Fifty Plus (50+) - gearing poll

Since the subject of regearing arises periodically, I thought it would be interesting to see how various folks deal with the subject.

All of my bikes have custom chainring and cog sizes which I have selected to fit my own needs.

I typically go for a low gear in the mid-40s (gear-inches), a top gear in the mid-90s, and an average ratiometric progression of about 6 or 7 percent through most of the range, sometimes with a larger jump at the very top or bottom. I live in an area with light winds but some hills.

What works very well for me:
50-42 / 14-16-18-20-23-26 for club riding, recreation, unloaded touring; superb
47-38 / 13-15-17-19-21-23 for same applications -- not nearly as nice a ratio progression
49-46 / 14-16-18-21-24-26 equipment-constrained on an old classic; a bit stiff in the low end
45-42 / 13-15-17-20-23-26 for commuting and general transportation

My Lemond came with a 52/42/30--13/25 which is about perfect for me in rolling NE Ohio. Most other bikes in my fleet have been modified to nearly this same set-up over the years. I've added triple cranksets to some of them to achieve this.

Hey, I'm old.:o

I've added triple cranksets to some of them to achieve this.

Hey, I'm old.:o

My knees worship at the alter of the triple crankset.

53/39 & 12-25 works just fine for me, no reason to change it

My Lemond came with a 52/42/30--13/25 which is about perfect for me in rolling NE Ohio. Most other bikes in my fleet have been modified to nearly this same set-up over the years. I've added triple cranksets to some of them to achieve this.

Hey, I'm old.:o

Both my road bikes have triples....my knees thank me for it:)

Bike 1: 52/48/34 & 12/34 - Touring & very hilly rides
Bike 2: 50/34 & 12/23 - General riding
Bike 3: 50/32 & 12/25 - General riding
Bike 4: 53/39 & 11/23 - Mashing on the flats or just rolling hills

I seldom get into the highest gear and I never have a granny that is low enough. My Cannondale T800 came with an appropriate range, since it is a touring bike.

50/34...12/26 on the road bike

48/36/26....12/26 on the MTB (no root climbing gears). This combination works extremely well on a hardtail used for general purpose Trail, MUP and around town road riding (most rides use a combination of all 3 thus precluding the use of a road bike).

both road bikes
53/39-12-25
53/42-12-25
46-16 s/s


no reason to change as here in Texas, mostly flat with some hills, none that are so steep to require a triple or a compact

Compact Triple!

48/38/26

Compact Triple!

48/38/26

plus 1 with a 12-34 7 speed cassette

I've done both, factory and custom. I like custom better but I've been too lazy to do the work to make a custom one lately.

Started off riding triples in my late 40's. As I've gotten stronger, I've migrated to standard doubles.

The road bike has a 53/39 up front. Came stock with 12-25, but I sometimes put on a 12-27 if there's going to be a lot of climbing (e.g., the Death Ride (http://www.deathride.com)).

The TT bike has 53/39 up front, with 11-23 cassette.

I'm currently building up a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame for around town, errands, commuting, and possibly loaded touring. It will initially be set up with a 9 speed Ultegra triple (52-42-30, with 11-23 cassette).

50/34 with 12/25 rear works for me.

Compact Triple!

48/38/26

I'm not sure what a 'compact triple' is, but that combination used to be considered mountain bike gearing before the advent of 4-arm cranks. Why oh why didn't they just use the 110/58 BCD cranks that were already in existence before they went and invented a completely new size?

So, what do you call my combination? 30/44/56, using a standard 12-27 cassette. This is on a 26" (ISO 559) drive wheel. Gear range is 26-114 inches. If I could easily find it, I'd use an 11-25, and then only use a 12-27 cassette when I traveled out of state to hilly rides.

I buy what's on sale. Really!

Seemingly custom on all the bikes.

Mountain has 44/32/22 and 12/32 9 speed. Probably The standard used by most MTB's nowadays.

Tandem has 48/36/24 and 12/32 9 speed.

Giant has 52/42/30 and 11/28 8 speed.

Boreas has 50/36 and 12/27 10 speed.

The Boreas will probably go to a triple with 50/39/30 and stay with the 12/27.

I have an older hybrid that's a triple but I can't remember off the top of my head what the gearing is....having used the granny gear on it exactly once, I stuck with doubles on my road bikes.

My first road bike came with a 53/39 and 12/25 cassette. I had my second built to my specs but stayed with that combo since it's been working pretty well for me.

I have a 2002 Lemond Zurich. It came with Ultregra Triple 12-27. For a ride through Utah I switched to an XTR cassette and derailleur and now love the MTB gearing and have not taken it off - I have 12 - 34 (granny is 30 - 34). I sacrifice smoothness for really low gears and the ability to climb up anything. Priorities!!!! ;)

Tpourer Rohloff Speedhub 500 on the tourer 38 chainring 16 cog

T.T bike 54/42 with 11 to 19 (straight/single cog step) 9 speed for flat courses
50/39 with 12 or 13 to ??? depends on the hills

Road Bike 52/39 double , not a clue about the sprocket, 12 to 29 9 speed.... maybe, at the moment

george

Since I ride in the mountains a lot, I use a 52-39-30 triple with 10 speed 12-25 on my main bike. I am often SPUN OUT in 52x12 and sometimes struggle in 30x25. Touring bike has 48-38-28 with different cogsets, 13-30 9speed last time. MTB is 42-32-22 with 13-30 8speed.

I'm basically stock with the exception of what might be considered a "custom" rear cog set.
I have an 86 RockHopper with 26-36-46 up front.
The bike came with a 12-14-16-18-21-24-28 cassette.
I picked up a bunch of bike parts last year and amongst the spare parts was a FALCON Freewheel.
It's a total piece of "waste", but it's a 13-14-16-18-21-24-28.
I usually found the 12T cog a bit high, but was often "spinning out" (I thought at the time) on the 14T.
Although I now typically spin the 14T (with a bit higher cadence) the 13T is ideal when I get the rare tail wind. The times I could actually use a 12T are so rare, I've learned to live without it very well.
My ideal cog set (this week anyway) would be 13-14-15-17-20-24-28 or 13-14-15-16-18-22-28.
I'm just curious how long the cheap Falcon stuff will last. I know it's already beyond its expected life, but I keep stuffing grease in it and hoping.:) If it were only HyperGlide!

Within a month of buying my first bike last year, a hybrid with a 48/38/28 triple, I knew I wanted closer ratios. I didn't like the big jumps between the gears, and it seemed like in many places, the gear I wanted was the one between the ones I had. Fortunately, my usual terrain doesn't require wide ranges. I replaced the 8-speed 11-30 with a 13-23 and was happy, until winter when snow and snow tires required the big cogs again.

The 8-speed 13-23 is a rare item apparently. I couldn't find another when I bought my road bike (52/42/30) this past winter. So it got a 12-23 and a 12-28 for when I get into the hills south of the city. Recently, I moved the 13-23 from the hybrid to the road bike and am enjoying the 16-tooth cog again. Still wishing for an 18...

I have a new bike on layaway, a Trek Portland. I comes with a 52/39/30 triple and a 10-speed 12-27. I'll be ordering a 13-25 for the nice weather. That'll finally get me the 18-tooth cog I've wanted for a long time. Before snow flies, I'll be getting a 16-27 for it. Yahoo! Close ratios at the low end for snow riding.

With 16 months under my belt, I find I'd continuing to get stronger. That has me thinking about a double for next year. Not yet sure if I'll give up the triples, or if I do, if I'll go compact or standard.

48/36/26....12/26 on the MTB (no root climbing gears). This combination works extremely well on a hardtail used for general purpose Trail, MUP and around town road riding (most rides use a combination of all 3 thus precluding the use of a road bike).

We're not too far apart on mountain bike gearing.

Schwinn: 48-40-28 / 13-15-17-19-22-24-26
(I have also tried it with 48-40-24, which requires care on the 24-to-40 upshift.)
Ross: 46-38-24 / 12-13-15-17-19-21-23-25
(This is particularly fun because the frame says "Shimano 21 speed," but my replacement wheelset has 8 cogs.)

Thanks for all of the responses. We have a gratifying number of gear-heads in the 50+ group!

Road bike: stock, 50/39/30, 12-25. I'd like an even smaller granny gear, though.

Road bike: stock, 50/39/30, 12-25. I'd like an even smaller granny gear, though.

There used to be the OLD ATB cranksets that had a Graany that is the same Bolt spacing as the Granny on a Triple road crank. It is possible to get a granny in this size down to 24 but anything less than a 30/26 and you will have to fit a long reach rear derrailler. This is to accomodate the extra "Free" chain length on say a 28/28. I know because I tried it. I believe the granny ring has a PCD of 110mm. but stand to be corrected on this.

Custom;
1x9 Cross Check set up with 34 T chain ring and 11-34 cassette.
With 42x622 Marathons that gives a 28 to 86 gear in range.

The commuter and occasional weekend bike; 50/39 13-28
The "go fast" bike - 53/39 13-26

Both suitable for anything I encounter in these parts.

I change mine around quite a bit. I don't even remember what came stock on most of my bikes.

Main road bike - currently 30-40-50 triple with 13-24 7 speed freewheel. Soon to be changed to 36-50 compact double with a 12-28 7 speed cassette.
2nd road bike - 42-52 double with 14-28 6 speed freewheel. Soon to be changed to 13-34 alpine 7 speed freewheel (13-24 first 6 then jumps to 34).
Converted rigid MTB/casual rod bike - 26-36-46 triple with 12-28 8 speed cassette.
Hardtail XC MTB - Stock 22-32-44 triple with 11-34 9 speed cassette. Thinking of changing to a 2x9 setup with a 26-39 double, same cassette.
The road tandem does have the stock gearing. 30-42-52 triple crank with 8 speed cassette (not sure, but probably 12-28).

I have a 53-39-30 with a 12-27 (10 speed). Came with a 12-25 but when I got new wheels got the 12-27 for it. I rarely EVER get off the 39 ring with this combo, but if I have to I am real glad I have it!!! So I use both 12-25 and 12-27 depending what I am gonna do.

53/39 & 12-25 works just fine for me, no reason to change it

I'm running a 53/39 & 13-25. I was running the same cog set with a compact crankset and found I was not using the lower gears all that much. Now I use them all and it seems to work for me, even at age 61. Which, btw, was a surprise to me.

I'm looking into getting lower gearing on the Boreas as I plan to climb a few mountains next year- as opposed to the only one I have ever done.

Currently it is a compact double 50/36 and 12/27 cassette. I know I can go to 34 on the chainrings but 34/27 may still not be low enough.

Two choices and one is to fit a triple. This will also involve new deraillers front and rear so will not be cheap. The other option is to fit an 11/34 10 speeed cassette, made by a company called Mars, and to change the rear derailler only. There won't be a great deal of difference in price as the Cassette is around $160 and the rear derailler will not be that cheap.

So it is down to the other option that may not work either. Run the 34/27 and get more and more practice up the local hills to get fitter. Unfortunately- that will take a big improvement in Fitness and leg strength and may still not be suitable. Now if I could borrow a set of jppes spare legs for a few months-----

For easy hill climbs, especially with a load of stuff, I changed to 22/34/44 chain rings (from 28/38/48) with an 11-32, 8-speed cassette and 700x40C. That gets down to roughly 18.8 gear inches.

For easy hill climbs, especially with a load of stuff, I changed to 22/34/44 chain rings (from 28/38/48) with an 11-32, 8-speed cassette and 700x40C. That gets down to roughly 18.8 gear inches.

At 85 rpm, you'll barely be going 4.7 mph...seems like overkill unless you're towing a trailer with 100 lbs of gear.

At 85 rpm, you'll barely be going 4.7 mph...seems like overkill unless you're towing a trailer with 100 lbs of gear.

Or going Up a mountain for 13 miles. My average Up Ventoux was 5 mph.

Serrota Legend Ti: 52/39/30 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27
Trek Equinox TT: 53/39 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23
Langster SS: 42 16t Freewheel plus 16t fixed gear

Road bike started with a 53-39 and 12-25, switched to a compact crank, 50-34, which I loved....Ms Inattentive destroyed that bike (and bent the crank) so ordered the replacement bike with a 50-39-30 triple which I like a very whole lot....still have the 12-25 10 speed and would like a bit more spacing in both directions--like a 10-32 or something like that.