After much research and assistance from fellow Bike Forums members I have decided what bike will meet my needs, but I am having trouble finding it. I want to start bike riding again after 25 years of down time.

My riding (once I get into a little better shape) will be limited to paved roads many of which are VERY steep and long.

My friend has a bike with a triple front (30/42/52) and 10 in the back (12-25). It was clear that the lowest gear (front to back ratio of 1.2) wasn't low enough. So one thing I'm not sure of is how low do I need to go. I know this will depend on my shape, friction, weight and gearing.

Anyway the bike I am looking for has the following characteristics:

1. MTB gearing
2. Relatively light weight (although I would probably get more bang for the buck by losing 8 lbs).
3. Narrow slick tires.
4. Not more than $1500 or so.
5. I could go either way on drop downs or flat.

Does anyone know of a bike that would have these characteristics?

I was looking at the Gary Fisher Mendota but it's lowest front to rear gear ratio is 1.0, which is only about 17% lower than my friends bike. I am not sure if 1.0 is much better than 1.2 (I would appreciate your thoughts).

The Trek 7.6FX looks interesting but It's not clear how much it weighs, the same is true of the Specialized Cross Trail Pro. Both of them seem to have relatively wide tires compared to a road bike.

I would appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks

Buy a roadbike..................have the crankset changed out for a 26/36/48 (that will work with your front derailleur)................change the rear derailleur to an MTB derailleur and install an 11/32 cassette. If that won't get you up the hill..............walk.

When you change the front and back gears do you also need to change the shifters?

Is swapping out gears expensive?

For this swap you will need stay in the range of the shifters. The above swap works for a road bike with 9 speed shifters. The front derailleur also has to stay on the bike as it is road shifter specific. The only other thing that might have to be changed is the bottom bracket as that has to match the crankset chosen.

Newer 10 speed road bikes are more difficult to change out like this because there is no MTB 10 speed at this time.

The cost of the swap depends on where you get your parts and how much you pay for them. A ballpark starting figure would be $200-300. If you leave the standard triple crankset on the bike then $100-$150. In the latter case, you could go with an 11/34 cassette, a new long cage rear derailleur and a new chain...................no other changes necessary. Thats about as much gear as you can get on a budget.

Take a look at this http://www.konaworld.com/09_dewdeluxe_u.cfm and the other bikes in the series.

As long as you have 8 or 9 speed rear, you will not need to change your shifters when you change the derailleur and cassette. Do your own shopping, but here is an example of what could be done to convert a 9 speed road bike.

Sugino XD crank (http://cgi.ebay.com/SUGINO-XD-600-CRANKSET-170mm-48-36-26-110-74_W0QQitemZ190241668349QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116)

Shimano Deore RD (http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/RD703A02-Shimano+Deore+Rear+Derailleur+M510.aspx?sc=FRGL)

Shimano Deore HG-50 9-SPEED Cassette (http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/CS308B00-Shimano+Deore+Hg-50+9-Speed+Cassette.aspx)

I would recommend that you start with Maddmaxxes second option of changing the rear gearing and deralleur and see how that goes. Then if you still have trouble getting up the hill (mountain) you can change the front. You should be able to find a used 9 speed bike as most people now want a 10 speed, making more 9 speeds available. Have you gone to any LBS and told them what you have in mind?

When you change the front and back gears do you also need to change the shifters?

Is swapping out gears expensive?

You can also discuss this with your bike shop when you buy the bike. Many times they will swap out gearing at the time of purchase for a modest charge, or even do it for free if you're doing doing anything too extreme. (I have a Trek 520 touring bike that I use as a commuter -- I bought it used, but swapped out the crank as soon as I bought it. I bought a new crankset on eBay, sold the old one on eBay, and paid a mechanic $30 to make the switch; all in it was about an $80 change.)

Several bikes meant for touring come right out of the box with the kind of gearing you're talking about -- for example, the Novara Randonee at REI or the Surly Long Haul Trucker complete. However, if you're not planning on loaded touring, they might be a bit heavier than you want/need. Another option is to look at cyclocross bikes; there is another thread here this weekend with a list of good 'cross bikes.

A more road-oriented bike is the Salsa Casseroll Triple, nice bike right at $1500 or so -- gearing is not quite as low as you're looking for but can be tweaked to get there. Would be great if you could compare that against a touring bike (like the Randonee).

FYI, I have super-low gearing on two bikes: my Trek 520 has a mountain crank in front and mountain gears in back; the low ring on the front is 22 teeth and the cassette goes up to 34. On my "road bike," the front crank is a Shimano road crank; inner ring of 28. I have a mountain cassette on the back, with a cog that goes up to 34. A little device called Shiftmate makes my road shifters compatible with the rear cog.


This thread has a list of bikes worth looking at...
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=452112

You really need to make a decision about drop or flat handlebars.

I have done both options. My old bike-- a steel Bianchi Eros 9 spd -- is a 52-39-30 triple with SRAM 11-34 in back. It already had the long arm derailleur. My new bike -- A Giant OCR CF 10 sd - has a 52039026 triple with a Dura Ace 12-27 cassette. I amost never use the extreme low any more (in fact, seldom go into the 26T, but it's nice to have.

I have the Sugino crank with 26-36-48 rings on my Bridgestone. I normally run a 12-21 cassette and short arm road derailleur for wide enough range and nice close ratios, but when I go for extremely hilly mountain rides, I will switch to a MTB derailleur and a 12-32 cassette to get the lower gearing.

My retro grouch bike has a typical road triple crankset (52/42/30) and a 12/32 rear cassette with a mountain bike rear derailleur. I happen to use friction shifters but regular road STI shifters would work dandy too. The mountain cassette and mountain rear derailleur is a relatively affordable equipment change and is a common modification for enthuiast (as opposed to performance oriented) riders here in St Louis. The majority of road tandems come equipped that way from the factory.

If you are buying a brand new 9-speed bike I'd think that you should be able to make the cassette change for no charge, but you might have to negotiate a bit on the mountain derailleur. 10-speed changes the equation because 10-speed mountain cassettes are still a specialty item.

I am back to cycling after a 25+ years off also. I have the same problem with getting up the steep, long hills here in middle TN. I am still riding my old 531 db 10 speed with 14-24 freewheel. I have changed out the crankset to a mtb triple. The Campy fd and rd have been changed to mtb. I now have a low gear of about 25". It has been too hot to do a lot of riding yet in my poor state of conditioning but I have already found one hill that I had to walk the last 300 feet and take a breather at the top. I am looking to change the freewheel to a 7 speed 13-32 or 34. If I can't get up a hill with that kind of gear then it will be faster to walk anyway. Walking up a hill was a humbling experience for me but these old legs ain't what they used to be.

I have been able to ride the last 3 days since it in back down to 90ish temps. Good luck.

My "touring" bike has a mountain crank 22-32-42 chainrings with a 12-26 8-speed cassette. I don't have the top end of a road bike-I've got about 25-28 mph worth of gearing, but the low end is low enough for just about anything. I've got an LX rear der on it. Go ahead and do it. It's not that difficult

Riding a mountain bike using a 22t ring and a 32t or 34t gear in the cassette is just about walking. You'll ride at about the same speed as walking at the same cadence.