing that will reduce my load a great deal and improve my power to weight ratio (none of it is muscle).
2) Equipment, don't bring along stuff you won't use.
3) What you do bring should be light weight. For this I'm taking the approach of ultralight backpackers towards equipment
http://www.monmouth.com/~mconnick/chklist.htm
here's an example of one ultralight backpackers equipment list. Total weight of it is 25lbs including the rucksack.
4) If you do need something the bike gives you the flexiblity to ride to a store and then you can use a credit card to buy it.
The one area where I thin k I'd compromise on weight is the bike itself. It needs to be strong and suitable for touring. Of course if your kit only weighs 25 lbs, its not such an issue, but there are things like fenders and racks that are essentials. I'm not sure about the frame material you'd save weight with Ti, but maybe cost becomes the biggest limiting factor there.
The Hunter said:I am presently using a 50/34 chainring but I'm looking at changed it to a triple for touring. What is a good triple combination for touring.
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.